We'll have a dozen kids, we'll run away, it doesn't matter anyway!
Boston. Boston was exactly what I needed just now. I usually have a sense of when I will and when I won't love a place. Something draws me to certain places. And I am glad it does.
On the 11 hour bus ride from Ottawa, through Montreal, across the boarder and to Boston, I was in a bit of a funk. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I can go a bit crazy if I let myself just stay up and dwell. I had nearly forgotten my passport and thought for a bit that I had forgotten my ereader, and did not have anything with which to charge my ipod. I had been getting antsy again, as I do, feeling frustrated and trapped and just had to get out of Ottawa to somewhere new. I had attempted and failed to get to Yellowknife, and now here I was, alone on another long bus ride. I was still so sick of travelling solo and spending days of my life on buses. Luckily I am not always as bad as I lead myself to believe and had actually made sure to pack my ereader and so I divided my time between sleeping, reading Lord of the Rings and watching Doctor Who on my ipod. Honestly not too much of a wasted day. So I finally make it to South Station in Boston and I am still doubtful. But as I navigate through the maze of the station to the subway, my confidence grows and I start to remember that this is something I do. I travel. I love it. I am so much more confident when I am travelling. People always ask me for directions when I am away from home, but rarely when I am in Ottawa. Maybe I just look happier (though I must look far more dishevelled...). Anyway, Boston has a fantastic transit system and I made it to the hostel in this big American city with absolutely no problems. Now, I was staying at a Hosteling International hostel, and I've not had the best experiences with them. I find they attract larger groups and not as many solo travellers- which is a problem when you are a solo traveller looking to meet people. They also tend to lack atmosphere, at least from what I've seen and experienced. This HI was a temporary one located in a Boston University residence near Fenway Park. I picked it because it is central and cheaper than others. It had a spiral staircase and chandeliers in the lobby and no kitchen. Everyone was already in closed groups. The tv was always on and always on something awful. But this ended up being a good thing. After a shower I hang around the lounge, hoping to find some people to hang out with and talk to, but really just reading to myself and trying to ignore the blaring commercials on the big screen. Between commercials, however, was the sequel to Back to the Future and two guys were sitting in front of my chair on a couch telling each other their stories and laughing at how bad 80s movies are. My people! So they bring me into the conversation and eventually we head out in search of the legendary $2 beers. After looking in vain for a cheap bar in our area (there are none), we hop on the T (the Boston subway) and head downtown. And there we not only find $2 beers but live music as well! Success! So we drink beers and chat about whatever we chat about, have a great time and catch the very last T back to our hostel. Day 1 on Boston is pretty alright.
Day 2 dawns and I am up bright and early (it is hard to get a hangover off of Corona light) in order to get my Boston GO pass (a $50 or so card that gets you free admission to pretty much everything as well as a two day hop-on-hop-off tram tour), and have enough time to get to at least three museums and get my tram ticket. Now, I thought I could buy this pass at the Science Museum, so I hopped on over to the other side of town, only to be told I have to go back to the visitors centre downtown. Bah! So back I go, buy my pass, and then right back to the museum. Totally worth it. Lots of the museum was aimed at kids, but in such a way that adults would also get a lot out of it. They have a math exhibit (it still all went right over my head), the worlds largest (and the original) Van de Graaff generator, which they used with tesla coils to make an indoor lightning show. I highly recommend this museum if anyone goes to Boston. Lots of fun. So from there I walked to the Aquarium and realised that Boston is a lot smaller than it looks on maps. Oh the Aquarium. I am terrified of fish, but I just can't resist. And besides, some fish are less gross than others, and there were sea turtles, and sharks and sea lions and seals and SO MANY PENGUINS! I had never seen a penguin up close before. They are pretty cool little guys. And okay, so maybe I clenched my fists and my stomach and stumbled away from the glass if an ugly fish swam by- I got through it. It was fine. It was actually one of the coolest things I've seen. By this point it is past 3:00 and the last tram leaves at 4:30 and I want to get to the Museum of Fine Art which closes at 5pm or something. So I get on the tram tour. It was pretty subpar, but it allowed me to see some of Boston and I learnt a bit more about it. Fact: I know very little American history. Fact: Boston is where most American history took place (or so I was led to believe). I didn't make it to the gallery, or to either of the smaller museums I wanted to visit, but I did get a lovely walk down the beautiful Commonwealth avenue. Back again to the hostel to meet up with one of the guys from the night before. Turns out our other new friend had switched hostels, made new friends and we were all going to go out on the town with friends of some of these new friends. Basically, get on the T meet new people, drink and dance on a Friday night. The bar was called the Enormous Room, and it was on the Cambridge side of town (which I am told is different from Boston...). It was the best Friday night I have had in a very long time. We all got along fantastically, as if we were old friends, and I managed to drink just the right amount of beer to dance dance dance. This doesn't usually happen (well, the dancing, not the old friends. I always make new old friends when travelling). Two of the people we were with were learning Russian, one was from Toronto, everyone was just great. We missed the last T home by a long shot and just cabbed it back, and then I tried not to wake my dormmates up by stumbling against ladders on my way to bed.
