Boston Harbor Cruise

We have arrived Stateside! Those of you who follow me on twitter or Facebook may have noticed that we are spending the summer in the USA, just outside Boston. Dale had to come out here for 5 weeks to meet with clients and colleagues so we grabbed the opportunity for an extended family holiday. We get to explore and have fun while he gets to work!

The flight was fairly painless – the Delta safety video was quite brilliant, the food was edible and there was plenty of it, and the children had a screen with all the tv, movies and games they could ever need. The drive from the airport to the hotel would have been fairly straightforward if it wasn’t for my slightly dodgy navigating – you say left, I say right… And the hotel is great – we’ve even been lucky enough to have a room upgrade so we have a two bedroom suite. The children are most impressed with the ice cube machine in the freezer that keeps spitting out ice cubes. Thank goodness they are easily pleased!

The worst bit for me is the driving. I was nervous about it before we arrived but I have bitten the bullet and had a go. The combination of driving an automatic, sitting on the wrong side of the car, driving on the other side of the road and learning new roads signs is quite mind boggling. I have banned the children from talking while I’m driving!

All in all, so far so good. There will be lots of holiday chat over the next few weeks – apologies to those of you who will be subjected to our endless pictures and exploits, but I’m sure there will be a good helping of food in with the mix too!

I shall leave you with 10 things I have learned so far:

1. Road markings in the US are virtually non-existent in some places! There are stop signs but often no line to stop at.

2. At some traffic lights you can turn right even when there is a red light. There may also be pedestrians crossing in front of you just to add to the fun.

3. Americans don’t do small. Our car is a ‘compact’ but is bigger than our Golf at home. Many people drive massive trucks.

4. To announce which train station you will be arriving at next, the train guard will open the carriage door and shout!

5. You have to sign your name when using your credit card. I’ve virtually forgotten how to do this!

6. So far all the Americans we have met have been super friendly and helpful.

7. Americans love Faith’s accent. Seriously, she gets told this several times a day!

8. Trying to get through a train station when there is a Justin Bieber concert in the evening is virtually impossible. I don’t understand the hysteria we witnessed – I couldn’t even name you one of his songs!

9. Always ask for a kiddie cup when ordering ice cream from Kimball Farm. Even this is the size of a small child’s head!

10. To pay for parking at the train station you stuff dollar bills through the small slot that matches the number of your parking space.