Day 13 - Boston: "a place where everybody knows your name"

We love Boston! It was a lovely, sunny day here but wow, it is cold! The coldest weather we have experienced yet. Troy doesn't feel the cold that much, but even he thinks it's freezing, so it must be cold. Whenever someone over here asks us where we are from and we say Australia, most of them say "Isn't it summer over there? Why are you here?"

I thought I would explain my title first - it is part of the lyric from the sitcom "Cheers" which is set in Boston. You guessed it, we went to the bar (just to take a photo of the outside which they used for their façade shots, as it was taped in Hollywood). Here's the pic...

 

Anyway, I researched breakfast spots close to our hotel for this morning (we are staying in an area called Back Bay which has lots of shopping, cafes and restaurants) and I came across a bookstore/café which had a pretty good review on Trip Advisor, so we went along. It was a great street with lots of boutique and well known brand name shops. All of the shops and cafes looked like they had taken over older houses that had been converted. Brekkie was very reasonable and pretty good, except I tried to order a small coffee but they had no such thing - this is what I got (coffee and iphone shot coming up)...

 

Here are a couple of pics of the street the café is in...

 

 



 

 

We were then off to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) for a tour. After a good 15/20 minute walk we arrived and made our way to the Boston Red Sox merchandise shop to meet the tour guide (it was more like a warehouse which took up nearly half a street block, it was huge!)

The walking tour went for about an hour - here is some of what we learnt... Fenway Park is 101 years old and is one of the smallest parks in the USA (it seats about 37,500 people). Here is one of the original ticket booths...

 

 

And then it was time to see the baseball field for the first time (although the diamond was covered which was a shame!)

 

 

We went into the visitor changerooms - Troy was surprised how small it was. Apparently the Red Sox changerooms are three times as big and over two levels! Here are a couple of pics from the visitor changerooms...

 

 

 

 

 

The second owner of the Red Sox purchased the team and Fenway Park in the 1930s for $1.2 million and made a couple of changes to the park which still remain today. Firstly, the seats in the below pic were installed during the 1930s and are much smaller than the more recent seats. Apparently they won't replace the old seats as they would end up losing 3,000 seats!

 

 

Secondly, the Green Monster (the scoreboard wall) was built around the same time. Before it was built, shop owners around the park were getting frustrated as their shop windows kept getting broken by baseballs. They sent all of the repair bills to the Red Sox owner (as they knew he was a millionaire). One day when the owner went to pay a bill over the road from the park, he noticed that there were people on top of buildings watching the baseball games. The Green Monster then appeared.

 

There is only one way in and out of the scoreboard - through a tiny door. There are only three holes that the scorers can watch the game from and they're at shoulder height so they have to bend down the whole game! And there's no bathroom or heating/cooling. Everyone wants the job though - the waiting list for it is 35 years!

 

We were taken to various parts of the park to view the field, one of which was the media area - it's huge! Here are a few pics (the first one is in the reporter's room)...

 

 

 

There is so much history there, we both really enjoyed the tour. There are more stories but this blog would never end! Troy can fill anyone in who's interested once we're back.

 

After a quick stop at the hotel to get more clothes - freezing! We headed by taxi to the Quincy Markets and Faneuil Hall Marketplace which included some brand shops but also market type stalls in various building blocks...

 

 

It was St Patrick's Day here in Boston today and there was a street parade this afternoon attracting thousands of people. As we only have two full days here we thought we'd avoid the crowds and see more of the city instead. However, the crowds seemed to arrive at Quincy Markets at the same time we did. They were mostly drunk college students mouthing off at one another about whose college is better. Charming.

 

We grabbed a coffee there and I came across this delectable treat... I don't know what's in the middle and no, I didn't have one!

 

So we didn't stay at the markets too long - we headed towards Boston Common (parklands). We had a great walk through the city, we both love the architecture, it's such a combination of old meets new... here are some pics...

 

We arrived at Boston Common and what a lovely space with gorgeous old homes converted into apartments on the street alongside the park... here are some pics...

 

(It looks nicer in person)

 

 

Ice skating looks like it's finished...

 

 

And there were squirrels everywhere...

Troy noticed a group of people in the park playing what he thought was baseball, however on closer inspection he realised they were playing a form of quidditch. For those unfamiliar with the Harry Potter books/movies, it's a game they play on broom sticks! Someone has obviously created a version without broomsticks!

For the rest of the afternoon we wandered the streets around Beacon Hill near Boston Common. What a beautiful area, I couldn't stop taking pictures. The lovely old homes are in such great condition and it is almost like you are stepping back in time. I've included a few photos below - one of them is of one of the oldest laneways with the original cobblestones...

 

 

 

We noticed that quite a few houses off the main streets had window boxes with different wintery arrangements in them... here is one of them...

 

 

 



After heading back to the hotel for about an hour (primarily to warm up!) We headed out to dinner in the same street that we had breakfast! We walked by a restaurant this morning and given that it was St Patrick's Day, we thought it might be best to book a table. The street looked lovely on dusk and once dark as there are lights in all of the trees...

 

 

 

As we are near Maine and Maine has a good reputation for seafood, I thought I would give the lobster a go. And then this appeared in front of me just before the meals were served...



 

 

That's a plastic bib (yes, a bib), an extra napkin, a small fork and another instrument that I have never used before. I freaked - I'm not wearing a plastic bib! Troy was very amused by the situation. And then the lobster arrived...

 

 

 

I looked at the waiter and asked how I best do this and he said that the kitchen could take the meat out for me - thank goodness! Apparently when I ordered I should have asked for it "lazy style"! Lesson learnt.

 

Here's a pic of the restaurant... it's a bit dark sorry...

 



 

We have loved our first day in Boston and we are a bit sad that we only have one more day left. Tomorrow is the day Troy has been waiting for - we are going to see the Boston Celtics play the Miami Heat (basketball). Troy is more excited than a kid on Christmas morning... standby for a full report of this tomorrow night (or maybe the next morning depending on how late we get back to the hotel!)