Boston: Day 4

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone's had a good week (as it's drawing to a close). It's been delightful here and today is no exception: 70s and sunny.
Yesterday was a pretty good day. I worked on history homework when I woke up and then I went for a little jog around the area. I nearly got lost in a not so good neighborhood but I was able to retrace my steps back to safety. After the run was more homework and then I geared up and set off towards Boston Common, the beginning of the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile hike across Boston and up to Charlestown highlighting lots of historical sites and monuments. Here's a link to the website: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
To give you a whole play-by-play would be tedious and unreasonable, so I'll tell you about a few highlights. The fourth site I came to (after Park Street Church), was the Granary Burial ground. Buried there are many famous peeps including John Adams, Ben Franklin, and Mother Goose. I got a picture of Mother Goose's gravestone which was adorned with about $20 in pennies and a dried rose. Ben Franklin's grave is in the middle of the ground and it looks a bit like a miniature washington monument. I'm not one for graveyards, usually, but this one was alright. Faneuil Hall was a little farther down the trail. It was the meeting place of the original Boston government and was pretty cool inside. On the third floor was the headquarters of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachussetts. It's now also a museum and it turns out they are the 3rd oldest chartered military organization in the world (ow ow!). Anywho, more walking showed me a lovely downtown Boston. Lots of cool, really tall buildings all around. Then I came to a bit of a clearing where there was a pretty big park with lots of fountains, a wading pool, and some dogs. I sat down on a bench, took a load off, watched the dogs, and ate my lunch. After lunch it was off to the Italian district. I walked by Boston's Best Italian Grocery and a home-made pasta shop. The grocery was owned by a guy named Mario and was stocked with mostly pasta and olive oil. Also in the Italian district was Paul Revere's house. I didn't go in but I did get a picture of the outside. Farther still down the trail I found myself crossing the Charles River on a grate (not a typo) bridge. There was literally about an inch of metal between me and a 30 foot drop to the river. Anyways, the last highlight of the trip was up a pretty arduous hill: The Bunker Hill monument. It sat on this hill on the other side of the river and the hill was beans compared to what I was about to embark on. The monument itself was an obelisk which boasted 294 granite, spiral steps straight up. What a work-out! I made it to the top and the view was certainly worth it!
And so that was my journey in a nutshell. I ended up picking up the T on the way back because I was pooped. More Gears of War and some tidying up around the house ensued, followed by leftovers for dinner and hanging out with Zach and Ellie at Harvard Square. Today I'm off to Massachussetts General Hospital for my second internship visit and after that anything could happen. I hope everyone has a splendid Friday!