Tester 1,2,3
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
![]() | Posted by Ben Taylor at 16:52 |
| comments 0 |
![]() | Posted by Ben Taylor at 16:52 |
| comments 0 |
We were up a little later after the long day yesterday, but made use of the hotel Starbucks to grab some breakfast. Once we were ready, we set off for the information centre on Boston Common. We were initially after a map, but once there we decided to buy the Freedom Trail map for $2. The Freedom Trail takes you around all of the historic landmarks in Boston, but last time we were here in 2013, we bought trolley bus tickets, so had never actually followed it properly. The trail is clearly marked by a red brick path and can be followed for free, but the map we bought gave us some additional information about each of the stops. There were 16 stops in total, taking you across the city by foot, starting at Boston Common and ulimataely finishing at the Bunker Hill Monument.

Along the trail, we stopped off in churches and burial grounds tracing the steps of legendary American patriots including Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere. There is plenty to see and covering the whole trail took us the whole day. The real highlight was visiting USS Constitution or old iron sides as it was knicknamed due to the way cannon balls bounced off the sides. Last time we were here in 2013, we managed to see the ship sailing out into the harbour and firing cannons, we since found out this happens only 6 or 7 times a year, so this time when we visited it was docked for visitors. You go through some security and have to show photo ID before you're able to board the ship as the site is an active military base but then we were on board. We spend some time exploring the ship both above and below deck, taking a few pictures as we went before moving on to our final stop at Bunker Hill. Just before we left, we made full use of the water vapour spray they had on the way into and out of the base - it was another scorcher today and so the water spray was a welcome treat.

By the time we reached the last stop at Bunker Hill, we were feeling pretty tired so we decided to get a drink and look for somewhere to eat on the way back to the hotel. We stopped at Starbucks and making use of their WiFi, we found a place to eat close by. It was a pub and so we both got ID'd on the way in - first time in a while! I had a steak sandwich whilst Dani had a seafood sandwich, it was very nice, but feeling tired we headed back to the hotel soon after. We spent the evening catching up on some journal and photos, booking tour tickets for Fenway park tomorrow, before calling it a night.
Mum is visiting for the bank holiday weekend, so we decided to make use of the National Trust cards today and headed out to High Wycombe to visit Hughenden Manor. It was home to Benjamin Disraeli, a close friend of Queen Victoria, and the Earl of Beconsfield. He served as both Prime Minster and as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Despite the heavy rain on the way there, we managed to mostly dodge the rain and had a fantastic time.

The house has rooms set up from the time Benjamin Disreali lived there and some rooms set up to show the role of the manor during wartime, when it's codename was Operation Hillside. It's definitely worth a visit and I suspect I may return with Dani another time. There are a few photos from the day linked below.
At 9am this morning our breakfast was delivered. We hadn't known what to expect as although it's called Sorrento Charm B&B, we're actually in an apartment so its not the usual hotel setup. Breakfast consisted of two trays, piled high with pastries, breads, meat,cheese, yogurts, juices and a choice of tea or coffee. So we had breakfast in bed, trying to eat it all, but finally giving up and putting some in the fridge for later.
We decided to spend the day in Sorrento today, planning day trips for Capriand Positano for the other days that we're here. So we started with a meander into town, making our way through some of the bustling side streets, taking care not to get mown down by the plethora of mopeds zipping about. Just like in Rome, every crossing is like taking your life into your hands, as you close your eyes, cross your fingers and step out (OK, maybe not eyes closed). At the other end of the shopping area, we headed down a narrow lane leading to, what we thought was, the coastline. And it was! We were looking down onto Marina Grande, and could see across the Bay of Naples to Mount Vesuvius. From there we wandered along, stopping at viewpoints on the way. We arrived at Marina Piccola and could see down to the man made bays in the marina. The water was crystal clear and there were lots of beach huts lining the different sections. Ben had a cheeky icecream while we cooled off under a tree. There is a lift down but we decided to walk down, saving the lift for the more arduous journey back up. From there, we headed to the Porto, to find out about tickets for our planned day trips. Got the necessary info and I had a sandwich.
Feeling hot and tired we got the lift back up to the top for a euro each then walking back through the shopping district buying a couple ofsouvenirs and stopping to look in couple of churches one of which was in the process if being setup for a wedding. Decided to head back to the room to cool down a bit and feeling peckish ate some of the leftovers from breakfast.
Headed out about 6.30 to get some dinner, deciding on a place we'd seen on trip advisor called Divina Sorrento in town. The food was very nice and we treated ourselves to dessert too. Took a short stroll to a view point and watched the sunset taking some photos as it got dark.
