Boston

After two very busy days, we finally come round to updating this blog (before rushing off towards the next big highlight!)
On tuesday, Crispus Bullfinch (=Fenton, explanation later!) took us to Boston ("Baaasten"). We left early in the morning and got there shortly before lunchtime. We parked the car in the South Station without having a clue where we were - no maps, no guidebooks, no preparation! ;) Luckily enough, the first street we took led us into a major shopping area where we felt at home immediately. After a while we came across a bookstore, bought a map and learnt that we stood right opposite one of the sights that are part of the famous Freedom Trail. As we stood there with our map, apparently looking rather helpless, something happened that later on turned out to be typical for Boston: One of the passers-by asked if he could be of any help and explained which way to take in order to follow the Freedom Trail. It was not the first time we experienced this extraordinary friendliness that seems to be a characteristic of Bostoners - too bad we didn't always understand their advice as their accent is quite hard to understand... ;)
The Trail took us to the old State House, where we read about the tragic massacre of Boston. One of the people mentioned on the information board was a slave named Crispus. Serious as this topic was, we found this name hilarious and decided to call Fenton Crispus (either "Krispusss" or "Crissspass" or "Chrischpus"...), following our "tradition" of changing names!
Next stop on the Trail was Faneuil Hall, the famous market hall with its surrounding shops, restaurants and market stands. This is where we had lunch and enjoyed some extensive shopping! Shopposaurus, Part 2! ;)
Following the Trail, we reached little Italy where we spent some time before heading back towards Chinatown where we intended to have dinner. The way back took us across the entire city and we saw most of the major sights: Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, the famous graveyard with the tomb of Paul Revere - and at least 25 Dunkin' Donuts stores (similar to "Starbucks", but much better 'cause they have hazelnut flavoured coffee... mmhh, this is sooo good - "Fiona" is completely addicted). On one of the official buildings we read the name "Bullfinch" which was almost as funny as "Crispus", so we decided to make this Fentons family name... That's how easy Fenton Furrer got transformed into Crispus Bullfinch! ;)
After some more (successful!!) shopping, we found an excellent Thai restaurant where we had dinner - just delicious!!! :)

All in all, this was another great day and it was definitely worth the almost 6 hours in the car! Boston is an interesting and impressive city which is full of contrasts: on the one hand, there are a lot of modern skyscrapers, but on the other, there are rather poor areas with run-down buildings - in other words, you never know what to expect round the next corner...