Cape Cod & Boston

After the weekend's hecticness, I had a whole 8 hour turnaround in New York (hello bed) before another bus to Provincetown in Cape Cod. Well, another two buses and 4 hour layover to Provincetown. 12 hours of travel. Lucky I'm so good at sleeping. After the layover in Hyannis - for gluten free burger and beer delicious win - I arrived in beautiful P'town (we're on a nickname basis now). I stayed right on the west end so it felt like being out on the edge of the world, the coastal edge of the world. I slept for eternity, so the first evening was a nice and quiet one.

Despite the feeling of being so remote, it was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel into the colourful heart of town. It turns out the P'town International Film Festival was on at the same time, so there was a lively vibe going on (to counter all the bus tour groups), which was nice to get into. I rented a bike for the visit, and did a slow meander down the main drag for gluten free delicious, seafood and a look into galleries and boutiques. I popped up the top of the tower, for the nice views and things, and down the jetties and beaches. Nice, taking it easy, hanging out at the Hammock Store on the waterfront.

But who likes things to be easy and nice? Not me, apparently. Because then I voluntarily took myself on the epic bike trail through the sand dunes. Think about sand dunes. Sand dunes =  hills. OK, sure it was beautiful, so quiet too. But the thing is, you ride for eternity and arrive out at the sites and serenity and things - and then you have to ride back for eternity. My legs! I can't feel my legs!
 

 

Back in the safety of the land of the living, I headed off to opening night of the Film Festival. I went to the lesbian Shorts screening, "I'll have what she's having", which were all really excellent but two stood out for total hilarity. I felt pretty hip and cool (I think saying things like 'hip' and 'cool' nullify my feeling that way). It was kind of cold by this stage, so I warmed up with a nice tequila in the pub to round off the day.

The next morning in P'town was uneventful and involved home-made fudge in a sunny spot on the beach before I took the fast ferry to Boston. I made the most of a beautiful day and walked through town, through the park and down Newbury Street, to my hostel. This was a good choice, because Friday was pretty wet. Having learned my lesson in Ithaca, I purchased a rather over-sized bright yellow poncho. I may have looked ridiculous but I was very dry, thank you. I tried to do the Freedom Trail, just following that red line with my iPhone out. But, well it turns out you need to have at least some understanding of American history to appreciate these things. I was a bit confused, kind of lost and couldn't see so well under the bright yellow poncho. I ended up finding a corner to phone Liz with a bunch of embarrassing questions and got a quick crash course in American history. I am not going to go into detail about how little I knew, it is too embarrassing, but thank you Liz. I didn't do the whole thing, because I did each thing so slowly having to ask questions/read/wikipedia at each point. I ended up getting really into it, and learned lots of new things (new to me). Yay. I completed the day of learning with a trip to the library. Nerd.

I picked maybe the best time to come to Boston - being that their ice hockey team just won the Stanley Cup (woo go Bruins). Better than being in Vancouver, that's for sure. So the whole place was pumping, even ancient churches had flags and banners out to celebrate the victory. I decided to take a little time out from my active disinterest in men's sports of all kinds and get amongst it, not that there really was much choice. I ditched the trip to Harvard and headed into the heart of the parade route in the morning. An Australian accent, short stature and curiosity can do wonders. I ended up right at the front, in the thick of some very happy Boston locals and in front of three fully decked-out fans. I hope I end up on TV. The parade was incredible. I don't know how else to describe it. I got so into it! Everyone knows I don't get into these things, and here I was screaming and cheering with the best of them, hanging over the railings. My face hurt from it all. I was a bit nervous at whether things might get out of hand (i.e. Vancouver) but I couldn't have had a more positive experience. Everyone was just so happy and excited, even the policeman in front of us was so nice and friendly that one guy said it made him want to get arrested.

 

 

Trying to leave the parade was a whole other adventure, it was like wading through gravy to get to the bus station. The whole city was blocked and shut-down for the parade, and then suddenly a sea of Bruins fans (aka the entire population of Boston and surrounds) were released out on the streets headed in all different directions. Kind of insane, but I made it OK.