Bounding around Boston - Part 2

Before we got the bus to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum located on part of the MIT campus in Cambridge we walked past the Prudential Tower we'd just had lunch at the top of.

The bus ride was a very short one and after a little confusion as to where we were going we found the Museum. It was awesome for nerds like us and probably non-nerds too. What sparked my interest in wanting to go there was the large collection of holographic images they have on display but I ended up enjoying everything there. From plasma balls to awesome mechanical objects and an area you can write your own ideas with colouring pencils! Lots of science, technology and design among other things.

I have to apologies to Norngirl for what we did next which was to walk back to the hotel. In my defense it looked a lot closer on the map. Sorry again!

The upside to that walk was the view, a view of the city across the river.

Which also looks fun as an upside down reflection in the river.

The sun set as we walked back and we took it easy in the evening, taking our time over a swim in the pool then out for a long meal (I had a BLT pizza) and drinks.

The next day was the day we flew home but we had it planned so we could make the most of the day.

1st up we checked out then left our luggage with the water taxi company we were going to be travelling with to the airport later in the day.

Next we hopped across town, having a look around as we went.

We called into a few shops for the few remaining gifts we wanted to get for folks back home, a café for lunch, and made our way on the subway out to a place called Stony Brook which has a real old town US feel to it provided by the fun ye olde period looking houses.

Located there is the Samuel Adams brewery who do free tours though a small donation of a couple of dollars to local charities is asked for on the tour itself. Our tour guide was great, I can only describe it as like being taken on a brewery tour by Boston's version of Al Murray - which was brilliant fun - give this dude a pay-rise.

We got to taste the ingredients and then at the end, plenty of the finished product including some speciality lines. Not only that, they let you keep your Sam Adams taster glass. As well as our glasses we left with a new found appreciation for some of the beer.

Back on the subway and enjoying the almost tipsy feeling, we got off the subway and took a look around Boston Public Garden, a large park in the middle of the city.

Once we'd had our scenic fill, we got back on the T to Quincy Market where we'd been the day before.

We had something on our bucket list that we hadn't done yet which was on sale there. With just a couple of hours to go before we needed to be at the airport, we had time to try some clam chowder which was very creamy and tasty.

The trip was over all too soon, time has a habit of keeping ticking but as we'd planned we still had one more thrill, the water taxi. We'd looked at getting the T across to the airport but it just didn't seem as fun and it's always great to have something to look forward to right at the very end of your trip. I'm really glad we did take the water taxi as from the boat we were able to see the city from the water and it's quite the view, a fine way to bid farewell to the city.

As I mentioned at the start of the post, I found Boston to be relaxed and welcoming. The best parts of our trip for me were the Ice Hockey and the museum at MIT, I also very much enjoyed the Sam Adams Brewery tour and the clam chowder. Though Boston seems to sell its tourism on it’s history and that probably works for a US crowd my opinion would be, that like Belfast, it's best assets are where it’s people get on board in creating it’s future. Old and historically significant buildings, churches and boats are a dime a dozen around the world, but exhibits like those at MIT and the friendly feel inside a large sports arena seem increasing unique – at least those that really do it well anyway! The taste and flavours of the city are great and there is loads to do, especially in the surrounding area and a lot more than we could fit into our 1 full day and 2 half days. I’d especially like to revisit the city at a good time for whale watching as I think it’d be awesome. Out of the 3 cities we visited (Washington, New York and Boston) Boston was the most down to Earth and most like being back in the UK but that comes with both a good side and a bad, good in the way it’s non-threatening and functional but not so good in that it lacks some of the real excitement and that almost undefinable life of it’s own that somewhere like New York has in abundance. I really enjoyed Boston and indeed the whole trip, I just hope that one day we can afford to revisit.

Bounding around Boston - Part 1

In Boston (The one in Massachusetts, USA) we found a pleasant city with a nice atmosphere and friendly people. This was our last stop in our February 2012 US visit and we were only there a couple of days, a flying visit as we were flying back to the UK from Logan Airport.

I think we spent our time wisely as again thanks to Norngirl it was well planned. After getting off the train from New York we stood on an almost deserted platform, the complete opposite of Penn Station where we'd been just hours earlier. The first thing we did was buy our travel passes for the local metro service called the 'T' and found ourselves a station to get on a tram out to Cambridge where the hotel we were staying at was located.

Once we had made it to the hotel, checked and settled in, we made our way to the local Cheesecake Factory we found food and were introduced to the not so old Samuel Adams. His tastier brews became a firm friend during our visit.

Another ride on the T and we'd made it to TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins for the big game as they took on the New York Rangers.

I'll try not to delve into too much depth as I still aim to write a separate post on all of the overall Ice Hockey experience but suffice to say, we weren't at this game as neutrals. We were cheering for the New York Rangers! Boston and New York have quite the friendly rivalry. Inside the stadium we were set upon by a big fury Bruin, thankfully this one was the mascot dressed up in a big plush costume. I got a mocking tug of my hockey shirt that says 'NEW YORK' diagonally across it and some Bruin attitude... we laughed. Next up the dude selling beer was toying with us until he found out we'd travelled from the Emerald Isle, at which point ‘best buds’ and the beer flowed. It was all in good humour and it set the tone for a friendly but competitive game in which, complete with a flashing beer, we had a great time.

