Boston part 2 - Wednesday 3rd October

Woke up early as had to be in central Boston by 9.45am to be picked up by the tour bus.  Took the subway again, it wasn't as busy as the night before but I still had to wait 2 trains before I could fit on.  Was quite excited as this is the first official tour thing I have done since being here.  Got picked up by the tour bus & proceeded on our way.  The tour guide was very friendly & quite funny which made the tour just that much better.  There were 13 people on the bus and all were aged 55 plus.  They were very friendly tho.  I very much enjoyed the tour, learnt lots of things (have forgotten most now) and saw lots of gorgeous and interesting buildings.  I think I could live in Boston.
FYI: Bus tour sights in order seen were Old State House, New State House, Beacon Hill, Trinity Church, Boston Public Library, Harvard University, Longfellow's house, MIT Campus, Bunker Hill Memorial & Museum, Charlestown Navy Yard & the USS Constitution, Quincy Market, lunch, Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

One of the many gorgeous, interesting buildings in Boston. 

The old & the new.

I love how they attached the new to the old - buildings living in harmony. :-)

One of the things that 'gets' me about this place is how tall & skinny a lot of the buildings are.

The Old State House.

They had great taste those architects of old.  :-)

The Old State House from the other side.

One of the old houses on Beacon Hill.

The "Cheers" bar.

Trinity Church.

Statue of the founder of Trinity Church.

Trinity Church.

Fountain & bronze statues outside Trinity Church.

Boston Public Library.

One of the first hotels in Boston.

The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

The Old South Church, on the corner opposite Trinity Church.

Old South Church.

Just an interesting photo.  I like how there are little buildings between 2 big buildings.  Like the little buildings weren't letting the big guys take over.  :-)

The old & the new.

Flukey shot and really cool - the old reflected in the new.

The Charles River, next to Harvard University, this is where they hold the rowing races.

Harvard Square. Apparently this is "the" place to be "seen" in Boston.

One of the many Harvard University Buildings.

Longfellow's House. We missed the inside tour & didn't have time to wait for the next one. 

Longfellow's House from the formal garden at the back.

LOVE the changing trees.

Bunker Hill Memorial.

The USS Constitution at Charlestown Navy Yard. It is an actual commissioned ship so is 'staffed' by actual commissioned US Navy personnel, and you have to go through a security check to go onboard.  

Below deck.  We were only allowed on this deck, and only half of it as it is an actual commissioned working US Navy ship.

More below deck.

Highly waxed top deck.

You don't see craftsmanship like this on any of the new ships.

Part of the Navy yard.

A ship on dry dock.  This dry dock was built in 1833 and was first used by the USS Constitution.

USS Constitution Museum.  

This is the 'pass' they gave us after going through security so we could go on the USS Constitution. Very official looking.  LOL

A model of the USS Constitution.

My lunch at a restaurant at Quincy Markets.  Sirloin steak with stuffed shrimp  veges.  Was very nice, steak was cooked perfectly.

And of course Boston Cream Pie for dessert. :-)

This is just hilarious.  The Skinny House - the narrowest house in Boston - 4 storeys, 10ft wide, 30ft deep.

The Old North Church where Paul Revere instructed lanterns to be lit & hung to warn that the British were coming.

Copp's Hill Burying Ground, established in 1659.

The grave markers were moved in the 1830's when the city turned a lot of burying grounds into parks.

The tour ended about 3.30pm and I went straight to the subway as it rained lightly from about midday and my shoes & bottom of my jeans were wet, and also to beat the home time rush and, nope, O.M.G! what are all these people doing here at this time!!  Again, as I wasn't in a rush I waited a few trains before getting on and heading back to the hotel.  I arrived back at the hotel about 4.30pm, checked emails & facebook, transferred photos from SD card to tablet with the intention of sorting & renaming them & updating my blog, but my tablet decided to throw a fit so I got mad at it & turned it off and watched tv instead.  Also sorted out my bags as somehow while in Pittsburgh my big bag gained 7lbs, and I didn't buy that much!!  One of the biggest hassles I have with travelling is trying to keep my big suitcase under 50lbs, and keeping my carry-on bag small enough to fit in the overhead compartment on the bus.