Boston is a lovely city - very clean, very ordered. A bit too clean and ordered, perhaps. The city authorities have an obsession with putting signs up everywhere: "No parking", "tow zone", "snow emergency zone", "slow handicapped children" [yes, really]. The occasional sign of rebellion was welcome relief: a school with a sign announcing: "This is a school. Trespassers forbidden. Police, take note". The strangest sight we encountered in Boston was an oriental woman, running screaming through heavy traffic. Stark bollock naked. [Well, perhaps not bollock. Hey, how would I know?]

We hit New York running. Shopping. My God, it's hot. I can see why all the eastern seaboard queens escape to Fire Island or Provincetown for the summer. However, I do hope they haven't all escaped - we're meant to be meeting a bunch of them tonight. More about that later.