Day 36 - The Freedom Trail

Alice and I have seen a lot of this country already and we decided to add to this experience by learning about and seeing where America started on the road to being an independent nation.

Boston is where so many important events took place in the lead up to the War of Independence and there is a tourist friendly Freedom Trail available to follow. The twelve chosen locations are clearly marked out along a bricked line in the pavement. Due to the amount of information available on the Internet and in leaflets with the easy to follow route, Alice and I decided on following the trail at our own pace without a guide. It turned into a fun afternoon and the freedom of doing it on our own allowed us to pop into shops and spend as long as we wanted at each location. The closeness of each pivotal building or location created an idea of the size of the city at the time and how the founding narrative of a country was born. We passed through Little Italy in northern Boston whilst following the trail and we stopped for cake and coffee. I was extremely pleased to discover they had a Rum Baba. This is a cake from Naples and I could not get enough of these when we were there earlier this year. The Baba was soaked in rum and with the perfectly made cappuccino, it was a worthwhile stopover. There were a few more stops on the trail and then we passed a bit more time by sinking an ale in the oldest tavern in America. I highly recommend the trail and the obligatory refreshment stops along the way.

Earlier in the day before the trail we saw another tourist attraction in the Mapparium. It is a unique room whereby once inside you appear to be in a large globe circa 1935. A fifteen minute presentation starts the experience with different areas of the globe lit up to point out unique aspects of the map at that time in history. Due to the large size of the globe and its dimensions, the acoustics create a whispering gallery effect and also when standing in the middle you can hear yourself in stereo. An odd sensation. Alice and I hung back after the presentation taking in all the details.

For dinner, Alice and I headed back to Little Italy. The restaurant we chose was fully booked but they had availability at the small bar where there was no one else except the barman and four empty placings. This turned into an enjoyable experience as the barman was friendly and professional and after a while two more guests were seated next to us. The four of us chatted about various subjects and it was nice to have pleasant company and fabulous food. A good end to yet another memorable day.

Song of the Day:
George Michael - FreedomRead more