Beacon Hill and Boston Riverside

The weather on our last full day in Boston was not looking great when we woke up. It was grey and rainy and cold, it was looking a bit like London! But with prettier coloured houses.

I'd been tossing up while packing as to whether I wanted to bring my warm Superdry jacket, or if in September, my leather jacket would have been enough. Luckily Bradley made me take it, since I needed it while in a thunderstorm in New York, and now on a grey day in Boston.

We didn't have too much of a plan for today, which was good, because the bed where we were staying was so comfortable that we slept in much later than anticipated.

We stopped at a cafe on the way to get some coffee to warm us up, and headed into Boston.

Welcome to the Red Sox Nation

Our first full day in Boston was spent mostly on Newbury Street. This section of Boston is a lovely street full of old Brownstone houses, and shops of every kind in each one.

There is a mix of luxury fashion and high street brands, plus some great vintage jewellery stores.

While we wanted to explore as much of Boston as we could in the two full days we had, we also wanted to pop into some jewellery stores and try on some engagement rings, to get a feel for what type of ring I'd like.

Shipping off to Boston

We left New York just before lunch and hopped on an Amtrak train to Boston. The trip from New York to Boston takes about 4 hours, and if you don't want to drive, the train is the best way.

The Amtrak trains were pretty comfortable, with big seats and lots of leg room. There was also free wifi for most of the trip.

We arrived at Boston Back Bay station in the early afternoon, and headed off to the apartment we were renting in Charlestown.

Charlestown is just out of the main centre of Boston, about a half hour walk, so pretty close, but in a lovely residential neighbourhood instead of the city. Charlestown is where Ben Affleck's movie The Town was based, and is famous for its history of organised crime. Aside from that, it's apparently one of the safest places in Boston for women.

The neighbourhood itself is really nice, full of coloured wooden houses, all really well taken care of. The house we stayed in was bright blue, and is often included on heritage trails.