My friend Katrina moved to Boston about a month ago to attend Emerson College, and Madeline and I decided to take a mini-vacation to go visit her last week. We had a great time, although it started out rough (long periods of time looking for parking, a parking ticket, nail polish all over the apartment due to Madeline's "pretty nails", virtually no sleep the first night - thanks again to Madeline).
I am not generally a fan of big cities because I find them to be busy, loud, and most of all dirty. Boston may be fairly busy and loud, but it is certainly not dirty. That is easily the most gorgeous big city I have visited. The buildings are almost all brick, and they have very cool architecture. There are a lot of plants, trees, and parks, and everything is well-kept. You can tell there is a lot of money there.
Madeline and I got to experience our first subway ride, eat some famous cannolis, play in the Public Gardens, and do lots and lots of walking around. The biggest issues were the parking, and that there are stairs everywhere so it was pretty hard to get around with a stroller. Apparently no handicapped people live or visit there.
We tried some very yummy new meals (a Parisian sandwich, Frutta, and Formaggio), and really enjoyed the scenery. There is a park along the river called the "esplanade" that we walked along. Each afternoon there were probably a hundred boats out on the river, and the city skyline with the trees and glittering water was absolutely stunning.
If I had to live in a city, Boston would definitely be somewhere at the top of my list - as long as I was rich!
Thanks for the fantastic visit Katrina!