It felt like being in a friendly hornets nest (the Bruins club colours didn't help) or should I say Bruins den? We were little spots of blue and red scattered amongst an arena of yellow and black. A plucky fellow New York Rangers fan in the section across from us gave us both some confidence with some fighting talk and so as the NYR goals rained in we celebrated like we were at Madison Square Garden. The final score was 3-0, the Bruins fans did get to cheer but it was short lived as a goal was correctly ruled out muwhahahaha.

We hung back as the crowds emptied from the stands to take it all in and ended up having a chat about hockey with a friendly Bruins fan and we wished them all the best for the season. On the way out the building we had to use the lift, turns out we weren't the only UK hockey fans in the building as a lady with a Coventry Blaze shirt was there too. Our night ended back in the hotel with a slice of Cheesecake, watching the Daily Show on TV.

The next day we set about our sightseeing itinerary. We'd decided not to bother with the USS Constitution as we've seen our fair share of ships and US history this trip. We also looked up the sights along the freedom trail but we hoped to do something different.

First of all we took a walk past Boston City Hall, Custom House Tower...

and Faneuil Hall ...

...and through Quincy Market.

We then carried on our walk down Long Wharf amongst others...

The aim was to find where to go the next day for a water taxi to the airport and it found where we were looking for at Rowes Wharf.

To get to our next location we ended up in the Aquarium... well the stop of that name anyway. The place names were fun. We were heading inbound which wouldn't have been disappointing if we weren't giving up the intrigue of finding out what was is in Wonderland!

Where we did go was for lunch, a delicious and very reasonably priced set lunch (which on the day was $22 for 3 courses) at the restaurant called 'Top of the Hub' which is located at the top of Prudential Tower. It had amazing views of the urban sprawl and beyond.

This was followed by a short walk to the bus stop to catch our ride over the Harvard bridge to the University area in order to visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum... more in part 2.

A Ride on the Roosevelt Island Tramway

Time travelling back into our US adventure earlier in the year. On Monday 13th February, we headed from Brooklyn to Roosevelt Island so we could cross back into Manhattan. Roosevelt Island is a long, thin island (approx 200 meters wide and 2km long) sat neatly in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Long Island, it's a small island yet home to over 9,500 people. With a huge bridge - the Queensboro Bridge - looming over part of the island, it does seem an in-between sort of place to be. We arrived on the island underground on the subway but our way off the island was via the famous Roosevelt Island Tram.

With the weekly MetroCards we'd bought to get us around the city during our stay, we'd been pleasantly surprised when planning our itinerary to find out that you can also ride the aerial tramway with it. Luckily the weather was dry and bright on the day we were there so we got a great view. However, before we hung out with a few other tourists and commuters 70m above the East River, we found some feathery friends enjoying the winter sun and stopped to watch them for a while.

The island seemed fairly relaxed compared to the bustle of the streets just the other side of the river but apart from the lack of activity on the streets we didn't see much else, we had a long day ahead planned, so we made our way into the station where we looked up and waited for the next tram car to descend.

After taking a seat we glued our faces to the slightly mucky windows and watched out of the window as the car lifted us up and over the river.

It was a nice view of the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island

The downside to it is that it was soon over as it is just a short ride of approximately 1km, but the good side is that it is a really nice way to travel and takes you as far over land as it does over water.

The other station is a couple of avenues across into the city on 2nd Avenue which is fun as you get to drift over the roads and watch the world pass by below.

Once we'd arrived at the station we headed down some stairs and made our way downtown to enjoy the rest of our day.

Wandering along the Coney Island Boardwalk

After a walk on the beach I took a wander back along the Coney Island boardwalk.

For anyone in the UK who might not know, a boardwalk is what it says on the tin, a wooden walkway - like a pier but where the promenade would be. Here is some of it being repaired or re-laid.

It was a nice little walk. I'd covered the best part of 6 miles in the day at this point and so it was nice to have lots of little distractions to look at... like painted bins:

And the art work on the side of the walls of the New York Aquarium:

There was proof I was indeed at Coney Island Beach... look - see!

And just to prove that beach is only a step off the boardwalk away...

I took a little detour at the entrance of the Aquarium and took in a better view of the famous Coney Island Cyclone - a wooden rollercoaster.

From the boardwalk you also get a closer view of the amusement parks and the rides like the Wonder Wheel:

I really liked these little (well, rather huge) advertising characters perched on the top of some rather run down looking shops.

Like most of the Coney Island I saw, these guys summed it up, they looked a little in need of a some TLC - which on the most part seemed to be happening - especially with the boardwalk itself which seems to be undergoing some maintenance whilst I was there (like in the first photo).

The buildings that were painted looked the part:

With landmarks like the Parachute Jump tower (depicted in the art on the wall above and shown in the photo below) it's a unique place.

I'd like to visit Coney Island again sometime in the future - during a summer time when there is more open. Even in winter though (albeit a very warm day for February), as a first time visit, it was well worth spending the afternoon there.