In 2005, on my way to Mexico, I stopped off in Boston for three nights. It was -7°C  when I landed and there was snow on the ground. It all felt very Christmas-y.

Looking back at my journal gives me a feeling of exhaustion. I packed a lot in to two full days of exploring before getting back on a plane to continue on to Mexico.

Day 1 – Thursday 15th December – cold, clear and crisp. A good day for exploring.

• The Prudential Tower – I came across a display of gingerbread houses
• Boston Common – all covered in snow – cold but lovely to walk through. I saw the smallest suspension bridge in the world.
• Skywalk Observatory – views were fantastic on a cold clear day
• Faneuil Hall – Close to the Waterfront, one of Boston’s most well-known buildings – it was the centre of early Boston life as Town Hall and market
• Quincy Market – next to Faneuil Hall, had a replica ‘Cheers Bar’
• Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum – an eccentric Bostonian’s collection of all sorts of treasures. She caused a scandal by having her portrait painted wearing a dress without sleeves and bare arms showing! The open courtyard was filled with poinsettia for Christmas.
• Museum of Fine Arts – one museum, many faces. A wonderful selection of impressionist work and a special exhibition of the photographs of Ansel Adams – a master of black and white.
• The Public Library – a truly fascinating exhibit called Fighting the Fires of Hate (America and the Nazi Book Burnings)

Day 2 – Friday 16th December – a complete contrast to Thursday’s blue skies – raining raining, raining

• First stop was Harvard, over on the other side of the Charles River. The very heavy rain cut short my wanderings.
• Boston’s Historic Theatre District – watching a matinee of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at Loews Movie House
• Beacon Hill – after the rain stopped, I wandered amongst the winding streets – old Boston streets lit with fake gas lamps. Also spotted the inspiration for the bar in Cheers
• The New England Holocaust Memorial – each tower represents one of the concentration camps and steam rises as you stand inside them. Engraved numbers represent the Jews who died.

Look at these towers, passerby, and try to imagine what they really mean – what they symbolise – what they evoke…

Elie Wiesel

And a few things I missed… Paul Revere’s house, Bunker Hill and the Eric Carle Museum.