When I was a wee lass of 21 I spent three months in Europe. I lived with an Italian family in Milan, assistant taught English in a high school there and toured a handful of cities on the weekends. Often my friend, Tenni, and I were in charge of the planning and navigation for these weekend excursions, although we were usually four girls traveling together. Typically armed with a free map, a Let's Go Europe book and our own fearless sense of direction and purpose we toured the grand rounds of Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Heidelberg, Salzburg and Verona. We also learned the secret handshake of Garmisch, Germany and spent New Year's Eve 1998 skiing in the Alps.
I had the opportunity to reclaim some of that sense of adventure this weekend, when Saturday morning Troy took the kids swimming at the hotel and later to the Boston Children's Museum. I embarked on a walking tour of Boston, following the Freedom Trail to sites of historical significance. Again armed with a free map and my optimistic sense of direction I headed out, though the weather was unpromising and the walking treacherous. Along the way I saw the U.S.S. Constitution "Old Ironsides," visited the Bunker Hill Museum and Monument, walked across the Charlestown bridge, toured the Old North Church and pondered the curious hilarity of the word "wharf." I missed my traveling friend and the times we'd had, but took pleasure in setting out on a sight-seeing adventure unburdened by my usual charges and inspired by the road ahead. I felt 21 again, well, almost.
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| U.S.S. Constitution, "Old Ironsides" |
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| Tudor's Wharf |
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| View of Charlestown, the Boston neighborhood surrounding Bunker Hill |
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| Colonel Prescott and the Bunker Hill Monument |
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| Paul Revere Park with Boston TD Garden in the background |
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| Most of these markers were obscured by the above-pictured snow, ice and slush |
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| Old North Church |
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