Boston Things to Do Tips by johngayton

The modern day Faneuil Hall manages to be both a tourist attraction and a local Bostonian grab a bite to eat sort of place, ideal for a takeaway lunch down by the harbour or on the grass of Columbus Park, weather permitting obviously. The building itself comprises three floors, the ground floor being the market stalls and food outlets with an incredible diversity of offerings, Chinese, Chowdah or Chorizo, just to name a few Ch’s. I didn’t have a chance this time round to visit the upper floors but the second floor is staffed by the National Park Rangers and the third contains the museum and armory of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts (to give it its full title).

A lovely quote from Francis Hatch sums the place up:

“Here orators in ages past
Have mounted their attacks,
Undaunted by proximity
Of sausage on the racks.”

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Directions: Pretty much unmissable in the heart of Downtown, nearest T is Government Centre though it is within easy walking of all the Downtown stations.
Website: http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com

Boston City centre is compact enough to be mostly explored on foot, whether following a specific route (such as The Freedom Trail) or just meandering.

This is the thing about New England, this is where it all started from, the Pilgrim Fathers and the initial colonization of America, the dodgy deals with the native population, and then the disillusionment with the Imperial British Empire, regarding taxation and other not so popular issues. It is interesting to see how the original Puritans came across, settled in New England, became rebels and downright revolutionaries and set an ideal in motion - the land of the free. And so from a religious, aesthetic background, we develop the modern America with its tolerances and its strictures, its idiosyncratic wholeness as a nation but yet its individuality as a set of states, each to their own devices.

I assume this is the balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read to the populus, to loud cheers and “Down with the English!” as us proper Europeans get on with the job of forming a civilized nation ;)

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Directions: Corner of State and Washington Streets, once again pretty unmissable.
Website: http://www.bostonhistory.org/old_state_hs_hist.php