Boston

After a 10 hours drive (googlemaps said 6.5hrs!), 45mins in the midday sun at the American boarder, in a massive tank of a car, we finally reached Boston, and both of us were very glad to have SatNav, otherwise we may still be driving around Boston lost right now.

I think its fair to say we both suffer from a poor sense of direction...  

“Don’t worry about getting lost”, I confidently explained to Laura as I led her in completely the wrong direction from the station we were trying to get to.  “I’ve been here before, I’m practically local”.  I went onto to make up some lies that were not believed about how much the city had given me, and how I had repaid Boston for all the good times.  Confidence, dear reader, is key.  When you have no idea what the deuce is going on, keep on doing it confidently, and chances are not great that you will be stopped.  Of course this falls down somewhat when you realise you’re a bit... well... lost.

With a population of about 600,000, the chances of bumping into someone you know is pretty slim.  However, on our first morning, we left the hotel and headed to the subway, and stood outside the subway looking a bit lost and disorientated was Nick's old flatmate Jamie.  We knew he'd be in Boston when we were there, but considering none of us at this point owned a mobile phone and only had email to communicate with, the chances of bumping into one another were slim.  So now the tale of the two hobbits  gladly turned into a tale of two hobbits and their companion in Boston.

The history of Boston plays a significant role in American history, being the initial place where the American Revolution started, sadly involving tipping a lot of tea into the river.  Sacrilege!  I fear this is also why the Americans can't make a good cup of tea.  So this meant that there was definitely plenty to see and do.  The first tour we took was along the Black Heritage Trail.  I didn't really know very much about slavery in America (apart from what Nick had tried to tell me before hand), so this tour was very interesting.  The tour guide took us around some key places, including Beacon Hill where the black population had lived.  Later on that day we visited Quincy Market where you can find pretty much anything to eat, but we both made sure we tried Boston's famous clam chowder.  On our second day we toured around the Old State House (photo below), which is the oldest public state building in Boston and where the Declaration of Independence was first read aloud to the Bostonians.  The Boston Massacre also happened right outside this building.  Later that day we walked to Fenway Park where the famous Red Sox play baseball.

Jamie was working during the week days so we only met up with him in the evening for dinner and drinks.  On Saturday it was his day off, so early doors we headed to Samuel Adams for a brewery tour.  Its fair to say that the main event was drinking beer (at 10am!) because after we'd left neither Nick nor Jamie knew how to make it.  The brewery was tiny and I wasn't convinced that actually made any beer there because none of the machinery was in use, but the beer was tasty and we learnt how to taste it and what to look for in a good beer.  So a few beers later we headed back to the city centre which had become mobbed.  Boston's ice hockey team had won the Stanley Cup and all of Boston had come out to cheer the team when they returned from Vancouver.  It was pretty much impossible to get anywhere fast.  Finally we reached the start of the Freedom Trail, which we followed for the rest of the day.  For those of you like me, who don't have a clue what the Freedom Trail is I'll explain briefly.  It is basically a 2.5 mile red bricked path which goes through downtown Boston, leading you past 16 significant sites.  We didn't manage to finish and decided to finish the next day, blaming it on the sun (and I'd probably also blame it on us having beer for breakfast!).

So the next day we finished off the Freedom Trail, with the highlight for me seeing a reenactment at Bunker Hill Monument of the British Redcoats firing their weapons.  The last stop of the trail took us to the USS Constitution, which we were able to board.  This vessel has huge cannons and sails, and we were all very much surprised to find out it is still commissioned and could get sent out at any time.  Imagine seeing that coming towards you at sea!!  Later on that evening, we'd googled the best local place to eat in Boston and it was a very tiny Italian restaurant in the Italian district.  So we headed there and queued for about 45mins just to get a table.  Opposite was a famous italian pastry shop called Mike's Pastry, which another massive hoard of people waiting outside to get their sugar fix.  I was sent to that queue to get desert while the boys waited in the restaurant queue.  Luckily I just managed to get our sugar fix, chocolate chip canolli's before we were seated.  Dinner was amazing with us all having a seafood pasta dish, and jamie splashing out to get half a lobster in his! 

On our last day Nick and I went Kayaking on Charles River, which turned out to not be that romantic because the river was filthy!  And its still fair to say that kayaking is not a skill we both possess.  For lunch we met Jamie in China Town and then said our farewells before heading to the train station for what would become a 12 hour overnight train journey to Washington DC.

