Boston: is it worth a visit?
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never been but my impression is that it's very anglophile and quite college-y. If it's still autumnal (rather than wintery) then that part of the world is apparently really beautiful.
lemontop
hungry luma
I went there a few years ago. One thing I remember clearly is that you couldn't buy booze on a Sunday in the shops. They cover it all up in nets.
There's a red line going through the city that you follow to see all the tourist sites. Made me feel like a kid! It was an ok place but there's not masses to do. We went over to Cape Cod which was fun. There were loads of drag queens dressed like Diana Ross wandering around in the middle of the day.
There's a red line going through the city that you follow to see all the tourist sites. Made me feel like a kid! It was an ok place but there's not masses to do. We went over to Cape Cod which was fun. There were loads of drag queens dressed like Diana Ross wandering around in the middle of the day.
I quite liked Boston as a place to live. The North End is home to a second and third generation micro Italy with some seriously good food. The rest is kind of like a mini-London, but it's nice. With the universities comes a lot of old vintage bookshops, although I fear many of them have closed since I left in 2000. There also used to be a great little movie theater in Cambridge, The Brattle Street Theater.
When I was there, there were always tons of good gigs going on, lots of good restaurants and off the beaten path stuff to do. Very pretty in the spring and especially the autumn when the leaves are changing, and a trip out to Cape Cod is always interesting (especially if you can make it up to P-town, or Provincetown).
And there used to be a vintage clothes shop that sold clothes by the pound (in weight, that is!), $1 for a pound of clothes! The Garment District.
I'm feeling really old writing this since all of my info is probably very dated, but in sum I'd say it's not New York, but it's still worth a visit!
If you've never seen the leaves change in the autumn in New England, then that is definitely a site to see. Spend a few days in Boston, then drive out to the country, it really is beautiful.
When I was there, there were always tons of good gigs going on, lots of good restaurants and off the beaten path stuff to do. Very pretty in the spring and especially the autumn when the leaves are changing, and a trip out to Cape Cod is always interesting (especially if you can make it up to P-town, or Provincetown).
And there used to be a vintage clothes shop that sold clothes by the pound (in weight, that is!), $1 for a pound of clothes! The Garment District.
I'm feeling really old writing this since all of my info is probably very dated, but in sum I'd say it's not New York, but it's still worth a visit!
If you've never seen the leaves change in the autumn in New England, then that is definitely a site to see. Spend a few days in Boston, then drive out to the country, it really is beautiful.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Yes. It's one of my favourite cities in the US, along with SF and Chicago. Never been to New York.
Like SF especially, Boston doesn't feel like an 'american' city, the way that places like Minneapolis, or Phoenix do. Because of all the universities and schools of whatever description, it's filled with youth, activity, and ideas. Well worth a visit: make sure you cross the river into Cambridge, as well.
Like SF especially, Boston doesn't feel like an 'american' city, the way that places like Minneapolis, or Phoenix do. Because of all the universities and schools of whatever description, it's filled with youth, activity, and ideas. Well worth a visit: make sure you cross the river into Cambridge, as well.
Sigmund Fraud
893 all the way.
I was there a month ago for a couple of days. Small by US standards, feels about the same size as Dublin, despite the impressive waterfront skyline. I was in NYC a few days before that so it felt a lot less dynamic and much more chilled, but then almost everywhere would. Cambridge is beautiful and er, if you're a fan of fixed wheel bike action I saw more trick fixies in Boston than NYC and London combined. Has a strange preppy but left wing / libertarian bent for a US city. I'd say a visit was worth it but 2 days plenty. The Amtrak up from NY is about $60 and more fun and picturesque than the stupidly short flight.
bouncer_the_dog
Well-Known Member
Definatley worth a visit. Great bar culture loads of historical stuff, I went on a cool trip around the harbour on a boat and they had a WWII destroyer and a latest spec amphibious assault ship to go around. If you eat fish you are sorted. When I went to visit the university it was like being in a GAP advert!
boohoo
No.
