Providence, USA
December 2025
The next city on my US trip was Providence, the capital of the smallest US state, Rhode Island. With a population of less than 200,000, it is definitely small for US town, but despite it’s size, it is home to no less than 7 instituions of higher learning, including Ivy League Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design and Providence College (which is kind of the reason why I was visiting, but more about that later).
It was -12 C as I left my hostel, but it actually did not feel as cold as it had the night before. I did make sure I blow dried my hair so at least that did not freeze on my walk to Boston South Station. It has been great that I have been able to walk almost everywhere I have wanted/needed to go, despite the size of the city.
I was catching the Amtrak train from Boston to Providence, a journey of around 40 minutes on the express train. I must admit the train was not really set up for travellers with large bags as the only storage area was the overhead shelves. It was bigger enough, but not easier to lift a 16kg bag above my head, but thankfully with some help I got it up there.
My accommodation here was a 10 minute walk from the train station and I was grateful to be able to check straight in. This B&S was a beautiful old house (dating back to 1858) and my room was definitely an improvement. The floors were wood, still not very warm but a definite improvement over concrete of my Boston accommodation.
After a short walk around the area, passing the State Capital building and finding myself in a big shopping mall, my novelty hot drink of the day was a banana bread chai from a cute little café next door to my hotel.
I then headed off on the walk to Providence College (I was going to try and catch the bus but walking was only 10 minutes longer so did that instead). I am not sure some of the walk was through the best neighbourhoods but I soon came into the area of student rentals – cute looking houses with lots of America flags and some with crazy Xmas decorations.
Providence College is a private Catholic university, founded in 1917 and has approximately 5,000 students. One of these students is my nephew, Daniel, who is there on an althetics scholarship, and the reason I had come to visit (not that I need much incentive to book a trip anywhere). Lol
Daniel gave me a guided tour around the campus, including the incredible sports facilities, some of the lecture buildings and his dorm room that he shares with 3 other althetes (one from America, one from England and one from Ireland). It is an amazing opportunity for him and it was great to see a little bit of his new life. We ended our tour with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory – this place has such a huge menu, there is definitely something for everyone, and of course a massive selection of cheesecakes (I had key lime and it was good).
The next morning, I headed back to the train station and caught a train back to Boston! This time I caught the commuter train which was only $10 for unlimited journeys on Saturday and Sunday. It did, however, take 1 hour 20 minutes, much slower that the 40 minute, $30 Amtrak train. It also only goes every 2 hours so you definitely have to plan to ensure you don’t just miss one! It was also pretty full, with lots of people heading in to the city for the day.
I was back in Boston to see Daniel run at the first indoor met of the season at Boston University. From the train, I had to transfer to a tram which started off underground, like the T, and then came out, above ground where it operated more like a bus, where you had to press a Stop button for it to stop at the next station. Always fun to navigate the different public transport options.
Lunch today was Raising Canes, a chicken place I had heard about (in fact many of my meals are trying out places I have send on TV or in the movies, or even on social media). I had chicken strips with their house sauce and it was pretty good. As I sat eating, it starting snowing again, this time big fluffy flakes. I was close to the University athletics centre and I felt for the atheletes who were dressed to compete indoors but were warming up (or down) outside in the snow.
I grabbed my novelty drink of the day, today a Baileys Latte (as a side note, I am surprised by how many people are getting iced coffee/drinks when it is freezing cold) before heading in to the stadium to watch the running. It was great to see how it all works and I was lucky to get the opportunity to see Daniel run.
Of course I could not stay long after his race as I had to get back to the station so as not to miss the next train back to Providence!
We spent our last day together exploring Providence. Founded in 1636, it is one of the oldest cities in New England and it was founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honour of “God’s merciful Providence”. The city developed in to a busy port and was was noted for it textile manufacturing.
We walked up the hill to the oldest part of the city, stopping at Prospect Terrace for a panoramic view over the city and the statue of Roger Williams who overlooking domain. We continued up College Hill to explore Brown University. A private Ivy League college established in 1764, a beautiful campus with some buildings dating back to the early days for the school. It is hard to imagine that just a week later there was a shooting on the campus!
On our way back down to the city we past the oldest Baptist church in American, established by Roger Williams in 1638, just a couple of years after the establishment of the city. We continued on to roam around the streets checking out some of the older buildings.
My visit to Providence was wrapped up with dinner at a student bar, a small bar with 6-7 large screens showing football. You can definitely see what priorities are here! After dinner I headed back to my accommodation to pack up, ready for an early train to my next and final destination on this trip.
Cockneykiwi takes flight 