The Boston Blast, by Sue

Here we are: Audrey, Natalie, Sue, Jim and Judy in Boston, Massachusetts. I arrived on Friday afternoon and the kids and grandparents arrived a few hours later from Maine where they'd had a great time learning to sail. The Onyx Hotel is beautiful and we're having a wonderful time.

As a general rule we leave the hotel at 9 and have breakfast. We've eaten at Dunkin' Donuts for the past two days due to a dearth of better options on the weekends in this particular section of downtown. It'll get a little better today now that it's a weekday. We then get on the subway and do whatever the day's plans are. In the late afternoon we come back to the hotel and rest for a few hours before heading out for dinner. We play cards in the evening and are usually all asleep before 11.

On the first day, after we'd all settled in, we went to Faneuil Square and walked around. We saw people of every shape, size, color and costume, mostly tourists just like us. Yesterday the four females went shopping at Downtown Crossing for school clothes while Grandpa went to the aquarium and the farmer's market. In the evening we went out for pizza and ice cream.

Today we met with Giorgia, Audrey and Natalie’s second cousin from Turin, Italy, and one of her sisters in her new family for the semester. Giorgia is improving her English at Lasell College this month but took time out to show us around the Harvard campus. We then went to Newbury Street for some window shopping. Audrey and Giorgia went to see the new Harry Potter in the evening while the rest of us had dinner out and played Hearts. Tomorrow? More excitement but I’ll only write about it after it’s done.