Spent most of today (about 4 hours) walking the Freedom Trail, which I found difficult to navigate until after I got to the Visitors' Center and picked up a map ... and then noticed the red trail, about a foot wide, that runs down the middle of the sidewalks and through crosswalks. Doh.
The trail itself is quite interesting: I walked through or around at least three burying grounds, inside a beautiful church, where I boldy asked someone else's tour guide why some of the benches face backward (seriously, who wants to crane his or her neck around to try to look at the preacher who's talking behind one?). Turns out, the children probably sat there, presumably so the devout parents could keep a warning eye on their children who assuredly had short attention spans. I took pictures of quite a few old buildings, and walked over the cobblestone circle that marks the spot of the Boston massacre, where five Bostonians were shot ... by accident? At least, that's how the history books and tour guides tell it. Peeked over plenty of shoulders to try to see some break dancers in front of Faneuil and around the Quincy, South and North markets, Haymarket... skipped Paul Revere's house because I'd seen it before. Then, because I had some extra time on my hands, I walked across the Charles River on the Charlestown Bridge. Where I stopped about a third of the way along, and swore silently when I noticed that the middle section IS WIRE MESH. So I was walking on a bridge where I could SEE THE RIVER BELOW ME. Nobody mentioned that, so I paused a moment to gather my courage, and walked across with my eyes on the beam I made sure to keep under my feet. Then, after I witnessed the amazingness of the children's hands-on section of the USS Constitution Museum, I did it again! Still directly over the supporting beam, though, and I'm pretty sure my speed picked up as I neared the end.
Finally I got back to the North End, where I had great coffee, excellent tiramisu', and an excellent (and expensive) seafood dinner. Yumm. Said goodnight to the host in Italian - Buona sera, signore - think I got a reply in Italian, yay! Probably I could be very comfortable in Boston's very Italian North End.
I think the beach is on tomorrow's schedule - stay tuned.
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