So, last weekend a group of us took a trip to Boston. This time I wasn't driving so it was a nice relaxing 7 hour trip down, there was no traffic and we had some good fun in the car. We arrived in Boston at about 12:30am and after a bit of confusion after being given the wrong keys and waking up the other 5 in the group (who had left earlier) we made it into our rooms and got some sleep. Next day we were up and ready for some sightseeing, we walked into the Downtown area from the hostel and had a look around the big park in the middle of the city. After that we walked a bit of the Boston Heritage Trail before getting lunch at a seafood restauraunt (which was very nice!).
After lunch we made the short trip up to Harvard University, quite similar to Cornell, lots of nice buildings, plenty of trees and a very studious atmosphere. I tried my best not to get annoyed by the fact that I was essentially looking around a college exclusively for kids with rich parents (Cornell is essentially the same, but none of the rich kids are here at the moment).
We had decided in the morning that we would try and get tickets to watch the baseball that night, the Boston Red Sox were playing the Toronto Bluejays. Gameday tickets went on sale at 5pm, 2 hours before the start but by the time we got there at around 4:30 the queue for tickets was already very long. Anyway, we decided to wait and try our luck. The line moved very slowly but by about 6:30 we had made it nearly to the front. They were obviously running low on tickets because officials kept coming and counting along the line. Finally we were at the front (I mean right at the front, no one else before us) and they sold out. At this point, after queueing for 2 and a half hours, I was not best pleased, but the ticket man assured us that if we waited until 7:30 they would release unclaimed reservations and we would be able to get in.
Sure enough, at 7:30 we managed to get 10 tickets, all together in the same row for $23, so the half hour wait turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we all got to sit together and our seats were centre field, a long way from the actual action but good to get an overall view of the field.
I was at the end of our 10 seats and so was next to an American woman and her husband, this turned out to be a very good thing as I had no idea what the rules were and she was happy to explain. So, baseball is kind of like rounders but more complicated. It was so much fun, the vendors really do come around the seats selling popcorn, hot-dogs, drinks etc (and even throw a few of the less-messy items to you in your seat) and there are plenty of little bits of music and chants to keep you entertained. One of the Bluejays' players came in for some heckling, he was catching in the deep in centre field, so was just infront of us, and the crowd kept chanting his name. Veeeernon... Veeeernon... Veeeernon... YOU SUCK!! He seemed to take it pretty well though!
In the end the Red Sox won 9 runs to 4 and I thoroughly enjoyed the game. Afterwards half of the group went out clubbing. I had suspiscions that they would be out late so decided to stay in as I was pretty tired and sure enough, Fi came back into our room at 4am. It turned out they had found a Disco bus and partied the night away driving around the streets of Boston!
On Sunday we decided to go to the Boston Aquarium, which turned out to be well worth the money, all the usual things you'd expect from an aquarium plus a special exhibit on jellyfish and the two coolest fish in the ocean, the weedy seadragon and the leafy seadragon! We also went to the iMax theatre at the aquarium and saw a 3D film about sharks. Then it was time to head home and back to another boring week in the lab. But don't worry, the next exciting trip is only a couple of days away. This weekend we are heading to the Big Apple, so watch this space for another update soon!
Stephen xx
The big park in the middle of Boston 
Fiona and I hanging out with John Harvard
Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox (in white, batting in this photo)
Vernon Wells, he got a lot of stick!
A leafy seadragon!
1 comment:
The Leafy Sea Dragon looks like a cartoon character. Or maybe a cartoon character looks like a Leafy Sea Dragon? Either way...
I used to think I was going to go to Harvard. Then I decided not to. My parents didn't own enough SUV's, yahts, and summer homes. And I hadn't been to Europe on holiday enough times. :P
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