Day 6: Boston

Our day started with a stroll through the Commons to State House, with it’s giant gold dome.  We caught a bus that took us around the ‘Freedom trail’ sights and then to the harbor where we took a boat trip around Boston Harbour. I love being on the water and it’s a great way to get a ‘big picture’ view of the city. There is so much history in beautiful  Boston  and even the harbour area has museums and old boats to visit.

We had lunch at a diner, we wanted something light, Gray’s turkey sandwich was more than he bargained for. Thankfully my brisket roll was more manageable and seriously delicious.

We then walked through the Cambridge suburb of Boston to the Harvard Campus. It reminded me of my time studying at Wits. Just a whole lot bigger and very beautiful.

On the way home, we crossed over the Charles River and saw the MIT buildings. The Charles River is said to be the cleverest River in the world as it is surrounded by Harvard, MIT and Boston University.

We had dinner, lobster rolls, at the Atlantic Fish Company. The flower arrangements in the restaurant were proteas and stralitzias. I asked the waitress about the floral choice and she didn’t even know where Johannesburg was, let alone anything regarding our flora. She was however really sweet.

We finished dinner around 8:30 and as it was a nice night, we strolled home through the Commons, watched a softball game for a few minutes and the beautiful sunset. It was magical.

Day 5: New York to Boston

NY has been a whirlwind, a town with its own life of sights, sounds, smells and people. I think we did a lot in the time afforded to us. Another few days would have been nice.

We caught the cab to Penn Station.  A hive of activity and people, where trains can take you anywhere in the US from Alaska to the Panama Canal.  The lift underground smelt of pee and I began to question our decision to take the train to Boston. However, traveling first class has its advantages, and the lounge and train cab turned out to be a real treat.

The 4 hour train trip was a very relaxing way to travel and a great way to take in the countryside: the beautiful houses, the great old trees and lakes and rivers of Connecticut. I would loved to have taken a day to visit Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where Kirst did a school exchange for 3 months.

New York is a city on steroids, it is busy and the people are very officious, I  guess what  they perceive as professional, we at times perceived as unfriendly . Boston, on the other hand, is more relaxed and the people are seriously friendly and chatty. This we picked up at the station and on our cab ride to the hotel, everyone wanting to help.

Our hotel, the Ritz – Carlton is near the ‘Common’, a beautiful park in Boston.

This afternoon we took a ‘hop on - hop off’ bus tour of the city. Our pick up stop was at ‘Cheers’ pub, from the old TV series. We got a good view of the city, of the old and new, we passed over the Charles River and saw Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Socks. We finished our tour at the harbour. A cold sea breeze had whipped up and we headed to a wonderful restaurant on the docks for dinner. It was a really friendly place and the meal was excellent, also considerably cheaper than NY.

We finished off the evening with a sunset stroll along the harbour. The sun sets around 9 pm.  It was beautiful.

Day 4: New York

We woke up to a rainy day, so decided to do some museums. By the time we left the hotel it was only a very light drizzle so we took a nice long walk through Central Park to the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West side.  We spent a great couple of hours exploring the museum before ambling back through Central Park to the Guggenheim Museum. The architecture of this art museum is modern, white, clean and impressive. The modern art inside was however beyond us plebs and unless you are into this type of art, don’t waste $25 to look around.  I much preferred our recent visit to the botanical art exhibition at the Everard Read Gallery and that was free, with wine.

We bought hero rolls and ate them on the steps of the Met Museum, while watching the Puerto Rican Day parade. 5th Ave had been completely blocked off for the parade, with a huge police presence.  We struggled to find a crossing to walk the ½ block back to our hotel.

Our phone app informed us we had walked over 10km today. We had an early night.

Day 3: New York

Today was a real tourist day.  We caught the Big Bus, sat on the open top deck and took and took in the sights of NY. The modern skyline and the beautiful old buildings.

We spent some time at Ground Zero. A poignant time, especially for Gray, who as a child went up the Twin Towers.  A wonderful touch, a rose is put on the name of those who died on their birthday. Gray conceded to one shopping center, Westfield, absolutely beautiful, the girls would have platzed. We did Wall Street and walked the streets of central NY.

 In the afternoon we took a boat cruise around NY. First stop was the Statue of Liberty, a must for all tourists. Two and a half hours later we were awed by the enormity of this city, not all of it pretty, we cruised passed the Projects and the Bronx. I was surprised by the number of bridges connecting the islands and Burroughs.

On the way home we spent some time in Times Square. Madness reigned on this late Saturday afternoon. People coming and going from the theatre, shops and restaurants.

We were on the waiting list for dinner at 11 Madison Park, unfortunately we didn’t get in, or rather fortunately as Gareth would have given up everything to fly over to join us for a meal at his dream restaurant. Our alternative was a wonderful Italian near our hotel. We felt hopelessly underdressed, I hadn’t brought heels and Gray didn’t have a jacket.  Oh well, once I was seated no one saw my feet anyway.  The food was glorious, I had the ‘shrimp’ starter, which turned out to be 3 giant prawns.

By now, we were finished and the  jet lag wasn’t helping. Bed had never been so welcoming.