I find flying these days does take a certain amount of organisation, starting with letting the airlines know I require a diabetic meal, to ensuring there is enough time between flights to so that there is time for food and medications. My thanks to Air New Zealand again for their wonderful service. I am not sure if I am just biased towards our countries own airline, or as I would prefer to think they are definitely one of the best airlines for service and comfort. Comfort particularly when you get upgraded to a Sky Couch. Thanks Air New Zealand. With being able to sleep most of the flight, I was in Los Angeles within what seemed like just a few hours.
Then the fun began, not anything untoward, like the flight down from Toronto, just the usual crowds and queues to get through American customs, then the walks to another terminal (which is under construction) to check in for the flight to Boston, and then to another terminal to find Domestic Security (who were very interested, not in my mountain of pills, but in my insulin vials which appeared to them on their x-ray machines as blades) and as expected I arrived at the gate I was to be leaving from nearly 3 and a half “leisurely” hours after arriving at Los Angeles. Time to get changed from the Auckland winter clothing into summer clothes, Yeha!
Delta Airlines through to Boston overnight, I thought would be easy, and apart from not being able to sleep it was. I must say the seats are tight or so it seemed as having been allocated a seat in the middle of 3, with a delightful but rather chubby young man beside me, the seats did feel rather small.
At 6 am on Tuesday, Boston time, 25 hours after I left New Zealand I arrived safely to be met by a very happy TOH and my US Cousin.
We haven’t let tiredness stop us, and the day after arriving we spent discovering Boston and its history. We started with a walking tour of the Freedom Trail with the most wonderfully colourful and funny guide who brought the history to life. We then caught a Boston Harbour tour which took us past the USS Constitution (or Old Ironsides). An amazing old 3 mastered frigate that was launched in 1797. We followed this up with a Duck Tour where the TOH happily steered the craft on the harbour. We ended the day with a visit to Harvard University. What a beautiful place, oozing with intellectual talent and history.
The history of Boston was fascinating, and although I thought I knew a bit about what happened here around the 1700-1800’s, to actually hear it in detail and to stand on the sites of such memorable happenings, to see the church where Paul Revere started his famous ride from, see the graves/headstones of such famous names like John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. It made the stories that have always seemed like fairy tales way down in New Zealand suddenly become real.
Yesterday was a treat for me. We headed off to Salem for the day. Again the history which has always seemed to be more fairy tale than truth came alive on the walking tours. I learnt that Salem was and is so much more than just the “Witch Trials”. That in fact, it was a great shipping port, and had played a very important hand at the beginning of the War of Independence (American Revolution). But of course it was history talks of the Witch Trials that fascinated me the most and just like in Boston, that horrific time was brought alive by our guides and the show at the Salem Witch Museum. The back stories behind these poor people and their accusers was as I have said fascinating and has certainly given me lots to think about and google.
We ended the day with a walk up Chestnut Street, Salem, to look at some of the magnificent old homes designed by the architect John McIntire (1757 – 1811), whose grave we had seen earlier in the day at The Burying Point Cemetery in Salem (est. 1637).
Today, after 4 rather full on days I am having a lazy day with my cousin and TOH. I am sitting here in the sun typing this, while watching the chipmunks running around the garden, under Ellie-Mae and across the lawn, (I am told they are rodents, but they are soooo cute), also there are Red Cardinals fliting between the trees. In the garden in front of me the beautiful peony’s and fox gloves are flowering, its currently 28 degrees and I find I am having to pinch myself to believe I am actually here.