day's end in boston

we finished our walking tour and took a ferry across boston harbor. you can see old north church sandwiched in amidst the skyscrapers. looking across at it, who doesn't hear the thud of hoofbeats and the vigilant promise of 'and i on the opposite shore shall be'?? my hat is off to the city planners who have kept that view open for the rest of us.
i do wish i had taken pictures of the marvelous windows along pub street. easily 5 foot high, they opened along tracks at table height, like a bifold closet door, across the front of many pubs and restaurants. it seems a shame that you can't get pictures of everything
i'll apologize for the poor quality of this shot of a lovely, green park complete with fountain and loggia covered walk that was - you'll never guess - our parking garage!! (i took several when i realized how dark they were going to be, hoping that one would be useable. the sun was still shining but at street level it was already 'dusk'.)(do the best you can.) our parking ramp's park covered a small city block and reached 6 levels underground.
the boston folly - i mean tunnel - has often been in the news but i didn't realize how much underground construction is done in that city. again, kudos to the planners and engineers who have found a way to preserve this heritage-rich city.

more of boston

we saw our fair share of cemeteries - this one included benjamin franklin's parents, john hancock, paul revere and 'mother' goose. stones were found piled on top of several markers replicating the idea of stone cairns. the artistry of the old markers is breath taking but i admit i have a limit to how many i want to visit
this statue marks the entrance to a 'green' which abuts old north church.







it's spire is visible behind the outstretched hand but didn't photograph well..

our tour route took us to paul revere's home,(his workshop was in another location) (this was their courtyard garden) wound through pub street, little italy, (several blocks of aromatic restaurants), faneuil hall/market where we lunched in a basement sea food dive. delish!
this is the organ from old north church. we enjoyed seeing the family boxes which in their time were available for a price. several were quite well padded. our family's practice has always been to come early and take the last row - a privilege we may have had to pay dearly for to outbid the latecommers.
i appreciated the graceful blend of history and contemporary life evidenced by this bridge. of course, the other extreme exists too, including a ruth's chris steakhouse in what had been the old city hall, graced by a statue of benjamin franklin, the first statue cast in 'common' clothes (as oppossed to classical robes).
i'll finish tomorrow with the harbor, and a few leftovers. i do regret the many wonderful photos i didn't take......

boston

tim, jacob and kate at the boston commons.
speaks for itself, wouldn't you say?
wandering around beacon hill.
we had a fine day to stroll through the streets of boston - a day where one could entertain the idea of global warming. we followed the freedom trail, enjoying the sense of locals going about their business enmeshed with names and places from our grade school lessons. a self-paced tour we were able to browse through an interesting bookstore, stop for a pretzel, dawdle as we pleased. we watched as services ended at king's chapel, established in 1689. paul revere recast its bell in 1816 and it is still rung every sunday to announce services.