Boston
When you walk through a
supermarket, you see aisles and aisles of food. Think of London, New York,
Paris, and Beijing as the Costcos of the supermarkets, with the most to offer
and the largest. Then you have the Atlanta, Seattle, Barcelona, and San
Francisco as the Stop and Shops. And, Boston? Well, it’s like your 7-Eleven.
Boston is not quite a full-sized
city, yet it claims to carry the most popular things that other cities carry.
And, unlike your local 24-hour 7-Eleven, everything in Boston closes by 1 PM.
Rather than give you a run-down of
all Boston’s offerings, here is a 12-hour tour that you can take and not miss
a beat.
11 AM - go to the Prudential Center (the tallest building in Boston)
and take the duck tour. It will drive you around the city. This amphibious
vehicle will also show you the Boston skyline by going on the Charles River.
1 PM - when you get back from the tour, walk along Newbury Street (one
block away). Don’t buy anything because everything is a rip-off. But do grab
lunch from one of the quaint side cafes.
2 PM - take the T to Boston Commons. After you get out, take a quick
look at the old Cheers bar. If you go up the hill, you will run into a red line
going across the sidewalk. That’s Paul Revere’s Freedom Trail. Ironically,
the trail stops along every major pub. Perhaps, the Founding Fathers were
drunks.
3 PM - by following the trail, you will have walked through Downtown
Crossing to Government Center. Spend an hour going through Faneuil Hall. See an
occasional street musician, juggler, or magician. Be a pal. Give a dollar.
4 PM - walk over to the New England Aquarium. See lots of fishes. Get
hungry.
6 PM - walk towards North End, Boston’s version of Little Italy. As
you are walking by, you can probably see the Fleet Center and the construction
of the Big Dig. Be sure to stop by Mike’s Pastry for some cannoli. We will
assume that you will dine there.
8 PM - Basically, you have seen everything there is to see in Boston.
Sad, isn’t it? You can do one of four things from here. You can go to Harvard
Square to see the oldest school in America. Or you can walk along Lansdowne
Street, home to a majority of the night clubs and the Boston Red Sox. Or you can
go to one of those artsy-fartsy places, like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Symphony Orchestra, or whatever. When your evening is over, go behind the
Prudential Center to see what all those crazy Christian Scientists are up to.
11 PM - Leave Boston. As you leave, you will make fun of this poor
excuse for a city. But take it from someone who has lived in the New York area…you
will long for Boston. Yeah, it doesn’t have the feel of a full-blown city, but
you will miss its quaint charm, and the fact that you can walk from one end of
the city to the other in a few pleasurable hours.
