Day 1 cont. - Sunshine and Tired Legs, and Beer

Have just returned from breakfast in the hostel dungeons, complete with bacon, waffles, and synthetic fruit punch that caused Jannick to squirm. The apple jelly was also delightful.

Our first day was excellent. Despite some hiccups getting across the pond (Jan pooing his pants on descent into Logan International and a quarter of an hour at the immigration officer's desk ('How can you afford to come here if you've just graduated from college?', 'How do you know these "friends"?', 'Does China know you're coming?')), we made a great stab at exploring the city on foot. We wandered westward to Back Bay and, after admiring the triangular splendour of Trinity Church (windows done by William Morris), entered the Boston Public Library, whose well kept reading rooms reminded me of Oxford libraries.

Trinity Church

Inside Boston Public Library

Statue of Sir Henry Vane at BPL

The above statue is of Sir Henry Vane, an activist for religious freedom in the early days of the colonies, and was convicted of treason and beheaded on Tower Hill on 14th June 1662, under the reign of Charles II. Boston features numerous other statues dotted around the city, erected in honour of local heroes such as 'patriot', revolutionary, and beer marketing tool Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere, who famously alerted the colonies of the British invasion.

Then we headed back into the centre of town, traversing the frog pond and Boston Common, or the marijuana miasma that appeared to hover above it... We found the Downtown area, enjoying still the brilliant blend of town and city. We settled on a bar called The Tap for dinner, instantly ticking off our wish to try some of Boston's own Clam Chowdah. It was a delicious first meal, complete with a gigantic bowl of nachos, a pitcher of lager, and an Irish (actually) purple-haired waitress.

Feeling the city's night life begin to come alive, and keen to vanquish jet lag as quickly as possible, we continued on after dinner and found more sectors of the city, including a delightful Italian quarter, which boasted its own cannoli store with customers snaking out the door! "Leave the gun, take the cannoli..."

After a walk down to the water's edge and one more pint of local ale it was time to ride the ancient subway to our beds.

Cheers.