A short visit to Boston downtown

I had few hours to spare in Boston before taking the flight. After making quick visit to Middlesex fells, I decided to spend some time in Boston downtown. The weather was gloomy but it did not dampen by spirits!!

Boston
The central part of Boston has many narrow, one way roads making it difficult to drive. The traffic would not be intense as it was weekend but parking places are hard to find and very expensive. Hence I decided to park my car next to Sullivan square subway station on the outskirts of Boston and take subway to downtown!! In that way I could peacefully spend some time without worrying about driving.

A cold day!!
Boston subway (called as “T”) was very efficient though the trains and stations had decrepit looks. There were many options for tickets and I chose “return ticket”. The machine did not like my credit card as it did not show any response and I had to put in cash to get the tickets!! 

"India Street" in Boston!!
Unlike Europe or many other parts of the world, USA does not have much to show about its history. Boston fares bit better in this aspect as there are many events during the independence movement in 18th century. One such place was Boston Massacre site which is near to old state house.

Old state house
Nearby Faneuil hall was a nice place to sit and watch. It is mainly a shopping place with lot of open space outside. It is also interesting to see lot of street performers showing their skills in this area. I spent a lot of time just enjoying it.

Faneuil hall

A "head down" performance


Street performer at Faneuil Hall

I continued walking and reached Boston public garden. Here the Ice skating rink attracted me. Though I thought about giving a try, it did not look fun to do it alone.

Ice skating
The park had some nice ponds with some good landscapes. But a group of people were holding demonstrations for freedom (from ?). The police outnumbered demonstrators and it looked like the area was under siege. With helicopters on the sky, it looked like Boston police had a busy day. Inadvertently I stepped into the demonstration area and then police were not letting me outside!! I had to take a long detour to get out of that area. 

Boston public garden
The street performers were everywhere. Even a bucket was good enough for them to perform. They were very impressive.

Street performers
I walked along the waterfront area. One of the prominent places was “Boston tea party museum”. That was one of the historical incidents I remembered from my history textbooks and hence it felt good to be in the area where it happened.

Boston tea part museum
Boston aquarium looked really impressive but I did not had much time to spend. So it walked around the area and watched seals that were put in the public area. It was time to head back to subway station, pick my car and head to airport.

Seals at aquarium
Overall, it was a good visit though I could not cover many places.  Aquarium looked promising. Skywalk observatory would be good for some nice views of Boston skyline. Boston has many museums and would be worth visiting if you are interested in history. Nearby Harvard university and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) would be definitely interesting!!

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