With our traveling away from Boston out of the way, we had some time to roam around the city. We caught a bus from our home stay to downtown. We wandered the streets of Boston taking in the sights. We had more time to see some of the places we had to rush to see back in our visit to Boston in November 2011. We found a slew of pianos all over town. They were each decorated in different ways and are open for anyone who knows how to play to give it a go. Of course, if you don't know how to play, you can showcase your lack of talent as well.
We wandered past a memorial to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. People tied ribbons as a memorial to the bombing on a fence near where it happened.
Boston was hosting an exhibit of globes painted and decorated in different themes. It was interesting to see the exhibit that we had seen during the summer of 2010 in
Marseille, France. Some of the globes were personalized to Boston and one memorialized the Boston Marathon.
We ventured along the Freedom Trail for a bit. We visited the bay where the Boston Tea Party took place. The weather was beautiful and gave us a great view. There is a museum to visit but we weren't in the mood to go through it. Long story short, people were made about taxes on tea and tossed it all in the harbor. From there, we headed to the church near Paul Revere's house. The house is also a museum that requires around $10.00 to visit.
That night, we spent some time catching up with an old friend from Madrid that is from Boston and had returned home. Always an interesting moment to hang out with friends in our actual country instead of our adopted one where we met and formed so many memories together. She took us to eat at the market next to Faneuil Hall. It's kitschy but full of crap food. Do avoid if you want to eat good food. If, on the other hand, you are a student on a budget, it might be the place for you.
On our last full day in Boston, we headed over to Cambridge. It's famous for being home to the illustrious Harvard University. While Harvard had its heyday and still tries to hang on to its yuppy title of being an impressive place to study, the areas around it are surprisingly full of people begging from food and money. It's a strange juxtaposition of kids from well to do backgrounds feeling proud of themselves for attending a cultural legacy passing by and ignoring those in need of basic necessities.
We had dinner that night with an old friend who happened to be in Boston on business at, of all places, a southern Cajun place. We followed the recommendations from the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. While they make a noble effort to bring southern soul food to northerners, its still not the same. Since all of us at dinner except our local Bostonian were from the south, we were charmed by the effort but the actual end product was far from what we would call authentic southern cuisine.
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