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Adam had phoned last night around 8pm as we stood in Times Square looking at all the sparkly bill boards so I said we would talk on the webcam when he got home from work, that would be 7am tomorrow morning for us, so we set the alarm to be and showered for 7am so that we could get an early breakfast. We wanted to do the Empire State Building and we were told best time was morning, it opened at 8am so we went next door to Starbucks for a quick breakfast (cake and coffee) and joined the queue at 7.45am. The morning was warm, sunny and clear so we were hoping for a good view and we weren’t disappointed. We could see right across New York and filled the camera with photos and then the battery went flat ! Being only across the road from the hotel we nipped back for an hour to charge it, Bob had seen a 1hr film developing shop just down the road so he took our throw away camera with the Niagara film in it to them and then we spent the time studying all the leaflets and brochures we had, planning what to do and where to go. Around 11am, with the camera battery recharged, we called back to the film shop and picked up the photos then we got on the NY Sightseeing tour bus (blue one) the red one was a rival company, to do the downtown tour. We drove past some of the famous sites, 42nd street, Broadway and the theatres, Times Square, Little Italy, the Chinese quarter, down to Wall Street and the financial area and into the Harbour where we left the bus and boarded the ferry to the Statue of Liberty – I have never seen so many people on one boat , we were crammed in and as another boat passed it set up a bow wave that had us rocking and rolling over several degrees – nearly brought up breakfast -! Once underway it was ok and round the statue then off to Ellis Island where we got off. Here we saw where the immigrants were brought in the 1920’s who wanted to enter America, the way they were treated and housed while papers were issued – there were some horrifying stories. Another boat had arrived at the dock and there wasn’t a long queue so we hopped on and went back to Manhattan (the name apparently comes from the Indians who lived there originally, they called it Mahata which meant island of hills). It was around 5pm now and outside Wall Street, only minutes from the harbour, were hundreds of reporters waiting to see what had happened to the stock exchange that day. On the way back to the bus stop I slipped off a pavement and went sprawling, luckily nothing damaged only a bit of pride, a nice young policeman helped me up and we continued up the road passing ground zero where the Twin Towers had been. Building is in progress but they don’t think it will be completed until 2014. Back on the bus we continued the downtown tour finishing 1 stop before the one we started from and walked round the shops, stopping at Macy’s we realized we were hungry so we went to their restaurant and ate a lovely 3 course dinner with wine for a very reasonable cost. From here we took a slow walk back to the Hotel, our feet were aching from the days walking but we enjoyed every minute.
Day 93 Wednesday 1st October
With a 3 day bus pass we decided to do the uptown tour today, but firstly we wanted to be at the Marriot Hotel early as we hoped to get half price theatre tickets for tonight. Unfortunately when we arrived there were only tickets for 2pm performances available which would not fit in with our plans for the day so we decided to come back at 3pm when the office was opened for the evening performance tkts. Next we went into Toys R Us in Times Square as it’s the biggest one in the world and it has an 18ft ferris wheel in the centre of the shop. The stop for the uptown tour was 2 blocks away so we walked there and joined the short queue for the next bus. The tour was very different to the downtown tour as much of it was alongside Central Park and the area was much more residential rather than high rise office blocks. We saw Duke Ellington Street and his statue near where he used to live, the front doorway where John Lennon was shot and killed and up through Harlem which is a much nicer place than I imagined. Prices of property here is extortionate, around $4,000 a month rent for a 1 bedroom apartment!
Day 94 Thursday 2nd October
We didn’t have much to pack as we hadn’t unpacked, the hotel was definitely a short stay place with little luggage space as there was no wardrobe, just 3 coat hangers on the wall and 2 small drawers so we left most of our stuff in the suitcases. We showered and went out for breakfast next door. A short walk to digest breakfast then back to the Hotel to finish packing and have a read until it was time to leave at 11am. All checked out, we had the option to get a cab to the railway station but it was only about 12 mins walk – probably as quick as a cab with the amount of traffic around. So we set off pulling 3 suitcases now and wearing 2 rucksacks, arriving at Pennsylvania Station in plenty of time for our 12.03 departure. The journey was only 3.40 mins as it was a limited stop business train so we sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Most of the journey being along the coast we soon left the high rise buildings of New York in favour of the wooden colonial buildings along the coastline. Arriving ahead of time we exited the station and set off for Tremont Street where we were staying. When we arrived we were surprised to find that the apartment was on the top floor of a 4 storey old Victorian house. It is not of the best quality, definitely furnished for rental but it has its own loo, kitchen and bedroom so it will do for 6 days. We dropped the bags, signed the rental agreement and set off to find out where we were and to get some shopping in for meals for a couple of days. It took us 15 mins to walk to the local supermarket and shopping mall where we had a couple of hours walk round and then did the food shop. Walking back to the apartment at sometime after 7pm as it was just about dark, we could see inside some of the apartments and houses on the way – I love looking into windows to see how they have their rooms decorated.
Day 95 Friday 3rd October in Boston
I woke with a stiff back this morning, I think I pulled it attempting to pull the suitcase up the stairs, however, we had promised ourselves a bit of a rest here so we had a lazy breakfast, caught up with some blog and talked to Lucy on the webcam before going next door to the laundry to do some washing. At the other side of the house was a barbershop so Bob went in to get his haircut and finished around the same time as I was bringing the washing out so we went back to the apartment for some lunch then set off for a walk. We can’t believe how lovely the weather is and the forecast is good for the rest of the week too. We walked, stopping to look at anything that interested us, the streets are mostly clean, wide and quiet - such a change from New York. The houses are very Victorian with lots of ironwork on the fronts of them and mostly they are kept very tidy. We walked for about 4 hours, in which time we had checked out the 2 main Trolley Bus Companies for our tour tomorrow to orientate ourselves. Back to the apartment for dinner and a baileys on ice – we treated ourselves to a bottle so I could put my feet up and ease the back while we surfed the net and booked a hotel for the last 2 days here by the airport and a hire car from Heathrow.