Which leads me to day three! This trip was so short, but so packed with stuff! Day three was Saturday, and the day I had planned on getting my tattoo. I woke up later than I had planned and so go to the tattoo shop later than I had hoped to. As as result I was in for a three hour wait. BUT! This shop, being the biggest, coolest tattoo shop I have ever been in, had free computers with internet on them, so I was able to find out that Harvard Square (and Harvard, sure) were less than a thirty minute walk away. So off I went! Harvard is big and expensive looking, Harvard square is pretty neat, and Crazy Dough pizza is pretty tasty. I get back in time for my lovely-but-painful tattoo- I have a gift for picking the most painful places to be tattooed- sciatic nerve runs down the back of one's thigh? WTF!?- and then, after showering and getting my shit together back at the hostel I went off to wander some more. Well, wandering with a mission. The day was almost over and I only had a chance to catch one tram (no hopping on and off for me!), but I was going to take it downtown and take advantage of the fact that we were on the coast. Seafood. I wanted to see more of the city and to eat seafood (I got a lobster roll and tried New England clam chowder- mmmmm). I also managed to find some outdoor markets, explore downtown crossing and make it to the Commons on time to catch the end of a jazz show and all of Shakespeare on the Commons' performance of Alls Well That Ends Well. I had never read or seen the play, but it was fantastic. The stage setup was phenomenal and the acting superb. By the time it was over it was late and I so I headed back to the hostel and slept. So ended day three.
Day four, the final day, dawned grey and rainy. Boston was obviously sad to see me go. But I got a few hours of the Museum of Fine Arts and a another lobster roll (which had pretty much an entire freaking lobster in it! Why the hell do I live so far away from such deliciousness!?!) in before I had to bus home. Busing home sucked, and the drivers didn't think their express bus plan through very well, leaving us all hanging out at the Burlington Airport forever (okay, an hour at most). Got home around 1am, didn't go to sleep till three and so here I am. Home.
Conclusion- I need travel to not go crazy. I am a happier, more confident person when I am on an adventure, and Boston is brilliant.
On the 11 hour bus ride from Ottawa, through Montreal, across the boarder and to Boston, I was in a bit of a funk. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I can go a bit crazy if I let myself just stay up and dwell. I had nearly forgotten my passport and thought for a bit that I had forgotten my ereader, and did not have anything with which to charge my ipod. I had been getting antsy again, as I do, feeling frustrated and trapped and just had to get out of Ottawa to somewhere new. I had attempted and failed to get to Yellowknife, and now here I was, alone on another long bus ride. I was still so sick of travelling solo and spending days of my life on buses. Luckily I am not always as bad as I lead myself to believe and had actually made sure to pack my ereader and so I divided my time between sleeping, reading Lord of the Rings and watching Doctor Who on my ipod. Honestly not too much of a wasted day. So I finally make it to South Station in Boston and I am still doubtful. But as I navigate through the maze of the station to the subway, my confidence grows and I start to remember that this is something I do. I travel. I love it. I am so much more confident when I am travelling. People always ask me for directions when I am away from home, but rarely when I am in Ottawa. Maybe I just look happier (though I must look far more dishevelled...). Anyway, Boston has a fantastic transit system and I made it to the hostel in this big American city with absolutely no problems. Now, I was staying at a Hosteling International hostel, and I've not had the best experiences with them. I find they attract larger groups and not as many solo travellers- which is a problem when you are a solo traveller looking to meet people. They also tend to lack atmosphere, at least from what I've seen and experienced. This HI was a temporary one located in a Boston University residence near Fenway Park. I picked it because it is central and cheaper than others. It had a spiral staircase and chandeliers in the lobby and no kitchen. Everyone was already in closed groups. The tv was always on and always on something awful. But this ended up being a good thing. After a shower I hang around the lounge, hoping to find some people to hang out with and talk to, but really just reading to myself and trying to ignore the blaring commercials on the big screen. Between commercials, however, was the sequel to Back to the Future and two guys were sitting in front of my chair on a couch telling each other their stories and laughing at how bad 80s movies are. My people! So they bring me into the conversation and eventually we head out in search of the legendary $2 beers. After looking in vain for a cheap bar in our area (there are none), we hop on the T (the Boston subway) and head downtown. And there we not only find $2 beers but live music as well! Success! So we drink beers and chat about whatever we chat about, have a great time and catch the very last T back to our hostel. Day 1 on Boston is pretty alright.
