Boston

Today, Lisa drove me the two hours to Boston to meet up with one of Ali's best friends who moved here in June. She took the train south from Portland in Maine and we arranged to meet up outside the public market in Boston at 11. Unbelievably we both arrived right on time. Lisa went off to meet her friend and we arranged to meet up again at 5pm .
Anne and I started in the market with bagels and coffee, delicious.
We headed out of the market into town, neither of us had been here before so I had married out a route after consultation with Lisa and we set off. Immediately outside the market is the very moving Holocaust memorial -see extra. For several reasons this beautiful memorial seemed particularly poignant: Anne has just moved from Berlin; our viewing of Cabaret last week and the political issues around the world at the moment. Each of the 6 opaque glass towers is printed with two quotations from survivors and the glass walls are printed with the 6 million numbers given to those killed in the camps in Germany. There are 6 underground fires pumping steam through grids which you walk over. The methodical lists of numbers in fine type etched into the glass and stretching up into the sky are very moving. You can read more here.
https://www.nehm.org/the-memorial/design-of-the-memorial/
We left the memorial and walked around city hall then past several very old churches to Boston Common.
The frog pond (extra) in the centre of the park was full of families enjoying paddling and splashing in the water in the sunshine. We crossed the common diagonally, I made use of the sun screen dispensers placed at the gates. What a good idea.
We headed next up Charles Street which Lisa had said was full of interesting shops. It was. We wandered up for a couple of hours buying a few small items including a mug for me which I'll blip at some point.
Next stop was the Inn in the Hill where we had lunch. We both had Chicken Caesar salads. The portions were enormous so we both availed ourselves of the take away boxes offered when food is left over.
We walked back through the Charles Street/Beacon Hill area, aware that heavy rain was forecast. We headed for the Cheers Bar, if you are a fan you will recognise Tecumseh, the cigar store Indian from the show. It was very busy so we didn't stop for a drink.
The rain started as we rushed into a nearby deli (see collage). It was full of wonderful things and we waited out the rain with a coffee. I chatted to the man at the Massachusetts doughnut hole stall (!). He's heading to Edinburgh for the fringe and appearing at Surgeons Hall from the 19th. Small world, I'd already chatted to a guy in a Scotland strip and his girlfriend who we'd met earlier.
The rain didn't stop so we decided we'd better head off back towards the market and Anne's train. The rain was stotting off the ground as we made our way back. The rainbow duck bus was one of several which passed us through the day.
We also passed the Massachusetts State House with its impressive gold dome. (Extra)
We got back to the market just as Lisa texted to say she had arrived at the car park. Six hours, gone like a flash.
It was great to be able to meet up with Anne, I'm very fond of her .
We drove back through heavy rain for the first part, to Newport. Colin and Drew were back from another full on sunny day at the Jazz festival and we all had a scratch dinner, it's lovely to be so relaxed so far from home.