America Trip 2 - Day 5

Today we did the freedom trail, which though only spans 2.5 miles, takes a lot more time.
We trained in to the start, at Boston Common, coming out at the Park Street Station which was the first subway and is now the oldest in the USA, and had a man dressed in a costume because he was a tour guide..  Boston Common is the oldest public park in the USA, and is where we saw some squirrels. We looked inside the visitors information center, but did not buy anything.

We headed off to the Massachsetts State House after we looked at a memorial and followed the red bricks, and were able to tag on to a tour. The tour only showed us some of the house, but the oldest part of it was completed in 1798, and was designed by Charles Bulfinch (a prominent Boston architect).  Lots of tiled, mosaic floors, large murals and paintings, marble, flags (there is a collection of over 400 flags carried to battle by Massachusetts men from the Civil War to the Vietnam War). A couple of the flags are not there, as there are empty hangings for them.  After the iron on the main staircase was cast, the moulds were broken to ensure that the railings would be unique.  We got to see the House of Representatives in between the sessions which were being held, as the people were getting lunch.








After that we looked in a graveyard, and then in a church which families bought private boxes in. Some of the boxes were plush, and a box was used by the King at some point.



We also saw where the Boston Tea Party started, where the Boston massacre started (which fuelled hate for the British), and the Paul Revere house. We also saw the Old North Church, in which Paul Revere had someone shine two lights to warn riders which way the British soldiers where going. Once more, the pews were privately owned.



We then went to Bunker Hill, which was closed because of a federal shutdown, before going to the USS Constituition, but we only got to look in the muesum. We then went to a train back to the apartment, and went to bed.