And we walked - Day 2...

Today turned out to be another day of walking. We slept in a bit, relaxed, walked around both malls that are connected to our hotel, had lunch and then boarded for our Duck Tour. It was an 80 minute land and water ride...the Duck goes from land to water and then back to land again. We got to see some great sites along with humorous commentary.

After we got back from the Duck Tour we decided to finish the day by walking the Freedom Trail. It's a 2 1/2 mile trail of 16 historical sites. We walked the entire trail (parts of it twice) and then backtracked again to catch the water taxi part of the way back.

Before I go on, let me just say that about 1/3 of the way through the Freedom Trail, we encountered the New England Holocaust Memorial. It was amazing and quite emotional. It consists of 6 cubed, glass towers that are etched with six million ID numbers to symbolize the 6 million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust (the six also stands for the six main camps). The bottom of each tower is a grate with steam coming up through the tower to symbolize gas. I've seen pictures of the Holocaust my whole life and have even been to the Museum in DC, so I wasn't prepared to react so emotionally. I think I only made it to the second tower before I started to cry.

As we stood in each tower for a moment we were disrupted by a man pulling his suitcase THROUGH the memorial. All I could do was turn to Chris and say, "How can someone just roll their suitcase right through here?" and shed a few more tears. How horrible that he couldn't take an extra minute to maneuver to the sidewalk just a few feet on either side of the memorial. It's people like that who most need a reminder of the horrible things that have plagued our past.

I am so grateful that we have monuments like it to help us remember what millions (11, to be exact) of people endured just over half a century ago. And although not officially part of the Freedom Trail, it does seem fitting to be along its path.

After we took the water taxi part of the way back, we stopped at the Green Dragon Tavern and had lobster for dinner. We were still at least a mile from the hotel and kind of power-walked back through Boston Commons, the park and various streets to get back to our hotel. This part of the day started at 3:00 p.m. when we left the hotel for the start of the Freedom Trail and ended at 8:10 p.m. when we finally made it back to our room.

Again, we are tired and have hurting feet, but we had a great day. Tomorrow we plan to hit the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum, tour the Boston Public Library and one or two famous churches in the city.

Here are some pictures from today's journey:

Our "Duck"

Starting point for the Freedom Trail

The New England Holocaust Memorial

Another view of the Holocaust Memorial

This is the stone at the end of the last tower of the Memorial.
If you can't read this, see below.**

A memorial for our soldiers.
We wrote a tribute in the notebook.

Me at a Freedom Trail sign.

Our feet at the end of the Freedom Trail.

A cute picture of us on the water taxi.

**Here's what the stone at the Holocaust Memorial says:

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

by Martin Niemoeller (a Protestant Pastor)

I think this says it all...we have a responsibility to speak up for people even when they are different from us. If we don't, who will speak up for us?