Day 2 dawns and I am up bright and early (it is hard to get a hangover off of Corona light) in order to get my Boston GO pass (a $50 or so card that gets you free admission to pretty much everything as well as a two day hop-on-hop-off tram tour), and have enough time to get to at least three museums and get my tram ticket. Now, I thought I could buy this pass at the Science Museum, so I hopped on over to the other side of town, only to be told I have to go back to the visitors centre downtown. Bah! So back I go, buy my pass, and then right back to the museum. Totally worth it. Lots of the museum was aimed at kids, but in such a way that adults would also get a lot out of it. They have a math exhibit (it still all went right over my head), the worlds largest (and the original) Van de Graaff generator, which they used with tesla coils to make an indoor lightning show. I highly recommend this museum if anyone goes to Boston. Lots of fun. So from there I walked to the Aquarium and realised that Boston is a lot smaller than it looks on maps. Oh the Aquarium. I am terrified of fish, but I just can't resist. And besides, some fish are less gross than others, and there were sea turtles, and sharks and sea lions and seals and SO MANY PENGUINS! I had never seen a penguin up close before. They are pretty cool little guys. And okay, so maybe I clenched my fists and my stomach and stumbled away from the glass if an ugly fish swam by- I got through it. It was fine. It was actually one of the coolest things I've seen. By this point it is past 3:00 and the last tram leaves at 4:30 and I want to get to the Museum of Fine Art which closes at 5pm or something. So I get on the tram tour. It was pretty subpar, but it allowed me to see some of Boston and I learnt a bit more about it. Fact: I know very little American history. Fact: Boston is where most American history took place (or so I was led to believe). I didn't make it to the gallery, or to either of the smaller museums I wanted to visit, but I did get a lovely walk down the beautiful Commonwealth avenue. Back again to the hostel to meet up with one of the guys from the night before. Turns out our other new friend had switched hostels, made new friends and we were all going to go out on the town with friends of some of these new friends. Basically, get on the T meet new people, drink and dance on a Friday night. The bar was called the Enormous Room, and it was on the Cambridge side of town (which I am told is different from Boston...). It was the best Friday night I have had in a very long time. We all got along fantastically, as if we were old friends, and I managed to drink just the right amount of beer to dance dance dance. This doesn't usually happen (well, the dancing, not the old friends. I always make new old friends when travelling). Two of the people we were with were learning Russian, one was from Toronto, everyone was just great. We missed the last T home by a long shot and just cabbed it back, and then I tried not to wake my dormmates up by stumbling against ladders on my way to bed.
Which leads me to day three! This trip was so short, but so packed with stuff! Day three was Saturday, and the day I had planned on getting my tattoo. I woke up later than I had planned and so go to the tattoo shop later than I had hoped to. As as result I was in for a three hour wait. BUT! This shop, being the biggest, coolest tattoo shop I have ever been in, had free computers with internet on them, so I was able to find out that Harvard Square (and Harvard, sure) were less than a thirty minute walk away. So off I went! Harvard is big and expensive looking, Harvard square is pretty neat, and Crazy Dough pizza is pretty tasty. I get back in time for my lovely-but-painful tattoo- I have a gift for picking the most painful places to be tattooed- sciatic nerve runs down the back of one's thigh? WTF!?- and then, after showering and getting my shit together back at the hostel I went off to wander some more. Well, wandering with a mission. The day was almost over and I only had a chance to catch one tram (no hopping on and off for me!), but I was going to take it downtown and take advantage of the fact that we were on the coast. Seafood. I wanted to see more of the city and to eat seafood (I got a lobster roll and tried New England clam chowder- mmmmm). I also managed to find some outdoor markets, explore downtown crossing and make it to the Commons on time to catch the end of a jazz show and all of Shakespeare on the Commons' performance of Alls Well That Ends Well. I had never read or seen the play, but it was fantastic. The stage setup was phenomenal and the acting superb. By the time it was over it was late and I so I headed back to the hostel and slept. So ended day three.
Day four, the final day, dawned grey and rainy. Boston was obviously sad to see me go. But I got a few hours of the Museum of Fine Arts and a another lobster roll (which had pretty much an entire freaking lobster in it! Why the hell do I live so far away from such deliciousness!?!) in before I had to bus home. Busing home sucked, and the drivers didn't think their express bus plan through very well, leaving us all hanging out at the Burlington Airport forever (okay, an hour at most). Got home around 1am, didn't go to sleep till three and so here I am. Home.
Conclusion- I need travel to not go crazy. I am a happier, more confident person when I am on an adventure, and Boston is brilliant.