Boston

I'm finally getting around to writing a bit about our trip to Boston. I have always loved this city, and it's easily one of my favorites in the US. It has a lot of charm with old cobbled streets, large parks, and old buildings that signify permanence and attention to detail. The history of the city is really interesting too. If we move back to the US, this would be the perfect meld between Europe and the US.

We stayed in Beacon Hill, a beautiful neighborhood with hilly streets and brick clad Federal style row houses. That is enough to make me fall in love with the city once again. Being tourists we did all of the touristy things that continued to solidify my admiration - visiting Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Boston Commons, the Public Garden ducks, Fenway, Chinatown, Harvard and the North End.


We also did plenty of shopping. I was so happy to visit Paper Source, a fine stationery shop, with letterpress cards. I also found a small suitcase there to hold the leaf dishes I purchased. The tadpole park and frog pond in the Boston Commons is also very sweet. We watched the ice skaters and reminisced about how Stefan and I had visited 5 years earlier as our first trip together. Boston makes me remember falling in love both with the city and with Stefan.


It's also impressive to me how Boston exudes a warmth and friendliness. Perhaps that's just part of being back in the US and in a large pedestrian friendly city, but several people passing on the streets said hi to me. Maybe I looked like someone they knew or perhaps they are readers of my blog, but they brought a smile to my face.


Although I've been to Boston several times, I had never made it to Fenway Park. The entire neighborhood exudes so much energy and I can't recall another city that I've been to with so much fan support. The fire trucks, dumpsters, and any other supporter or sponsor of the Red Sox has their emblem on the side.


It's no secret that I love pastries. I've even considered the idea of becoming a pastry chef. During my first trip to Boston I was visiting a friend who went to Boston College. She introduced me to Mike's Pastry - a simple but delicious pastry shop in the North End (the Italian area of town). We ate our pastries on the curb of a side street as the little Italian men shuffled by and asked for us to share with them. Mike's specializes in canolis and other high calorie confections. I've yet to have something that wasn't absolutely delicious from them.


Chinatown in any city is always fascinating to me. We didn't get accosted to buy knockoff handbags, like New York's Chinatown, but there was still the feeling that someone who spoke Chinese could live in this small neighborhood without ever learning English. There were various meats and live chickens in shops, as well as authentic Chinese restaurants and a lot of business men bustling past on their lunch breaks. We tried a matcha green bubble tea and admired all of the Chinese characters on the signs.


We ventured to Cambridge and visited Harvard and their great book stores. I was particularly happy to find the Globe Corner Books. Stefan tested his luck by rubbing John Harvard's shoe, and we wandered across the Charles River for a nice view of the city.

Hopefully it's not another 5 years before we are able to visit again. We had a wonderful time, once again.