Sunday, October 21, 2012

Boston...from Charlestown to Cambridge....by foot

Okay, so I've been wanting to go back to Boston....just cause there's so much to see and do, so many new things, places to explore.  And with megabus.com, it's so so affordable!  I got two round trip tickets to Boston from Portland (Concord bus!)...for $16...it cost $4 to park there all day, so what a bargain!  We left at 7:30 a.m. and didn't return til after 9 p.m., lots of time to walk around!

So, first we needed some coffee and lo and behold, Emily happened to be in Boston so she quickly zipped across town and we met on the new green (I'm not sure what this park is called but it's located between Fanheuil Hall and the North End, and makes for a very pleasant place to sip and have one's latte!)...plus, the weather had turned from cloudy/rainy to warm/slightly cloudy.
Meeting Emily in Boston....
Mike wanted to go over to Charlestown and revisit the Battle of Bunker Hill, so we pretty much followed the Freedom Trail across the Charles River into Charlestown.  I love, love, and love walking around the North End and would like to spend an entire day just eating everything in sight.  But not today, we had plans!


 could you tell, I was hungry!






I also love the narrow streets...




and how people decorate their window boxes.....




so, over the bridge and into Chalestown we went,



You can see the Bunker Hill Monument in the distantce.



As I mentioned, we'd been to Bunker Hill before and visited the USS Constitution as well, so we decided not to do that part this time around, but I'd recommend it otherwise.  It's the oldest commissioned vessell in the US Navy and is docked right in the Charlestown Navy Yard...you can actually walk right onboard!

But on to Bunker Hill! we went.....the surrounding neighborhood...


the excitement builds for Mike as he's getting closer!

 in the meantime I like to take in the local sights....



Mike stands aside Col. William Prescott, another hero of Bunker Hill.

 which was actually fought on Breed's Hill.

We'd planned on watching part of  the Head of the Charles Regatta, the world's largest two-day rowing event and discovered that we could walk along the Charles River on the Charlestown side, via this new park...

which can be found somewhere near the bridge we'd walked across earlier


it was warming up outside.....

this is all pretty amazing, and I wish I'd had my bike as it goes for miles and miles....

looking across at the Museum of Science










Now, we are actually in Cambridge, looking for the Regatta!  but first, a quick run into H&M for a cooler top!

as it was getting really warm outside!





but really nice to look at first, all the sailboats 



with Boston's high risers in the background...

MIT


the Boston skyline....

 and the Geese Regatta!





there are quite a few of these bridges between Boston & Cambridge, but unfortunately, they  seem to be  crumbling!



Now, time for lunch and a brew at....it was the first place we came upon actually
but it turned out to be pretty good as we got a seat at the bar immediately as well as good food...



but not cheap....I had a Bloody Mary....fancy that....$10, yikes!!! lunch cost $50 and we shared  a Cuban...

Next, it was time to get onto the Harvard Campus....just to take a look around....




Mike, trying to get into Harvard...



Park of the common square at Harvard....I'm not  familiar with this campus!



by this time, we'd had quite enough of being amongst the privileged intellectuals (well, I had and Mike was tired!)....so, we took the T back to the Commons!


Mike was ready for a nap

as I checked out what was happening in the park.....





a dare devil
A musician....he was actually quite good!

And a wedding....!


Well, after walking around a great deal more, we went around looking for food, but couldn't get into any place on te North End w/o waiting for an hour plus (poor planning on my part!)...so, after finding a place at Fanheuil Hall (really?), where we shared a huge plate of Nachoes (was that really Velveeta cheese that I ate??!), we were ready to head back to South Station and catch the bus back...













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a courthouse....