Day 96 Saturday 4th October
This morning we had planned to spend the day riding the Trolley Bus round the city. However, I think I pulled my back on Thursday pulling the suitcase up the stairs to the front door of this house and yesterday evening I was in a bit of pain so I decided to take it easy. Fortunately the bed here is very comfortable and I had a good nights sleep so the back is a bit easier today. The first bus leaves the town at 9am so we made it for 9.30, bought the tickets off a very nice man who gave us “pensioner rates” and set off from stop no. 7. We stayed on enjoying the views and the commentary about the city, how it was originally only 1.8sq. miles in size and how most of the 48 sq miles of Boston now is built on landfill taken from the hills. We also saw lots of sights, the most gruesome was the house where the Boston Stranglers last victim was found. We came back round to stop no. 1 which is on the wharf. Here we visited Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the harbour, where we found 2 mounted policemen on huge Clydesdale horses. We watched some Colonially dressed marching bandsmen entertaining the people. Today some of the streets were closed because it was the grand opening of a walkway called the Greenway, around the city. After a bit of shopping in the markets and some lunch we stopped at the ticket office for half price theatre tickets but there was nothing on that we fancied so we hopped back on the bus for two stops to no. 3 where the Naval Yards are. Here we climbed onto the USS Constitution, a very old ship they are continuing to renovate to its original glory . Also we went into the museum and then onto the much younger Destroyer ship from WW2 called the Cassin Young, named after a brave naval man. Finally, with my back starting to ache I sat in the sunshine and read the leaflets we had collected while Bob went into the Museum of Constitution which told the life story of the USS Constitution. Back on the bus we continued to stop no. 5 and visited the State House Museum which is one of the oldest buildings in Boston and where the Governor General lived and who only answered to the King. Also this was the place where the Boston Massacre occurred when the Bostonians rioted about the amount of taxes the English government were putting on them. The sun was shining and so we walked right through downtown Boston, past the park and right back to the shopping centre near our apartment so that we could pick up some food for dinner.
Day 97 Sunday 5th October
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Even though the sun was shining it was Sunday morning so we had a leisurely breakfast and read the local paper that had been thrown at the front of the house in a plastic bag. Around midday, with trainers and coats on we set off for a walk to the Boston Common. There was a very good singer on the bandstand singing gospel songs and we stopped to listen for a few moments and also to see a park ranger on a horse who was also listening. The park was very busy with families enjoying the autumn day. Going up hill we exited the park on the other side into the Beacon Hill area which is one of the nicest areas of Boston. A very historic hilly area, the houses are Victorian, 3 and 4 storey terraces but very elegant and ornately decorated. We climbed up and down taking some photos where we found famous spots – the authoress Louisa May Alcotts’ house, the house where the Boston Stranglers’ last victim was found etc. stopping for coffee and a cake in the main street. Leaving the area we continued down one of the shopping streets and came across a hair salon open on Sunday and on a whim I went in to see if they could cut my hair. The owner said he could do it now so I couldn’t back out and sat for an hour while we chatted and he cut and cut until I said Stop ! $45 and about l lb of hair lighter we came back out into the afternoon air and I felt chilly. Must have been a “on a whim” day because we passed the Apple shop and went in, coming out 15 mins later with docking speakers for my ipod. Bob can’t get over how I spend so much on a Sunday afternoon walk to the park ??
Day 98 Monday 6th October
The weather man said it might rain today so we decided to take scarves and coats as we had decided to take the longest walk yet to Cambridge in the Harvard University area. We headed north towards the river and crossed the Longfellow bridge over it, arriving in East Cambridge about an hour and a half later.
We started to walk towards Harvard University, passing the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which is a very strange shaped building but realized that it was going to be too far to walk all the way to the University Museum from here, especially as my ankle was twinging. We looked around the area and ended up buying some new jeans, a shirt and a handbag for me and some trainers for Bob for ridiculously cheap prices. We had planned to go to the cinema this evening as “The Duchess” starring Kiera Knightly was premiering here so we found a subway and with some tuition bought a 4$ ticket and hopped on a train towards home. We didn’t have any more than an hour before we had to leave to walk to the cinema so we stopped at the pizza parlour across the road which was recommended to us by the landlord and ordered a takeaway, resting my feet while we ate it. Bob had checked the paper and the 8.05 performance was the last one so we set off at just after 7pm and arrived at 7.40pm to find that the performance was at 7.05 and 9.35pm !!! I was not going to walk all the way back without seeing the film now so we bought tickets for the 9.35 performance and went round the corner for a drink in a bar. Around 8.30 the barman asked if we wanted another drink before he closed -What !!!!! We didn’t order another but we did stay until around 9pm when everyone had gone. Slowly we walked back to the cinema and waited for the 7.05 performance to finish before going in and settling into our seats. We enjoyed the film but when we came out it was 11.30pm and my ankle was still sore from earlier walking, also I didn’t fancy walking back in an area we weren’t sure about so we jumped into a taxi outside the cinema and were home in a jiffy. Bob massaged some oil into my ankle while I sipped a Baileys before bed hoping that it would be ok for tomorrows walk.
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