2 days in Boston

The first stop of my East Coast Trip was in Boston. Today I will tell you all about my 2 days in Boston.

25.December 2016

On Christmas day I ordered a shuttle to pick me up at 7pm, because my hostfamily went on a spontaneous trip to the snow.
At the airport I was quite fast through security and I was waiting at the gate for my flight. I was not really happy about the gate I got, because it was an old gate without any outlets to charge your phone.

Once I got into the plane I was quite surprised about JetBlue Airlines. Everybody got a sleeping mask and earplugs… The flight was quite, nice and pretty quick. I was able to sleep for a little bit, since I had a red eye flight. Once I deboarded the plane, I went to an empty gate to sleep for a little bit longer… Then I headed to the hostel, which took me quite a while, because I kept getting lost walking around Boston…

26.December 2016

I was not expecting to be able to go to my room, but my bed was already free, so I went to my room and stored my suitcase in my locker and then I headed to a little breakfast at the kitchen in the hostel, before it was time for sightseeing. That for I took a map from the front desk and Aaron (a employee of the hostel) gave me tips, what to do when.

So I went to MIT first and walked around the campus and the waterfront. From there I took the public transportation to Harvard University. It was pretty cool, to see those places you know from movies in real life.  Both of the universities have an app that gives you a self guided tour. I can totally recommend the one for Harvard (Harvard Official Mobile Tour), because it is interesting. The one for MIT (MIT Mobile) is a pdf map that tells you where to go, but you cant locate yourself, herefor I would recommend using the paper map that you can get at the main entrance at 77 Massachusettes Ave…

I tried to make my way back to Boston, but I just couldnt figure out where the buses are leaving, because apparently the buses are driving underground…

Back in Boston I stopped at Target because I needed food and I wanted to buy myself a little christmas present. Then it was time to move on…  I made my way to waterfront again, but this time to see the „skyline“ of Cambridge. The guy from the hotel also recommended to Commonwealth Ave, because the trees are nice, well now they are just nice decorated. I then made my way down Massachusetts Ave to the Symphony Hall and the church that is across the Symphony Hall.

My last stop was the Skywalk on the Prudential Tower (you enter in the shopping mall). I do have to say this was not worth the money, because the view is not really good or special. For sure not worth 18 $.

Back in the Hostel I made some Mac’n’Cheese for dinner and headed back to the room to take a shower. Well after I got out of the shower my room key was not working and when I went to the front desk they told me, that this happens quite often to people after the shower, so they encourage people to bring clothes with them to the shower (they had naked people in the lobby).

After a short movie I decided that I will go to sleep at 10pm. Well the girl in the bed underneath me showed up drunk at 11:30 pm, laughing and talking loud in the room. She then  left again, but came back because she was looking for her passport, so it went on like this for like 20min, until she finally found it underneath her pillow… But then she showed up drunk and super loud again at 5am… I was pretty mad, but she didnt really care.

My day in numbers:

Sights:        8
Steps:          21.400
Distance:    10 miles

27.December 2016

So I got up at 830 and got ready for my day and after a short breakfast, I went back to my room to pack my stuff and check out of the hostel. To store my luggage I had to pay 3$ and since it was automated lockers, you cant get anything out of it once its locked, unless you pay again.

I sat down in the lobby again to figure out the best route and after a talk to Aaron again, I started my sightseeing in Boston.

My first stop was the Boston Public Garden. Well it was nice, but it looked like every other park, so nothing super special. I made my way to Beacon Hill from there and I really enjoyed strolling through those little neigborhoods with all the little old houses.

Another nice stopover of mine was the Massachusettes State Capitol. I didnt go inside, but a few people told me, that it is really on the inside.

I really enjoyed my stop at the Boston Public Market. It is a small little Farmers Market with a lot of interesting and good things. I personally tried the Apple Cider Donuts (just awesome) and a sweet hot chocolate (chocolate with vanilla and raspberry) and this one was awful… It is kind of nice to walk thorugh that little farmers market und see all those different regional products.

Then I started  walking down the Freedom Trail. I didnt do the whole thing, I just started were I was and walked along it. You can use the „BOSTON NPS“  App. It gives you a few different kind of tours through Boston and one of them is the Freedom Trail. I started Fanueil Hall -> Boston Masacre Site -> Old State House -> Old South Meeting House -> Old Corner Bookstore -> Franklin Statue -> Kings Chapel and Burying Ground -> Granary Burying Ground -> Park Street Church -> State House -> Boston Common.

Well then I returned to my hostel and waited for another aupair to meet. We went for a little stroll in the shopping streets and headed back to my hostel so I can make dinner before I had to catch my bus at 10pm. The hostel employee gave me great directions to the bus station and I found it super easy.

At the bus station I was lucky and had a number under 10 on my ticket so I got to board the bus as one of the firsts. I was not able to sleep a lot on the ride from Boston to New York, since I had a drunk person next to me (again…) and there were people talking… In New York I had a stopover for 45min and then made my way to Philadelphia. I was able to sleep on that bus, before I arrived at 530am.

My day in numbers:

Sights:         16
Steps:           18.500
Distance:     7,8 miles