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 Known
as the "Cradle of Liberty", Boston, it is true to say, is where
modern America
began. New England was the site of the first landing of the Pilgrims,
who made their first settlement at Plymouth, located a bare hour south
of Boston today. And just over 150 years after the founding fathers set foot
on mainland America Boston was throwing a Tea Party, with the British
as the unwelcome guests, and a couple of years later the first skirmishes
of the War of Independence broke out here, with a notable battle taking
place on Bunker Hill to the north-east of the city.
The Freedom Trail connects 16 of the city's most famous revolutionary sites,
including the house of Paul Revere, made famous in
ballad and poem for his daring midnight dash to warn of the impending
British invasion (take time to pity his companion William Dawes, whose
name just didn't scan sufficiently for Longfellow to pen an ode to his
bravery as well). Faneuil Hall where fiery revolutionary orators
such as Samuel Adams stirred the coals of insurrection and "Ol' Ironsides",
the USS Constitution are other must-sees on the trail, as it traces
the timeline to independence.
It's a strange thing though, that for all Boston was where the American
nation began to shake off its colonial shackles if anything it is quite
European in its attitude and outlook and has always been one of
the most cosmopolitan cities in the US. Home
to the nation's most respected university in Harvard, its population is
erudite and bohemian in outlook, rather than sharing
the strait laced views of their forefathers. Indeed today's crop of students
represents one in ten of every Boston inhabitant, which keeps the atmosphere young and vibrant.
Try coming on St Patrick's Day when the city's large Irish (and Irish at heart)
population parties all over the city - it is hard to believe
that this is the liberty that Samuel Adams and his ilk envisaged, but
nobody seems to be complaining.
The surrounding countryside of New England and the coastal resorts of
Cape Cod and the island of Martha's Vineyard are breathtakingly beautiful.
North of
the city meanwhile you'll find Salem, home to the famous 17th-century
witch trials and later Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the father's of American
literature. Concord likewise is famous for its literary alumni, including
Ralph Waldo Emerson and the reclusive writer Henry David Thoreau who lived
in a cabin at Walden Pond, recreating a pastoral idyll of America (albeit
with the odd sojourn into town for tea with his friends).
No modern introduction to Boston is complete without mentioning the incredibly
popular TV show Cheers, and visitors to the city will invariably
flock to the Bull and Finch Pub, which was the inspiration for the long-running
comedy series. If planning such a homage be prepared - the bar looks nothing
like Cheers, and Boston is full of tourists complaining about it. But
forewarned is forearmed; simply move on - there's a lot more going on
in this city to be worried about such a small thing, and anyway there's
another Cheers bar at Faneuil Hall, just like the one on TV.
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