Frozen Anticipation

Okay, so it’s been a couple of days since my last update, so once again, I’m just gonna dive head first into it!

*Cue low male voice*
“Previously, on the Adventures of Amnesty…..”

Yesterday Christine and I participated in what was our mini Boston Marathon.  The goal, see as many sights of Boston in one day without falling victim to frostbite, exposure or a general lack of direction.  Our first stop was the USS Constitution Museum (not to be confused with the US Constitution!)  One is a document, one is a ship, so hopefully there aren’t too many dumb tourists wondering around a dockyard looking for a slip of precious paper that’s actually in Washington!

The museum there was great, with lots of interactive exhibitions, we spent 2 hours there.  You basically learn all about being a sailor in the 1800s, and yeah, by the end, Christine and I were ready to conquer the sevens seas, argh me hearties!  We learnt how to load guns, firing techniques, sleep schedules (4 hour shifts!), food.  We slept in hammocks and wore sailor gear (I think I prefer the American casual clothes code of dress, the British wore red vests, it kind of clashed with my hair. Can’t sail the seas if ya don’t look good doing it!) Also a good thing I wasn’t born in the 1800s, those dudes are tiny!  It would never have worked, I prefer someone slightly taller than Kermit the Frog)

After learning all about the ship (which for you history buffs was known as Old Ironsides and beat English ships 3 times her size) we boarded the real mccoy and Christine checked out the cannons whilst I checked out the sailors.  It was rainy and windy outside and my hair was now what I refer to as the Boston Birdnest style so we boarded the trolley again and found ourselves at Oyster Inn where we proceeded to have our Boston themed lunch.  Clam chowder, crab cakes, baked beans, and of course Boston Cream Pie.  We checked out some of the State Museum and saw where the Declaration of Independence was read from, and learnt all about Paul Revere who rode on his pony to warn that the English were invading.  I never realised how much history Boston has, it was very cool.  By now it was the end of the day so we waited for the last trolley to come by to complete our tour.  And waited, and waited and waited and….you get the picture.  By now I’m having trouble speaking in the FREEZING cold wind and rain and resorted to wacky experiments like squashing my body up against the glass of the bus stop to see if it was warmer than the air around me.  10 minutes later, almost delirious with cold and unable to see through the birdnests of hair that is giving my face a serious whipping, Christine and I compose a song about waiting for the trolley titled “Frozen Anticipation”
*disclaimer : cold weather may cause song composition to become strange, incoherent, and generally lack a sense of direction, structure or timing. The artists bear no responsibility for any boredom resulting from this song.*

Frozen Anticipation
I’m feeling trepidation
It’s border humiliation
I’m lacking preparation
The weather’s confrontation
Causing Frozen Anticipation

So the trolley finally came and we saw a ton of Boston as it was the last one for the day and there were only a few people on it.  A definite highlight was seeing Berklee School of Music and giving our driver a spontaneous spot quiz about the meaning behind every street name.  He was a plethora of knowledge and we came away feeling very edumacated

This morning we caught the train back to NY and went to Canal Street.  The aim – to buy a fake designer wallet and handbag. This episode in itself could take up an entire blog so I may save this one to tell in person, it’s hiliarious!  And it will give you a reason to take me out for coffee when I get back (skinny cuppacino with one thank you very much, I also accept chai tea preferably from the Wharf Shed, and or Earl Grey tea).  Then it was on the Subway to Strawberry Fields in Central Park and I saw my first squirrel (which is really just a giant rat with a fluffy tail if you ask me…).  Christine had to fly out tonight so this afternoon I wandered down 5th Avenue to check out the shops and somehow ended up in St Thomas Church.  They had choir practice on, and I thought I would duck in to check it out.  This cathedral was BEAUTIFUL and the voices were amazing.  I managed to subtly record some on my digicam and also got some gorgeous photos, it was actually one of my favourite parts of New York.

I went and saw another broadway show tonight, The Pirate Queen which was excellent.  It was based in Ireland and featured tons of cool Irish dancing and music, highly recommended if it ever comes to Australia!

Tomorrow I have one more day in NY and then I fly to Detroit Friday morning for a quick stopover at Christine’s before heading to LA late Saturday night and Disneyland on Sunday, woot woot!

Missing you all, can’t wait to catch up, I’ll be touching down (if all goes to plan!) at Tullamarine on Wednesday morning, which is in fact my dad’s birthday

Until then, much love and loud Amy laughs.
Amnesty