I said it for New York, and now I have to say it for Boston - this is a tour guide's dream city. Where else can you find so much revolutionary war history preserved so beautifully in a big city? How can a large city feel so walkable? Where else can you find a colonial building right next to a glass skyscraper?
Add to these qualities the beauty of fall color, and Boston is in undeniably one of America's greatest cities. We opted to walk the Freedom Trail, one of the nation's first historic walking tours. It's amazing to realize that Boston and its citizens preserved, in tact, major buildings and sites from the colonial time to the present. All you have to do is follow the painted red line, or, in many cases, the thin line of red bricks in the sidewalk
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Bullfinch's Boston Statehouse 1798 is a great
example of the Federal Style - combining Greek temple forms with the rounded dome of Roman classicism. |
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Boston's Freedom Trail is the nation's most interesting historical walk,
linking battlefields, historic churches, cemeteries and meeting houses. |
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| Historical markers, often embedded in sidewalks, are key elements in way-finding. |
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| Ben Franklin's statue is by the site of Boston's first public school and City Hall. |
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| Where else will you find an 18th century Georgian building next to a '70s skyscraper? |
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My wonderful wife in front of Faneuil Hall which has served as a meeting place hall since
1742. Nearby Quincy Market is a bit of a tourist trap but good food can be had there. |
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| The North End is a bustling historic district with wonderful Italian restaurants |
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"Now listen my friends and you shall hear…
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." Quite a patriot, soldier and artist! |
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Puritans did not believe in artistic expression, so tombstones became a symbolic outlet.
A popular image was the "soul effigy", with wings on either side of the skull to fly to heaven.
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| Lexington's Battle Green where the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired. |
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| Fall color next to the 18th century church in Lexington. |
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I end with the monument to Boston Common because it represents the ideal of communal
space that was too often overlooked in American cities. It is the precursor to the town square. |