Quebec City

There is something about taking the railroad to a place that grants a man a new perspective on the world.  Indeed, as the miles clack-a-clack by, and the landscape gradually changes, a mood most felicitous overcame me; for it was to Quebec that we now travelled on our trusty ol’ Iron Horse. 

The first thing someone visiting Quebec should know is that they speak French.  Perhaps the second should be that while all Quebecoise speak English, they are all so convinced that they are French that they refuse to do so.  Laura and I do not speak French very well.  Here endeth the lesson.

Actually that is a bit of an exaggeration, most were friendly, welcoming, and glad we had a go at speaking their native tongue, and so we got by.  Indeed, in the late 18^th century the Quebec provincial legislature spent three days and nights debating the topic of an official language for the province.  The British had relatively recently captured French Canadian colonies in the peace settlement following the Seven Years War, and the issue was laced with political significance.  Would the colonists be forcibly nationalised as Britons?  What would be the provincial religion?  How would the legacy of the croissant survive?  And so, after 72 hours of slogging it out, the momentous decision that people could speak what they wanted was reached.  Almost as much a waste of time as me writing this paragraph.  That said, it is easy to see the European influence on the region.  The streets are narrow and winding, with café tables spilling out onto the cobbles and lashings of street performers well and truly spilled over them too.

Proceeding to the hostel after an eight hour train ride we were greeted by Steeve (lots of ‘E’s’) possibly the nicest man in the city.   Our room, tastefully adorned with a huge circus-themed mural, was complimented by plastic coverings on both mattress and pillows, presumably in response to a series of heavy droolers doing the rounds on the east coast. Nevertheless, it was clean enough, had an awesome wardrobe that I could hide in to scare Laura, and was only a place to lay our heads.

As we have done in most of our stops, the first day was a walking day around the city to get bearings and, as Dad would say, get a feel for the place.  In so doing we happened upon Notre Dame Cathedral a beautiful, gold laced building, with an alter so glorious that for a moment you forget it was paid for by dirty Catholic money used to buy their way into heaven.  We also accidentally attached ourselves to a tour group from a church in the mid-west who had brought their own nun to read, and who eventually gave us sufficient odd looks for us to figure out the hint and move on.  The centre of Old Quebec covers a surprisingly small area, so nearly everywhere we looked into we found ourselves facing up to some monument, or historically significant house.  The skyline is dominated by the Hotel Frontenac, a goliath of a structure that, via some crafty circumnavigation, took us to the boardwalk (left) which carries walkers up and along the river by way of 312 steps (we counted to check) to the highest point in the city.  From here we headed into the Citadel, still an operational military base, to learn about stuff, and stuff was learned.

It being wet, we headed to the Musee de la Civilisation, which was obviously a museum and so not prone to lending itself to in depth recollections in prose.  Nonetheless, it was an excellent Rome exhibition with a tour given by one of the only people I’ve ever known never to pause for a thought, or an ‘um’ or even a breath.  She really knew her stuff.  I also had a lot of fun in the science section, even after Laura scornfully told me it was for children, and that she would be in the ‘Discovering Quebec’ exhibit.  I still had a lot of fun pushing buttons, and learning things about physicists my sister would scoff at.  Even Coops was impressed to learn from a graph that by 2012 women will be running the 800m faster than men.  Using graphs, 90% of the time you can prove 60% of things all the time.  That evening we supped in a humble restaurant called Le Hobbit upon a simple yet elegant pasta dish with spicy lamb sausage and a host of other flavours. 

Monday saw us open our account with savoury crepes and coffee before heading to Place de l’Assemblee Nationale where we were took a tour of Quebec’s parliament building.  As breakfast had been late that day, lunch was merely a chocolate crème pastry followed by a walk down to harbour area, around which was Place Royale.  Aside from having a very pretty church, it is also host to the old hanging spot, and also to this fun to play on pirate ship.  I started something by climbing on it because no sooner had I got down than an old man was scaling the rigging.  For just a moment it could have been Seannair...  We ate at Poisson d’Avril which gave us massive bowls of steaming mussels and fries and then we went to a local brewery, Barhevie, for a couple of beers.

