This is what happens when you put three people with no plans or agenda for the day. We weren’t even in Rhode Island and didn’t know anyone there.

We woke up on a sunny day in Boston and decided on a whim to take a train anywhere. Maine and New Hampshire were bandied around before we decided to head over to Rhode Island, more specifically the capital city of Providence.

Before I carry on – I have to add – please disregard my trousers. I’m not even sure what I was thinking when I bought them or what ZARA was thinking when they made them! 🙂 *shrugs*

Now coming from the UK, I’ve found trains in the US to be quite slow.

For instance, the train between Seattle and Vancouver took about 5 hours. The distance between both cities is roughly the same distance between London and say, Birmingham and that journey in the UK takes 1 hour and 24 minutes (to be exact).

Even the journey between London and Edinburgh (which is 3 times as long as between Seattle and Vancouver) can be completed in less time (approximate 4.5 hours).

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (9)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (8)

Anyway, based on my experience of long train journeys, I was expecting this one to be quite long but it wasn’t – it was still a slow train (and not particularly comfortable – it’s a commuter train) but the journey took just over an hour.

When we arrived, we basically just spent the better part of an hour acting like children – swinging from trees, play fighting and doing silly things that we could very well have done in Boston (in fact, we could have done this without even leaving the house).

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (22)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (12)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (3)*Special note: Rhode Island was the birthplace of our newly coined “Awkward Pose”: Basically ask someone to take a photo of you but act like you didn’t ask for the photos to be taken (Basically stand very straight and don’t smile/frown). It was priceless trying this out on strangers back in Boston and watching their confused expressions.

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (13)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (10)

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Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (11)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (21)

We finally ventured into the State House for a bit of sightseeing.

It’s a pretty impressive building and getting to wander its halls on our own was quite nice and an experience we’d definitely never had before.

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (15)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (14)

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Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (19)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (17)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (25)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (16)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (24)

Of course, this was how we ended up in an official meeting at the State House with people discussing important issues, none of which I remember as I was busy taking photos, and eventually skipped out of the meeting to explore more of the State House.

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (5)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (20)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (18)

Eventually, we decided to head into Providence for a quick tour. The city centre is quite close to the station which was convenient but I got the impression (compared to other cities) that it was a fairly quiet city.

There was no manic rushing around that you’d come to expect from cities and everyone seemed quite relaxed and laid back.

The only thing I knew of Providence was that it was home to Ivy League Uni – Brown University and I imagine it would be a nice little bubble to go to University in…

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (26)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (1)

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Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (2)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (27)

Gate-Crashing A Meeting In A Government State House… in Providence, Rhode Island, USA (28)

Soon enough, we succumbed to the lure of the “Choo Choo” and ran to the station to catch our train back home.

All in all, a productive day of doing absolutely nothing productive.

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