My Goodness!

There are too many Dunkin' Donuts shops in this town for any rational society!! And there's lines in all of them. Madness!!

So, last time I wrote, we were heading off to a pro-basketball game. We watched Boston take on the Cleveland team While I know nothing about basketball, we had a great time cheering on the Celtics. It was a very close match with Boston often a few points ahead but Cleveland won in the end by 3 points. I knew none of the players, though I did recognise one name on the Cleveland team - LeBron James - and he really was an awesome player - a complete standout even though I didn't really know what I was looking for in terms of skills! We came home via a cool little pub named "The 21st Amendment" which we thought was quite fitting :)

Yesterday, we had another wandering-around day in Boston. We started off at the Boston Public Library and were lucky enough to find three free exhibitions going on. One was about the idea of public morality in 18th/19th century London and how this was reflected in print – so basically tons of old books – another was etchings of places in the US and Europe by Gardner, a Bostonian artist of the 1900-50s, and the third was the John Addams Library. Addams was the second president of the USA and a manic book collector. He had an amazing variety of books and they are all available to students today, though now mostly on-line. After the library, we had another meander through the shops and streets, followed by a nice dinner and a bottle of McLaren Vale red at Bec and Ryan’s.

And now it’s time to rug up and head off into the cold again! And for Ryan to find more donuts....

Day 1 in Boston!

Well, after a lazy morning, we headed out and about around Boston. Ryan and Bec live in a gorgeous building on Commonwealth Avenue, right in the middle of the city, so it's wonderfully central for us!



We've basically had a day of wandering around the city today. It's been brisk out but not too cold and the sky has been clear so perfect walking weather. We started off walking through Boston Common and the public gardens and then went down to the river for a bit, then into the city and then down to Faneuil Hall and Quincey Market .

http://www.boston.world-guides.com/markets.html>

Didn't buy much but it's a good place to browse. I came VERY close to buying a couch throw with the Pledge of Allegiance on it...

We then walked down to the port and as it was 4.30 - ish, the sun was setting so it was time to head back here to meet my brother (Ha ha - Ryan has to work!!).


I like sunset shots anyhow. :)

By the time we walked back, the sun set entirely and now it's pitch dark again. I just went out to the street to take a photo of the Christmas lights - aren't they gorgeous??


Tonight, the wonderful Bec has organised tickets for us to go to the basketball. We're heading off soonish so time again to sign off! Go Celtics!!

Boston

Have arrived in Boston and am sitting in the lovely warm apartment of my brother, Ryan and his wife, Bec. We've also met Macy the hairless cat who is actually far cuter than we anticipated!Ryan has decided it's time to open the Christmas presents that we've brought over so I guess we're signing off. Awesome!

New York!

For a city hosting millions of tourists, it's quite a challenge to find a net cafe here....

New York has been fun as always. If you've ever seen a Christmas movie set here and thought it couldn't REALLY be that pretty (like London seems to be in Love Actually which *IS* a total crock!) - well, it really is here. Americans really know how to decorate and New York is absolutely gorgeous!! Everywhere you go, there are lighted wreaths, trees, reindeer, Santas...you name it! We've been wandering the streets a fair bit at night, going here and there, and it is just far too pretty here. My favourite spots have to be Grand Central Station at night (generally gorgeous anyhow but even better with a big wreath the size of one whole storey), Macy's which has a light show, Rockefeller Plaza (which always looks pretty in films but is STUNNING in real life too, despite the thousands of people....well, I could go on!

We've been having some fun times, especially while catching up with one of Ryan's college friends, Ken, who lives in the city. We went out on a very messy night in Brooklyn, checking out some cool clubs, bars and restaurants. Ryan got to introduce Ken to Coopers too - the waiter seemed quite bemused. Apparently, the only people who order it are ex-pat Aussies...

And New Years - yes, we did make it to Times Square...almost. We made it to the huge crowd that bordered Central Park and watched the big screen, cause they weren't willing to line up at 2pm to get into Times Square itself!! Still, we did make it til midnight to see the ball drop and caught the fireworks over the park. Ryan and I have both had horrible colds so it was a bit of tokenism to stay out til 1am in the freezing cold but we've done it now and so that's another tick off my list!

Tonight we went to our only show - this city is packed and it seems almost everything is sold out! We saw "Altar Boyz" which was pretty good and even Ryan enjoyed it. Tomorrow we head up to Boston to visit my brother and SIL - yay!