Boston really is an interesting town. It’s a town with a lot of character and history, it’s fast paced and the roads are hard to navigate but at the same time charming and beautiful. It’s home to towering buildings over head but if you look hard enough you can find some quiet corners.

On a recent trip to Boston I had several hours to myself downtown and I decided to take a walk around the Boston Public Garden. With a few clicks on my iPhone I was able to stream an excellent audio walking-tour podcast made by Audissey Guides.

The tour took about an hour and included not only an easy to follow map, but also some really interesting chapters featuring Boston public figures, historians, and other notable locals. It was a great way to open my eyes to all that the Public Garden has to offer, and enhance the experience of being there on a beautiful summer day.

This was my return trip to Boston after the Marathon bombings in April, and I was happy to see so many people (locals and tourists alike) outside living freely and actively enjoying all that downtown has to offer. Here are some photos from my afternoon walking around the Garden, a scenic gem in the heart of a great city.

In the south west corner of the Garden is a very quiet corner of Boston, the September 11th Memorial Garden of Remembrance.  Two of the planes left Boston that morning, and here those who were lost are honored.  Located about a half mile from the Marathon finish line on Boylston Street, the memorial includes a poem by Lawrence Homer from “Boston & Sea Poems”:

Time touches all more gently here,

Here where man has said, No:

Trees and grass, and flowers will remain,

Where the first-born sometimes sees

His father’s father’s eyes

Reflected in the shallow pool;

Feels an ancient heart beat

In the palm of his hand

Pressed against a willow:

And seeking comfort, seeking shade

Lies beneath the golden leaf elm,

Watching swanboats glide in season