Boston family va-cay

Mark and Rachel historical reenactment

I'm here in Boston on an old school family vacation. Complete with historical sites, walking tours, family dinners, angry car rides, and my mom twisting her ankle. Are we having fun yet? Mark and I got some classic pictures of my baseball capped dad walking down the street with a map fully unfurled, nearly running into other tourists...my mom stumbling behind him with her McDonalds latte. Oh man, it's probably good for me to get this concentrated family and tourist time out of the way before I hurdle myself back into the jungles (literally) of Peru. Especially since it's probably one of our last times to hang out just the 4 of us...oh the joys :)

All in all, I've had a great time though. The best was certainly getting to see my dad play in a soccer tournament for men 65 and older. To see a 70-year-old slide tackle his opponent and then get up and yell at the ref who called a foul, is absolutely priceless. Every time I saw one of them head the ball with blind vigor, I had to feel inferior, thinking I can only hope to become this cool in 40-50 years. I'm not shitting you: I saw one of them try to bicycle a shot on goal.

Other highlights of the trip included

• My brother, dad, and I went to see the Goldcup matches: USA vs Haiti and Honduras vs Grenada in the Gillette stadium (where the Patriots play). I had forgotten how much fun soccer was.

• Went to a Couch Surfing meet-up at a Cambridge brewery. I got to couch surf with a friend I had met in Lima and I met a couple other really cool people.


• Embarked on a salsa dancing cruise around the Boston Harbor, which involved 3 levels of music. Following the cruise, my two couch surfing friends and I hit up a beautiful bar called Rocca. I don't generally like to drink at all...maybe a glass of wine with dinner here or there, so it was trouble when my friend kept bringing me shots of 1800. I vow once again to never drink again...


• Ate a pistachio ice cream cone at Revere beach and watched Brazillian boys in tiny swim suits play an impressive blend of soccer/volleyball


• The Freedom Trail!


• Walked around Walden Pond and visited the site of Thoreau's home in 1846, where he wrote Walden. This was probably tied actually as my favorite with watching 65-75 year olds play soccer.

Check out these faces:In Walden Pond: