Boston parklife
I always thought the English accent was pretty recognisable, but apparently not. I've got a bit of a Brummie twang and while Charlotte H doesn't really have a regional accent she sounds distinctly English. So far on our travels people have guessed that we're from Cleveland, Canada, Australia, Scotland and Ireland. Maybe they don't get many English visitors in America.
We're in the second week of our trip and have now reached Boston, Massachusetts. As we both worked at Marketing Birmingham we're finding ourselves comparing everywhere to home and one thing that is really standing out is how well they design their public spaces over here. Wherever there are skyscrapers you don't have to look far to find green open space. They use water to create natural places to stop and sit, and they're usually interactive, with censor activated upward jets or art installations that accompany them. The floral displays are immaculate and everywhere is so clean because Americans take such pride in their cities.
There is one park in particular in Boston which got us thinking about Eastside. It runs down the centre of a busy A road with several lanes of traffic on either side, but you don't notice the cars or the noise because it's such a beautiful place to sit and watch the world go by. We should take examples from other cities to make the new city park at Eastside the best it can be and if we recreate the kind of environment that we've experienced in Boston and Chicago it will transform that side of Birminigham and be a major asset to the city.
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Charlotte, are you still in Boston, I enjoyed your post, if you'd like to meet up with another Boston blogger let me know. jcass at nwlink dot com. I'm having a tweetup on thursday night in arlington.
Boston sounds pretty cool! Art, water features and flowers mixed with a transatlantic unrecognisable accent - what a combination! Interesting reading and food for thought.
loving the blogs xx
Is this news ? someone goes on holiday....and ?....so what ?
Hi Mark, I'm hoping my blog will be of interest to Birmingham Post readers as I'm a young professional on a career break and it's something a lot of people think about doing. Birmingham's the youngest city in Europe, there's a large number of young professionals living and working in the city and it may also be relevant to employers.
Hi John, I've moved on to New York now but thanks for getting in touch. Let me know where I can read your blog.
Hi Charl, even if they did guess England then the next guess would be London and definately not Birmingham! Boston sounds cool and I am looking forward to seeing pictures of the 'immaculate' flowers. I am loving the blog and its really intersting to hear how these cities think about their open spaces and mixing modern architecture with sculptures/art and greenery. Birmingham has started to do that but has a long way to go but at least we can use these cities as inspiration and i am all for more flowers!!
Have fun in the sun and keep us posted.
Well fair enough and good luck but it just seems like and excuse to say look where i've been on holiday but if some people are enjoying hearing about your holiday travels then who am I to doubt it - they obviously dont have much to do in their lives. personally if i was travelling id be enjoying travelling seeing the world and not living my life on a blog talking to home every day - what on earth is the point. But we are all different and im the one replying to a posting so thats a contradiction in itself !
Good of you girls to take time out to send us your blog. Travel is a great experience in itself and I am sure that your observation of American cities will produce some ideas that the planners might take note of. Looking forward to the next instalment. Hope your weather is better than ours!!
Liking the blogs, so keep them coming. Cant believe that Americans wouldnt recognise an English accent or do you have a Brummie twang. That would fool them. Would be nice to rate all the cities you visit. Are you still travelling by Greyhound and have you had any more strange persons sharing the coach with you?