(For those of you wondering why the sudden obsession with chronicling my food, I say this.  It is not a sudden obsession.  But actually, it is a tip of the hat to my Nanny who emailed me recently to say we both must be the size of buses because of how much we seem to eat.  We don’t starve.)

With the price of tourism harbour cruises on the rise in response to the recent decimation of the fleet following the great seagull crapathon of ’09, we were advised to take the regular commuter ferry to Levis (there should be an accent in there).  Steeeevee looked shocked by the mere suggestion of disembarking on the other side but we were glad we did.  Trekking the flights of stairs up the cliff, and then up a further hill (Laura loves hills when they go up), we gave ourselves a beautiful view looking back over Quebec.  We skilfully navigated a roadwork, ill-suited for such narrow little streets, and topped ourselves up with an amazing ice cream; first plopped on the cone, then dipped in fast solidifying chocolate and presented to the eager and soon to be messy child/Nick.  As we contemplated our soon to plagiarised ice cream business model, we were taken passed churches, and libraries, many homes obviously too, and ultimately back to the ferry.  

This in turn dropped us off near the local market where we got a lasagne for tea, ate, and headed back out for a ghost walk.  Neither over, nor under, but just nicely whelmed would be a fair description of it.  Nice walk around the city, with an awkwardly small group was nobody’s fault, but the stories weren’t all that great.  Maybe I’m just a spoiled Old Worlder with too much history and too many ghost stories.  Either way, a good end to an amazing city, and Boston awaited.

Train to Quebec City

Very early start this morning.  We are currently on the 6.40am train from Toronto to Quebec City.  I think its going to take us about 9 hours!

I've never been on a canadian train, and it is luxury!  The economy seats are better than 1st class seats in the UK.  However, it is very slow, but I guess that just gives us more time to enjoy the view from the window.  Presently we are trundling along the side of Lake Ontario.

Niagara Falls

We went on the Maid of the Mist boat (blue coat and boat shown in one of the pics), which took you right into the falls and the power from them was amazing.  We got totally soaked, but it was a really hot day and rather refreshing.  We also went in the tunnels behind the falls (yellow coats), and again got totally soaked.

  

Toronto

We arrived in Toronto on Sunday.  My friend Molly, from the Rimrock, lives in Toronto so she kindly picked us up from the airport with her father, and we stayed with her for a few nights before moving onto the hostel.  We didn't do nearly as much sightseeing as we did in Chicago, but it was a welcome break to not rush around trying to see as much as possible.  While Toronto was a nice city, I think I could take it or leave it.  I definitely preferred Chicago and Vancouver.  Sorry Toronto.











During our stay we ventured up the CN Tower, which is the second tallest in the world, and with sweaty palms we made it up the sky pod to the very top.  The view from here was brilliant.  In a couple of months it will be possible to walk around the ledge using a harness... we will not be signing up for this!!

Next we had a look round Fort York, which is an historic site of military fortifications built by the British and Canadians in the late 18th century.  It was built to try and defend Toronto, then York, from the US.  We took an informative tour, but the guide was a little strange constantly repeating jokes and standing staring without saying anything for extended periods.  I think he was waiting for us to ask questions, but we didn't really have any as it was pretty self explanatory.





Have you ever wondered what Nick would look like if he was a tree?  Well, we happened across a tree near Toronto University which was "born" on the same date as Nick... therefore if he was a tree he'd look like this...

We also went to Casa Loma (spanish for Hill House), a Gothic Revival style house, built for financier Sir Henry Pellatt.  He was originally from Glasgow, and brought hydro-electricity to Toronto.  The mansion had over 200 lights and 50 telephones!  Sir Henry sounded like a great man, but unfortunately and rather sadly ended up dying near penniless from bad investments.  The mansion was amazing, and even though it was built in 1911 didn't really seem that dated.  Nick decided he could live there now.  The gardens were also resplendent, but we did feel a little superannuated walking around and spotting flowers that we knew.

On Wednesday we went to Niagara Falls.  Words cannot describe how awesome the falls were so we'll just put up some photos on its own post so you can see for yourself.

