This was our second Context tour. The first (in Versailles) was world class and we've been recommending Context Travel since! However, our recent tour of Boston was so very disappointing. During much of it, there was no talking at all. For example, as we walked from block to block, there would be no talking until we reached a historic building. 40 minutes was spent sitting and waiting to enter North Church with no facts given at all. Our guide was a very nice person, but the occasional fact he shared was delivered a sentence or two at a time without elaboration or an engaging way of delivering the information. I was hesitant to share a review as I truly do not wish to hurt his feelings because he is so kind, but he did not have ample information to be able to offer a tour. The facts he shared were quite brief, limited in scope, and some were identical to those on plaques in the church so we could have learned it on our own. We appreciated that on the three occasions when he gave an incorrect historical date, he took the time to look at his notes and correct himself, but in all honesty, it was a boring tour that was surprisingly absent of information. I would estimate that only about 15-20 minutes of the tour were spent with the guide sharing information about Boston, though we did learn about his home in Brookline. Because he did not seem to be able to offer information about Boston, we tried to ask him questions about Lexington/Concord since he mentioned he is an expert in that history. However, he was unable to share but a few sentences about that historic event, and that was with much coaxing from us. We attempted to encourage him to talk by asking specific questions, but it was quite frustrating. He would only share a sentence or two until we asked another question to try and pry historical facts out of him. Quite frankly, it was a bit exhausting to try and encourage him to share the history with us, but if we didn't keep trying, there would have been silence. The best part of the tour was when I asked if it was OK if we entered a historic print shop building. There was an individual there who spoke at length about the history of printing in Boston during the revolution. This individual in the print shop was captivating and as he shared the historic details that were woven in his stories, we felt like we finally learned something. We also felt that our Context tour should have delivered a similar experience. Our time was was so disappointing and the feeling of being swindled out of $300 for this lack of a tour continues to linger. As a result, we will not spend the money for a Context tour in the future. (sigh)

Andrea