We are sailing - part two - Boston

Boston is a beautiful city. We enjoyed our visit there. It was definitely a place we could have spent much longer. One day was far too short.  We started off our day by finding the metro and journeying out to a suburb called Brookline. This was the birthplace of President John Kennedy.

  It's a lovely spot and it didn't take us long to find the house in which he was born in 1917. Yes., he would have been 100 years old last year. It seems incredible doesn't it?

Outside the Kennedy home.

The family lived in this house for about seven years until they outgrew it. The house is FREE to enter, which was pretty amazing!  After Kennedy's assassination his mother, Rose, assembled all the furniture that used to be in the house. She then recorded the commentary you can still listen to as you tour the rooms.

Listening to Rose Kennedy.

It was fascinating to listen to the snippets of every day life - mealtimes, school, and church

As you can imagine I took dozens of photos so I'll just share a few with you!

We had a short map to follow which took us around the area they lived. We saw their second home, the school and the church. Although all of these were private so not open to the public.

Boston is a very historic place, playing a huge part in the American War of Independence.  We followed the Freedom Trail. A well marked route around the city, making it very easy for the visitor to find the main sites.

Faneuil Hall was the site of many historic meetings during the war. It is still used for concerts and public events.
Paintings of all the main protagonists are around the upstairs meeting room.

By the Hall is Quincy Market and the market place on both sides of it.

The market hall was constructed in 1824. It is now a foodie's heaven with stall of every imaginable type of food from around the world, freshly cooked.  I couldn't forget all the fabulous ice cream and chocolate kiosks - could I!

 One of the most interesting buildiings was the Old State House.
This was constructed in 1712 and the seat of Massachusetts Colonial and State Government.
It was also the site of the Boston Massacre, when British soldiers shot and killed five people. They were defended in court by the future President, John Adams.
Read about it here

On this central balcony the Declaration of Independence was read out to the waiting crowds. 
This building is one of the oldest in the United States.
 The photo shows the meeting room and looks towards the balcony.
One interesting building (now a shop) was the Old Corner Bookstore. This was the meeting place of such writers as Emerson, Dickens, Longfellow and Stowe.
Of course with more time we would have visited the Boston Tea Party Museum. There are many buildings associated with famous people such as Benjamin Franklin or Paul Revere. We didn't get chance to visit the monument to the Battle of Bunker Hill either.
I think I really have to return to Boston as some time in the future. Next stop PORTLAND.