Boston Day 4

Boston Harbour, the Downtown area and last dinner ...

Waiting for a table near the restaurant that we chose for last night's dinner 

Outside dining yet again! The Boston evenings were certainly plenty warm enough. The humidity was much less of an issue

The next morning, our final day in Boston, we decided to take a look around the harbour area. We needed some time in the afternoon to rest and pack 

Still grey clouds but not cold. The humidity increased during the morning to about 90%. This was a pier and ferry terminal

Looking back towards the Boston skyline from the end of the pier 

There were some nice craft moored in this part of the harbour 

Some that were obviously really expensive!

This was the Boston Tea Party Museum that was not overly inspiring 

Boston building architecture is really varied. Obviously the architects took a challenge to create something different to the standard concrete block 

Also trying to blend with the older architecture is a challenge. This was South Station - seemed an odd place for a railway station 

This building was quite striking even though its colour was very drab. Its street footprint was about one quarter of the upper floor areas 

And, of course, every city has its Chinatown!  

On the way to dinner on our last night in Boston! 

Our last dinner in Boston! This will be the last post of this trip as we are up and off early tomorrow  morning to catch a flight from Boston Logan airport to New York (JFK) then about 7 hour layover before our Qantas flight to Sydney via Los Angeles. We guess about 30 hours door to door!

Boston Day 3

Boston Common, Public Gardens, Cheers and Brownstones ...

The morning of our 3rd day in Boston was very stormy so we decided to rest up and see what happened later in the day. After lunch we ventured out to the Old Granary Burial Ground that was just around the corner from our hotel right in the centre of Boston. This graveyard is the final resting place for a number of famous people including Paul Revere

We then moved on down the road to Boston Common 

You can see that it was still very wet from the rain but it was steadily improving 

Anne with one of the frogs at the Frog Pond 

It is a beautiful park right in the very centre of Boston 

Plenty of ducks and grey squirrels 

The weeping willows were magnificent 

Anne sitting on mother duck with ducklings behind! 

The original Cheers Bar that is adjacent to Boston Common 

The original Cheers bar room around which the TV series was created 

We just had to have drink in the Cheers Bar!

Anne and Terri deep in conversation! 

After our refreshments we then walked to the Back Bay area of Boston which is famous for its Brownstone residential buildings 

This is not a cheap area of Boston! 

Another street of Brownstones 

Walking along Commonwealth Avenue heading back to our hotel 

Back through the more formal Public Gardens which are even prettier than the adjacent Boston Common 

This is a statue of Washington with the Boston skyline in the background 

Washington on his horse 

Yours truly in my ever fashionable attire!

Boston Day 2

Around town, DUKW Tour and Freedom Trail ...

On the way to the pick up point for the Boston Duck Tours. There were a couple of dozen of these globes decorated in different eco themes

The new State House. The dome is covered in gold leaf! 

I cannot identify this church but it was nice all the same! 

Boston Common 

Copley Square. Terri and Anne on bronze rabbit and turtle respectively 

Trinity Church in Copley Square 

Adjacent to Copley Square the John Hancock Tower, 63 storeys, built exactly 100 years after Trinity Church in the photo above. The John Hancock Tower was built with a totally glass exterior to reflect the older architectures. You can see the reflection of adjacent buildings 

Public Library on the left and yet another handsome church across the road. This is still around Copley Square

The amphibious DUKW vehicles were first designed and built in WWII. Boston Duck Tours still have four of the originals in operation. This one is a later builds - they have about 40 in total!

Our DUCKW Tour pick up point was at the Science Museum, hence Anne's friend! 

Our driver / captain for the DUKW Tour. He was good value with plenty of information for the 80 minute tour 

Our hotel can be see here. The Omni Parker Hotel is the oldest continuously operated hotel in Boston and is right in the centre of the original town 

You don't often see a Steinway Piano outlet!

The original Cheers Bar around which the TV series was modelled. Outside shots were all filmed here. 

Some of the traditional Boston city dwellings 

Newbury Street were all the Mercedes, BMWs and money hangs out 

Our DUKW Tour amphibious vehicle reflected in the John Hancock Tower. You can just pick out Terri and Anne up near the front!

A classy address where a another series was filmed - Boston Legal?? 

Some more traditional Boston city dwellings 

The relatively new Zakim / Bunker Hill Bridge - not dissimilar to the Sydney ANZAC Bridge 

The road system around here makes me thankful that I have already returned the rental car! 

Now in the water! Private boat going off for Labour Day Weekend. Note the dog  

This is one of the original DUKW vehicles from WWII 

Our driver / captain allowed a couple of people to "drive" the vehicle in the water 

View of Boston City from the water

Paul Revere's house built around 1680 and purchased by Paul Revere, a silversmith, in 1770. The Revere family owned the house for about 30 years 

Well known Union Oyster Bar 

The Holocaust Memorial

Again, the Holocaust Memorial