To be or not to be ...

...that is the question. Particularly if you've been dead for nearly 200 years. Meet Ebenezer Hancock of Massachusetts, with whom I spent a really lovely couple of hours yesterday on the Boston Freedom Trail learning about the exploits of the city's citizens during the American revolutionary wars. I particularly enjoyed the graveyard slot where we got to meet Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere, amongst others.

The quote from Hamlet is on our hotel room wall as a poster (along with another one from Twelfth Night). I have no idea why a pleasant but anonymous hotel has linked itself to Mr Shakespeare but the reference is apt. Ebenezer's generation lived through tumultuous times and had to make some pretty black and white decisions about which side to take in the whole USexit debate. It pretty much split the nation, just as slavery did nearly a century later, which just shows that some things never change. Ebenezer kept a low profile as it happens whilst his famous brother John was a leading light in the revolutionary movement and a (big) signatory to the Declaration of Independence. 

If you come to Boston do go on the tour, it really is riveting and very well done. The Freedom Trail Foundation exists to keep the thing going so is not a commercial venture as such. However there is a lot of competition on the tour guide front in Boston; there are buses, duck tours and private guides and sometimes they can all end up in the same place at the same time causing a little tension ...

We had a fantastic day all 'round. Went for brunch in The Paramount which is a very famous Boston cafe - not for the feint hearted, we queued for nearly an hour and when we left the tail was three times as long as when we started. But it was worth it, and a great spot for people watching. We had a very good value plate of food (omelettes, bagels, home fries and a wicked smoothie called The Hulk) which literally kept us going until eight that evening, when we ate in Tapeo which is a brilliant little tapas place in Back Bay. Excellent food, lovely service, recommended.

We also had a lovely walk around the back streets of Beacon Hill, and sat for ages drinking Samuel Adams and cocktails in Anthem (looked after by a lovely waitress called Josie) which is a bar and eatery opposite Faneuil Hall. This is Boston's own equivalent of Covent Garden in London, touristy, but pleasant and again great for people watching. And the Samuel Adams beer is excellent.

Don't miss the walk along the harbour from Rowes Wharf to Summer Street. We stumbled on it by accident; it is a quiet area and has one of the biggest flags I have ever seen. Our other walk, along the esplanade in the evening, was also lovely - a great place to watch the sunset but be careful of the joggers and cyclists who are so numerous you have to dodge them.

Walking back along Newbury Street and Boylston Street you will find lots of posh shops with lovely and probably unattainable things in them. Eye candy for the middle classes. We might go back tomorrow and see if we can afford to buy some designer teaspoons or something.

An absolutely fantastic day - Boston is one of the most walkable cities you will ever find your self in - relaxed, friendly and easy on the eye. Now I really am on holiday ...

PS Going back to Shakespeare, did you hear about the time he got drunk and caused trouble in a pub? The landlord threw him out and said "you're bard"....