Hi, My Name's Paul

Our day yesterday began with a gorgeous breakfast of Pancakes and French Toast in Beacon Hill. The American's certainly don't do things by halves, except that the prices are nearly half what we would pay for the same thing in Perth.

Bellies full, we then got our tourist on and walked the famed Freedom Trail, a roughly 10 kilometer round trip that takes in Boston's most interesting historical sites. It also took us well out of our Back Bay/Beacon Hill enclave and showed us an entirely different side of this city. It starts at a corner of Boston Common, which we arrived at by walking through the Common as well as the Public Gardens - there's a lot of beautiful green space here, and the Bostonians USE it! We then took in the Massachusetts State House and a couple of fascinating old "burying grounds" as they call them. Near the Old South Meeting house we detoured and spent an hour browsing a fabulous old bookstore - didn't buy anything, unfortunately.

Commonwealth Books and Old Prints, Boston

Continued on to the Old State House, site of the Boston Massacre of 1770, before stopping for lunch at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market where Daniel and I shared a Philly Cheesesteak. We visited an old printing house with a working movable-type replica - apparently there is a university in Minnesota that makes them, if anybody needs Christmas present ideas for me... Eventually we found ourselves at USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. But it was closed. Apparently it's open today, but I fear we won't have time to go back. Sad face. We literally walked all day, but the feet are holding up surprisingly well. As for the smell...

We made a friend early on during our sojourn - meet Paul.

Daniel and Paul

Paul is a New England native who enjoys long walks around the city, windy weather, and being free of colonial British oppression. However, he dislikes Boston in the fall, as it makes him nervous. Pumpkins are everywhere, and apparently they have no shortage of uses. Starbucks currently does a pumpkin latte, and we even sampled a pumpkin donut from Dunkin' Donuts. It was actually very yummy.

A Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Glazed Donut

There's not as much fall colour around as we were expecting. There's a fair bit of yellow and the odd red tree, but it's been a bit underwhelming really, especially since the foliage charts we've been monitoring reckon Boston is at peak at the moment. We're hoping it will get better as we head off into the rest of New England in the next few days.

Red Tree at Charleston Navy Yard

We went out for dinner at a little cafe called Geoffrey's, around the corner from the hotel. Nobody, our waiter included, seems to be able to understand a single damn thing we say, but we're managing. I know a lot of people dislike American accents, but ours truly sounds horrid by comparison. Accents aside, a lot of people seem to be stopping us in the street to ask for directions, so we must be blending in alright.

To Harvard today, but I've got to finish my breakfast of a pumpkin donut first - sorry Paul.