Boston

After Iceland we headed to one of our favorite cities - Boston.

Boston was the first city Stefan and I visited together when we were first dating, so it always holds a special place in our hearts. It's such a charming place with so much character, some European flair, and a lot of delicious foods.

Here are some of the sights from our quick stop over...

Squirrels in Boston Commons

Produce in Chinatown

Mike's Pastry's Cannolis + Lobster Tails

North Square

The Freedom Trail

Paul Revere's House

The Old Statehouse

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.

Subways of the World

Experiencing something new is typically exciting. It's also easy to take seemingly basic things for granted and not appreciate small things that impact my life so much. Subways are one of these areas. During my art history studies some of the things I've been interested in are trade routes, artifacts, semiotics, and urban planning through time, so naturally subways hold loads of information for me.

The more I travel, the more I appreciate the subways of Munich. They are fast, efficient, clean, have wide platforms, plenty of space and the network is intelligently designed (the stops are almost comical how close they are to each other). Granted, they were built in 1972, as Munich was gearing up for the Olympics, but that's also an area that I think they excelled in. Not only did they build their olympic village to later house students, but they spent money on lasting infrastructure. Boston on the other hand has an excuse for their lack luster appearance - they opened on September 1, 1897.

Boston has the first subway of America and it had been 5 years since I was last there to experience the 'T'. Their subway runs more smoothly than New York's or Chicago's, but it's still not as aesthetically pleasing inside. They are doing a lot of refurbishments, which is nice that they are putting money towards something that is ecologically friendly and encouraging commuters to use the system.

Other differences that I notice are the heavy presence of police officers and public safety units as well as more automated ticketing systems, similar to those in Paris, where you have to scan your ticket to gain entry. I once had tourists tell me that 'you didn't really have to buy tickets in Munich', since it's based on the honor system. I don't get stopped by ticket checkers too often, but who wants to be faced with being in a foreign country and having a 40€ fine in addition to the embarrassment?

Besides, in Munich a weekly ticket to the inner two rings costs a mere 11€. In Boston a weekly ticket costs $15, which is very affordable, especially when gas prices are taken into consideration. Right now, we're in Maine and gas is around $3.30 / gallon, a bargain to anyone in Europe that is purchasing by the litre, particularly with the all time low of the dollar, which occurred yet again today (1€ = $1.506).



Which brings me to shopping... we did the whole city walk, since Stefan had only visited once before, and my sister had never been to Boston. I was reminded how that city so much and would love to eventually call it home. I purchased many books, including my quintessential children's book 'Boston A to Z'. I was also very happy to find a book called Transit Maps of the World and a signed edition of Unlikely Destinations the lonely planet story at Globe Corner Books, near Harvard.



If you're interested in subways, like I am, there are several fascinating websites that have photos of abandoned subway tunnels and also the web urbanist, with plenty of interesting city specimens.

I will write a separate entry about all of the other great things we bought there and the delicious foods. Right now we have snowy Maine awaiting us.

Boston + Maine

We are gearing up for our upcoming trip to Boston / Southern Maine. I am really looking forward to this, because it's been some time since we have visited the Northeast. We'll be gone for just 4 days, and it is so difficult to decide where I must take Stefan and my sister. Naturally, I have the honor of planning things, because I have plenty of time to burn and I am a tour guide after all.

I know we can't go wrong with the Northeast. It oozes charm and makes me so happy. I love visiting a place that has character that's so distinctive and unique. I've yet to be disappointed there.

Boston will always hold a special place in my heart as well, because It was the first trip for Stefan and I while we were dating. We had a great time exploring the city together. I still remember thinking how crazy it was that I wasn't getting tired of being with him for the 4 days we were away. I think it hit us then, that this wasn't going to be a temporary thing.



Our hotel was right near the Boston Commons and the squirrels were everywhere. We made clicking noises that brought them from the far corners of town and one even jumped on my leg. Stefan was impressed that I spoke 'city squirrel', as he called it.

Since we were flying home on Thanksgiving day, we stopped at Mike's Pastry, the day before. It was hustling the only way those Bostonian Italians seem to make things work. They always seem to be actors who became bakers, with booming voices and fast paced orders. The trouble is there are so many choices... fortunately everything is delicious.

I instantly recommend Mike's to anyone I know going to Boston. Those simple white boxes tied off with blue and white bakers string always have the most divine contents. It's difficult for me to try new things when there are several places that are my tried and true favorites. I feel at home when we visit and won't be surprised if I call it home at some point in my life.

Logan Airport was empty as we flew home on Thanksgiving Day. It was Stefan's first Thanksgiving in the states... the memories just come rushing back. It was such a fun time and definitely has a special place in my heart.

I also went to Boston during the summer that I lived in Maine, but going in the autumn was utterly romantic. It probably helped to walk through the streets holding hands as opposed to being with 3 other young women.

Another Northeastern place I love is Maine, which explains why we're not staying in Boston longer. I'm partial to the coast, although there are some strange areas as well (Old Orchard Beach - or the OOB comes to mind). I think of the accents and it brings a smile to my face. The small sea-side fishing towns, like Camden, and Boothbay are just great. Even Freeport, with loads of outlets and shopping is nice. All of the original buildings remain and even McDonald's has an elegance about it (yes, hard to believe). The names of all of the cities are wonderful too - Kennebeck, Katahdin, Casco, Androscoggin, Penobscot, and Ogunquit ... to name a few.

I love Portland's charm with the tiny galleries and nautical feel. We'll definitely be enjoying some lobster rolls in Old Port. In addition to great food, Stefan will appreciate having a little bit of a winter while we're there. I'm already wishing that we had more time. We don't have major plans, so we'll see where things take us and hope for decent road conditions.

I'd also love to have another Sea Dog Blue Paw Wheat Ale (which can sometimes be found at Trader Joe's). I have an affinity for anything blueberry (another reason to love Maine) and the Sea Dog mascot is a Great Pyrenees, just like Mieka. There are a myriad of reasons why the Northeast is great.