A New Staht in Boston – Paht Two

It’s time to wrap up the rest of my Boston re-cap. In case you missed “Paht One” be sure to check it out here! This recap is a bit picture heavy but worth it so, take a seat, relax, and stay a while :)

While walking through town we came across some prettyyy interesting sculptures, if I do say so myself!

 

If you see the below trolley while you’re in Boston, jump on it. Why, you ask?
A. It will take you to DOYLE’s. It’s said to be shown in quite a few films/shows, Mystic River being one of them.
B. The trolley driver is HILARIOUS and has THE greatest Boston accent. Here are some quotes if you don’t believe me:

“When the music stahts, that’s right… you’re dancing for the people.”
”I eat chowdah like cereal for breakfast.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering. Loud music and disco lights were a part of this adventure. If you didn’t already want to visit Boston, you should now :)

Now, it’s time to talk about chowdah. Clam chowdah to be exact. I left Boston knowing that I had eaten the best chowdah I’ve ever had.

Amazing. Union Oyster House did not let me down. It was thick, full of yummy potatoes, and had just the right amount of flavor. I tried lobster bisque at Quincy Market a couple days later  and it just did not suffice. Go to Union Oyster House and order a bowl or two of their clam chowdah. Also, please ask for it just like that - “chowdah.”

Another site we stumbled upon was this fascinating and touching Holocaust Memorial. There was mist everywhere and quotes were etched into the glass.
 
 




 

Upon walking from the Financial District to ohhh, Copley Square {aka a LONG way}, we stumbled upon yet another surprise – ice sculptures.

This ice sculpture had everything from a school of fish to a bikini to a lobster frozen inside. Maybe I’ll take up ice sculpting.

Then, it was time for New Year’s Eve. We went to a quaint, little place right on the water. The guy to girl ratio had to be 75/25. Crazy. But, don’t think it was necessarily a good thing.
I had to politely decline not one but two guys on their offers to dance. The second guy didn’t stand a chance. When a guy is slurring his words so badly that I have to ask him FOUR times what he said, he then proceeds to make fun of me for drinking Diet Coke, and STILL doesn’t leave me alone when I have to ask him to please leave, something is wrong.

That aside, I had a great New Year’s Eve and welcomed 2012 with a new outlook.

 

Okay, okay and since I talked about my New Year’s outfit in a prior post, here’s what the whole sha-bang looked like:

The next day, we headed over to our favorite little place, Quincy Market for a bite to eat before heading off to Harvard.

That’s right. We ventured over to the little town of Cambridge and became Harvard students for the day. Except, not really because school was not in sesh. Sad. It would have made the trip that much better because, to be honest, Harvard was a bit of a disappointment. Much smaller than I expected. The buildings were still gorgeous, nonetheless.

I’m not sure what was better – Occupy Harvard…

Or walking by a dorm window and seeing some sort of crazy algebraic equations/functions/I’m not even sure what language scribbled onto the window shade.

Oh, Harvard.

And that’s pretty much where the picture-taking ended. We headed over to the Harvard bookstore and then took the subway back to our side of town. We finished the trip with a visit to the movies where we saw one of the best movies I have probably ever seen – We Bought a Zoo. I’m almost positive when I say that this movie brought the entire theatre to tears at certain points. Tears of joy and maybe a few tears of sadness. It was a touching, funny, inspiring movie that I recommend you all to go and see. Now! :)

All in all, Boston is a great city. I feel like I always learn something new in each city I visit. Boston sure taught me a thing or two – about this country and about myself. Among all the hustle and bustle and Boston accents, I feel like this city is one where you can feel right at home :)

A New Staht in Boston – Paht One

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous end to the year and the first few days of 2012 have been great. Boston was a success! I quickly grew fond of that city by the water and even more fond of the fun accents that were heard {hence the title} :)

After our early morning flights, we started the day off with a little bite to eat per the recommendation of our friend, the bellhop. We headed over to Max’s Deli for a low-key, cheap, and delicious breakfast.

Next up was the Freedom Trail where we did most of our exploring of Boston :)

The Freedom Trail is a self-guided tour of many of the historical sites throughout the city. We followed the red line most of the way {but, let’s be honest – it was cold and our feet ended up getting tired} Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

 
 
Okay, so Urban Outfitters wasn’t exactly ON the Freedom Trail but this was one of the largest stores I’ve probably seen. It just kept going and going…

 

Among the many historical sites, we stumbled upon this nice surprise below; the Memorial Garden. These dog tags were hung in remembrance of all the men and women of this country who have and do fight for our freedom.

 

Christ Church - 1723
 
I want the yellow house on the right. So pretty!

Another surprise along the Freedom Trail was a very old cemetery. It was eerie and fascinating all at the same time. The gravestones dated back to the 1700’s…

It just made me think about life and what that city and this world must have been like when they were here.

 

 

It took no time to realize how friendly everyone in Boston was. They were pretty quick-witted and to the point but very, very willing to help.

Example number one:
As I was trying to get a picture of this truck, I noticed one of the firefighters leaning out the window and pointing. So, I waved back. Naturally, right? Well, come to find out, he was telling me, “You dropped your glove.” Sure enough, I had. What a guy!

 

I also found Rajon Rondo after all…

Here’s a glimpse at the Boston Subway. $2.00 could get us pretty much anywhere. Take that, DC Metro!

And that’s just half of the pictures!

We stayed at the Hilton in Boston’s Financial District. It was close enough to walk to a lot of the main parts we ended up going to but was still in a nice, quiet little part of town.

Sure, the weather was chilly compared to how mild it had been in DC lately, but with a scarf and some gloves, it was certainly bearable. I can’t even tell you how much WALKING we did. Miles and miles a day, I tell you!

Stay tuned for the rest of the Boston adventure later this week, including my review on Clam Chowdah and my NYE outfit!