Our weekend in Boston was unlike any stop on our trip so far. We spent the least time sightseeing that we have the whole trip, and the most time just hanging out with friends. We came up to see my best friend Alexa and we spent practically every waking moment with her and her awesome group of Russian friends that she introduced us to. We did see a few sights and they did explain some of the major historical events of the city like the signing of the Declaration of Independence and Paul Revere's whatever he did... Also we were staying about a block from Fenway Park which everyone kept saying like it's a big deal, but Alex and I don't watch sports at all so we just kept looking at them like um.. ok? But mostly we just walked around and had really good conversations.
I loved seeing all the old brick apartment buildings and houses that had so much character. I do think that out of all the cities we've visited, Boston has the most character. 
We also sat in a really pretty park where there was not just one, but three wedding parties being photographed. My favorite was this couple who decided to take a picture with a random stranger's really hairy dog. 
We also walked through the Italian part of town and stopped for cannolis at some famous cannoli place where we had to wait in line for a good 15 minutes. But it was worth it! Nothing beats original ricotta cheese cannolis!
Later that evening we were driving and we had heard something about the band Train doing a free performance somewhere in Boston. So as we're driving with the windows open, we hear their song "Drive By" coming from nearby and Alexa and I freaked out, literally jumped out of the car and started running toward the park where they were playing. It started pouring down rain and by the time we got to where they were playing we were drenched and only made it in time for their last song "Drops of Jupiter". It was so fun and probably my highlight of our time there.
After that we walked to the grocery store to get some food to bake and on the way back to Alexa's apartment, we got caught in the heaviest rain I've ever been in in my life! Within seconds we were drenched and had to just laugh and scream the whole way back to her apartment, carrying an unhappy, little cactus in the rain.
The next morning we had a delicious picnic breakfast in the park, complete with lemon blueberry scones and red bell pepper, broccoli quiche. It was delightful eating in front all the college students running past us. As much as I've been fighting to hold onto summer while we're on this trip, I have to admit fall began for me that day. Something about walking through a college town after school has started and everyone running around getting homework done. Of course getting tricked into drinking a Pumpkin Spice Latte (which I never drink until I'm completely ready for fall) didn't help. We actually kind of felt like college students while we were in Boston. It's kind of hard not to in a city where practically everyone is our age and we loved hanging out with friends all day like college kids who don't have many other responsibilities. 
We also saw Harvard Square, which amazingly enough just looks like the red square at UW. The students did look smarter though, I'll admit. and they had way cooler lawn chairs that even came with foot rests!
In the evening we went to church with Alexa and and Russian group at Mosaic Boston. And when we came in and everyone was speaking in Russian, I thought I'd been tricked into another Russian service for the third week in a row. Thankfully is wasn't and we had an awesome time worshiping with the Bostonians. Interestingly enough, the pastor talked about the perfect shalom that was in the garden of Eden before sin. Once again, are churches of all different denominations and backgrounds grasping God's heart for Israel and the wealth of that heritage?
After church we were very honored to be excepted into the Russian groups' weekly hang-out-at-the-church-until-the-wee-hours-of-the-night-talking-about-intelligent-things. It was another one of our highlights and we will never forget just sitting around, listening to each other's stories and passions, and laughing about stupid things. It was tempting to just stay in Boston for another week or month or year. But we said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch and extended a open invitation to anyone who wants to see us in Seattle.
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