Boston, MA ᛫ September 12 – 13, 2017

Originally, I choose to go to Boston because it was a good stopover from Lisbon to California and I wanted to meet my sister there to travel together to San Diego. Unfortunately, her flight was canceled just a couple of hours before she was supposed to leave. So she ended up taking a different flight and couldn’t come to Boston.

Reuniting with My American Sister

I only spent one night in Boston because I had been to the city two times before and didn’t have to do a lot of sightseeing again. I stayed with my former host sister Cassie who lives in Boston now. Ten years ago, I lived with her and her family and we went to high school together in Richmond, VA. My last visit had been five years ago. So it was very cool to see her again after all that time and to catch up.

When I arrived midday, she came home from her workplace to let me into her apartment and then returned to work. I was very tired from the flight and it was already evening for me because of the time difference. So I took a nap in her bed which felt like heaven. After that and a shower, I felt like myself again and Cassie was finished with work.

She showed me around her neighborhood and we went to dinner at a typical American sports bar next to the harbor. When we arrived at the restaurant, I was very surprised to find my old high school friend Caroline waiting for us there. It’s been even longer that I had seen her and I wasn’t even aware that she also lives in Boston now. Needless to say, it was very fun talking with them and eating a burger and fries with a view of the water and boats. Cassie and I took an Uber back to her place and I spent the night on a mattress in the living room.

Exploring Boston

The next day, I had a couple of hours before my next flight to the West Coast and I walked around Boston. From my previous visits, I remembered Mike’s Pastry and it took me about half an hour to get there. On my way, I passed the Boston Common park, Boston Public Market where I had lunch, and some nice buildings. Mike’s Pastry is located in Little Italy and offers many sweet treats and cakes. I bought a chocolate chip cannoli and enjoyed in the nearby Greenway, a linear park that goes from north to south through several districts.

Afterward, I walked through the park which had some art installations and free wifi. Now and then I took some detours to visit interesting places like the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Long Wharf, Fort Point Channel and Chinatown. I can recommend visiting all of these places if you should ever go to Boston.

Departure Time

I returned to Cassie’s apartment, packed my bags and caught the bus to the airport. Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought about the time before. It was rush hour and the bus took double the normal time for its route. Once I finally reached the airport, it was quite a long walk from the bus stop to my terminal and I ran all the way with my backpack.

Luckily, I reached the gate in time, sweating and out of breath. 😀 At the gate, I made another mistake: I didn’t buy any food. The flight to San Diego was scheduled for 6:13 hours and I thought I would get something to eat. But Alaska Airlines only handed out some cookies which didn’t satisfy me at all and I also didn’t want to buy their crappy and expensive food. So from that point on, I will always buy some food before boarding a plane. If they have something nice to eat, I can always eat my own food the next day. 😉