I had been put in contact with Anne, a very distant relation on my dad's side, who lives in Nanticoke, Toronto.  So yesterday we ventured out to see them and to meet up with some other distant relatives who she had managed to gather together.  There we were given a tour by Anne and her son James (my 6th cousin) of the town and the graveyard, followed by dinner.  It was interesting to see the place where they had settled looked very similar to Lincholnshire from where they had originally come.  Huge flat arable fields and long straight roads.  After dinner, Donna showed me just one of her books where she had collected photos and other memorabilia, which was really interesting to see.  She had two more, but it got pretty late and we still had to get back to Toronto.  Donna and her husband John kindly drove us back to Toronto, which was greatly appreciated.  Next time I'm sending dad out to come meet them.  It got very complicated trying to work out how we were all related!

Chicago

After a shaky start at customs, where I decided that dad would not have made it into the US and would probably of had a fight with the grumpy american customs man, we finally arrived in Chicago, stepping off the plane into a wave of heat.  The hostel we were staying in was a bit of a trek, but was definitely worth it.  Everything was really nice and clean, and we got free breakfast and a free BBQ on Friday.  In the afternoon we walked around downtown and went to the Contemporary Art Museum in the late afternoon.  This is where Nick then realised he actually doesn't like contemporary art, mainly because its just a squiggly picture and then some pretentious description of it next to it.  However, some of the things there were good.  On our walk home, we passed a very busy pizza restaurant, so we nipped in here to get dinner.  It was called Uno's and the pizza take about 45mins to cook because they are so deep!

We were in Chicago for 5 days, and even that amount of time didn't seem long enough to do everything that the city had to offer.  On Wednesday we walked by Michigan Lake all the way to Navy Pier, stopping to look at all the boats and in the evening we went to Micky's, a pub near the hostel to watch the Stanley Cup Final, where our team the Canucks won!!

On Thursday we ventured to the Chicago Museum of History, which was really good and informative, and probably why we ended up there for nearly 5 hours.  The first hour wasn't that enjoyable because the museum was packed to the brim with screaming hyper children, but they soon left and the "oldies" could go back to the peace and quiet and buzzing sound of learning.  Coming outside we both looked a little shell shocked from all the information we'd stored away somewhere, we had a nice cup of tea and made our way to the Art Museum because the hostel said it was free on thursday evenings.  However upon reaching the museum, we found they don't have that offer anymore.  We were next to the Millennium Park so we took a stroll around there before heading back.  There was a really shiny peanut looking sculpture we played around with.

The next day we rented some bikes from the hostel and rode down Lake Michigan Lakefront for a few hours, cycling past the aquarium, the planetarium and a park dedicated to firefights and paramedics. The weather was gorgeous again.  Later that day we went back to the Art Institute of Chicago, which was really good.  I especially enjoyed looking at suits of armour, and the impressionists art.  We stayed well away from all the contemporary art this time :-)  On our way home we took a stroll around the Clarence Buckingham Fountain, which was something else.

Yesterday was our last day, and was a day of fun!  In the morning we had a look round the Zoo, which is free and was really good.  Nick got to see the penguins and I got to see some seals.  We also saw a really cute baby monkey.  After the zoo we went in search of Frank and Dawgs, a hot dog place recommended by the hostel.  The food there was amazing.  The place was run by an ex top chef, so the hot dogs were something else.  I had lamb hotdog with pistachios, greek yogurt, mint and pear chutney.  I really wanted to go on a boat when we were here, so we walked back to Navy Pier, but the boat I wanted to go on (looked like a pirate ship) was away until monday which was a real blow.  So Nick bought us an icecream and we took the River Taxi as our boat trip here.  The weather had been amazing with the sun out, however, it suddenly got very dark and everyone started rushing around.  Next minute, the heavens opened and there was a huge thunder and lightning storm.  We sheltered under an umbrella by the river, which was really romantic, even if we were soaking wet.  After the storm had passed, we headed up Michigan Avenue to the Drake Hotel for afternoon tea.  It was soooo posh, but lovely.  We so weren't hungry, but there was scones, banana bread, sandwiches and mini cakes to be had :-)  Later that evening after sharing dinner after all the food we'd eaten that day, we headed to Kingston Mines, a blues bar close to our hostel.  The atmosphere in here was brilliant, and Nick and I even got up to dance after a few more beers.  All in all, yesterday was a very fun day!

We really loved it here in Chicago, the weather has been great, our hostel is in a safe neighbourhood, and everywhere there seems to be something to do.  The areas we have been to are obviously wealthy, because everywhere is green, there's loads of random sculptures all over, and buildings look shiny and new.  I'd definitely come back here to see more, because there was no way we could try and do everything in such a short space of time.