JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

A stripe of red paint substitutes for red brick as the Freedom Trail heads along the Charlestown Bridge (aka North Washington Street Bridge). The lightposts on the bridge were adorned with banners celebrating the Celtics' playoff run. My stay coincided with the Celtics' battle with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Take a wild guess as to where my loyalties lay (hint: the team that lost to the eventual league champions). First stop over in Charlestown was City Square , where giant fish watched every move I made. A phoenix may be a more appropriate symbol, given the square's ability to resurrect itself from invasions, fires and elevated freeways . Boston firefighters put out blazes and quench the thirst of thirsty walkers. A memorial to those who fought in the Civil War stands in Winthrop Square. Simmering resentment against the British dies hard on Bunker Hill . I arrived too late to climb up the 221' obelisk but ...

After dodging heavy machinery to cross Harvard Square, I hopped on the subway and headed into downtown Boston. Everyone obeyed the sign not to run down the ramp even as the train was ready to pull away. First stop was Brattle Book Shop , whose bargain carts filled the adjacent lot. A series of author portraits hang above the $3-5 books - I'm partial to the take on Dr. Seuss. Disintegrating 19th century editions of The Atlantic were tempting but looked as if they would crumble before I reached the cashier. I soon discovered I wasn't the only Canadian roaming around Downtown Crossing. While checking out at an Eddie Bauer outlet, the cashier noticed my CIBC credit card and noted I was the sixth or seventh Canadian she had served that day. It wasn't difficult to find traces of home around Boston, if only in the TD logo and colour scheme on Banknorth branches. One of Downtown Crossing's retail landmarks was Filene's, which was famous for yearly "runn...