Go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scituate,_Massachusetts
It's 25 miles down from Boston - I've never been but it was founded by some of my ancestors...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scituate,_Massachusetts
It's 25 miles down from Boston - I've never been but it was founded by some of my ancestors...
all I know about Boston is that there are a lot of people of irish-catholic descent there and that one never goes there during the wintereditor said:
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
catrina said:
Good post...i spent a week in an apt in the North End and ate myself silly...just kept going to the delis.
Spent most of my time though in Cambridge and whatever the next "city" along is. some seriously good music venues over that way; my fave being the Med Bakery and TT's.
Overall I quite liked Boston except for the driving though it's never been in my faves list which today stands at;
1. Chicago
2. Portland, OR
3. Austin
4. Pittsburgh
5. Nashville
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
we thoroughly enjoyed a visit to Boston, if you can go in the Fall and do some leaf-peepin' too then that would be really great.
Check out the status of the 54th Massachussets Regiment (as per the film Glory), and Harriet Ross Tubman (organised slave escapes), and the big park in the middle of town - forget the name, graveyard of the patriots, the big market by the water front, pizza from Ernestos in Little Italy, lots of nice historic stuff, and some nice bars.
We did a road trip about 7 years ago -
NY -> Niagara Falls -> Toronto -> Quebec -> Leaf Peepin' staying in Burlington VT - > Boston -> NY
Fab trip
Check out the status of the 54th Massachussets Regiment (as per the film Glory), and Harriet Ross Tubman (organised slave escapes), and the big park in the middle of town - forget the name, graveyard of the patriots, the big market by the water front, pizza from Ernestos in Little Italy, lots of nice historic stuff, and some nice bars.
We did a road trip about 7 years ago -
NY -> Niagara Falls -> Toronto -> Quebec -> Leaf Peepin' staying in Burlington VT - > Boston -> NY
Fab trip
The Beacon Inneditor said:
There's another place called Fawlty Towers but you don't want to stay there
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Maggot said:
Owww!
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
twisted said:
Portland?
Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot. Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in backgroundJohnny Canuck2 said:
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Detroit City said:Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot. Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in background
My opinion of Portland was formed on a trip once where I left SF and drove north, stopping there for the night. When I woke up, I was in a city of pasty white americans wearing white raincoats on a rainy day, having been in warm and sunny SF the day before. It also looked like all the good looking people had moved away, probably to SF.
I've been through there a few times since: true, the physical setting is very nice, with the Willamette and the mountains, but the city itself is boring, imo. If you want a rainy city that has some life, go to Seattle, or come to Vancouver.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Detroit City said:Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot. Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in background
p.s. note the similarity with Vancouver, backdrop-wise.
chico enrico
No hair shows you care.
editor said:
nah. that's about it mate.
and it's cold as fuck.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Johnny Canuck2 said:
I actually enjoyed it a lot more than my visits to Seattle. Downtown was a bit sterile but there were loads of good bars and music venues on a nearby drag and further up the hill were a load of bookstores, kooky little cafes and weird arty shops.
Fekt like a small town in a way whihc i quite like in a biggish city.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
twisted said:
Interesting. I can't think of any way that Portland has anything over Seattle.
A friend of mine, an american who'd been living here a long time, moved down there with his family. After five years, they came back to canada. They said that people there were just too strange. They couldn't handle it. They'd become canadians, I guess.
twistedAM
Left Of The Dial
Johnny Canuck2 said:Interesting. I can't think of any way that Portland has anything over Seattle.
A friend of mine, an american who'd been living here a long time, moved down there with his family. After five years, they came back to canada. They said that people there were just too strange. They couldn't handle it. They'd become canadians, I guess.
There was a quirkiness about the place I liked. Hard to sum it up but I like the weird/quirky things about the US, hence the inclusion of Nashville on my list.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
twisted said:
Chacun a son gout
Hell, who am I to talk: I like LA. I would have moved there years ago, if I didn't have kids. It's life up close and personal.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
twisted said:
I feel really at home in SF. It has a lot in common with Vancouver. Otoh, LA is more exciting, more of a challenge.
