Boston Marathon countdown starts

Well it is Day -2 and Kathleen and I are in Boston! Got here last night, about 90 minutes late (thanks Continental!) but otherwise an ok flight. We found our way to Boston's North End quite easily by way of a short, fast trip on the Blue Line to Aquarium Station, and then about 10 minutes walk. La Capella Suites - the bed & breakfast where we will be spending the next 3 nights, is just a couple of blocks or so off Hanover, which is the 'main drag' of the North End, Boston's Italian area. And is it ever Italian! Italian restaurants literally everywhere, pastry shops, coffee shops, Italian grocers, the works. We stocked up on a few pastries at Mike's, which is one of the best known shops of its kind. Last night (Friday) it was so crowded we didn't even venture inside but this morning at around 1100A there was no line at all. I am surprised at how friendly and talkative the natives are, happy to chat about the marathon, the Red Sox, the weather, whatever.

We literally stumbled upon the Freedom Trail and I took a few pics of the Old North Church and Paul Revere's Statue, the light wasn't great though. This afternoon we will be going to the Hynes Convention Center on Boylston Street to pick up my bib for the race. Tonight after an early pasta dinner there is a Runner's World Forum Event at the Boston Beerworks on Canal Street. It will be fun to put faces to the names of so many of the runners who have been posting on a near daily basis on the Boston Forum. As for the race, the weather forecast so far is mixed: the temperatures look ok with a minimum around 40F and a maximum around 50F, but unfortunately it appears that there will be a westerly or NW wind of up to 20MPH or so. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that I will have to be very fortunate to equal my BQ time, and more likely to finish around 4 hrs.