Boston USA is perhaps the second most visited city by Irish people in USA after NY.
Some visitors say it is about the same size as Dublin when you add in the general metro area .
It has a size that makes it easy to get around and with good bus service and subway or rapid transit is easy to get about.
Its coastal and river location gives one a breath of fresh air on occasion.
We had a local resident showing us around and was not our first visit but there is always some thing new to see.
The Freedom Trail is the big one which is well marked out on the streets with paths specially lined.
See where the British shot the colonists and the Paul Revere run and escape with urgent messages,
The majestic State house and Massachusetts parliament is very spectacular building with gold topped obelish like the Taj Mahal or Russian Church.
The parks and commons are great for walks, there was a Chinese man playing a one string violin.
Wather was nice to walk about in early October, summers can be hot and winters cold
We later went to the Harbour front and the North End Italian district where you can get great value food
The day before we were in Allston a buzzing young persons area close to the city, music venues good pubs, one with over 100 draught beers called the Sunset
Boston is ;like Dublin and ls a collection of little villages merged into the city.
We went out to Brookline a comfortable middle class to see where John F. Kennedy and you can do a house tour at no charge and get to see how they liver there in the 1930s and 40s , life was simple
No refrigerator but ice was delivered and kept in cupboards.
Cooking was a big chore with little automation fuel was solid stoves and we are back to that again.
Rooms were not too large in this modest house, the houses in that area said the guide are around 2 million $ as Boston has a high real estate market , we passed a busy synagogue where worshipers gathered for the Sabbath.
They moved later to large surrounding s to get the full Kennedy vibe go to the Kennedy Library near the harbour, we did it last time and the old TV sets are brill and many items of photo s furniture,
Faneuil market is an old vegetable market now restored into a food and tourist shop centre
This was a great piece of urban renewal architecture in its day and is close to the Italian district of North End where you can find great Italian bakeries and local deli stores, where you can buy mouth watering food
Boston also boasts a China town also, for great Chinese restaurants
There can also be pricey areas like Boylston where you can see all the designer shops,
The Prudential centre is also a shopping mecca with lots of top stores
Boston can compete with New York for shopping but bear in mind across the state border to New Hampshire a bus ride away and you will pay no sales tax compared to There is a 6.5 per cent rate except for food or clothing under 175$.
Above the Beacon park and Boston Common is Beacon Hill where you will find where the old Boston aristocracy live in great comfort amid beautiful architecture not unlike Ballsbridge or Rathgar in Dublin or parts of West London.
Well worth the look here to see how the other half lived
Boston is a brilliant city to walk around in,
Another day we went over to look at Harvard University, it Is a little like Trinity in Dublin with the university in its own grounds. Students also have their own buildings
Nearby there is the old Harvard Bookstore for new and second hand books and also the Charles River, where you will see lots of rowers in day time though it froze last winter.
We were in a strange bar like the old Pulpit in Waterford with church furniture and full of witches and Halloween style décor with a Celtic Cross behind the bar, it is called the river and the locals were friendly, run by a Galway woman it is worth the visit on Water St. in Cambridge.
With lots of young people in the city and so many universities it is deemed the deemed the education capital of America., many entertainment options result
This means there are lots of great eating options too and the Harvard bar is great for craft beer.
Down in South Boston you will find the large Irish community in places like Boston, some lively Irish pubs down there and in the city centre.
Today people of Irish origin make up 30 per cent of the population and new Mayor Marty Walsh
From Dorchester won for the Irish again the top job in the city, his family hail from Connemara in Galway.
Sport is big here the Patriot football team play to sell outs and were champions not long ago.
Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics in basketball are other teams to have great supporters.
Today Boston is not just Irish and old new Englanders but also multi ethnic even the subway has signs in Spanish, as American cities go you feel safe but beware of the unexpected, random things can happen .
