LA is bullshit....I lived in Pasadena for a year. Most of the residents are full of themselves.twisted said:
Boston: is it worth a visit?
- Thread starter editor
- Start date
editor said:
Fuck no. Most unfriendly city I have ever visited.
Boring as ditch water (or, is it dish water? Never got a good answer to that question, but I'm willing to put my money on ditch water).
One of the biggest waste of time visits I ever made in the States.
Meltingpot
Living in our pools we soon forget about the sea
chico enrico said:
I stopped off there when changing planes on the way West in December 1984, and it was about 40^ F, so not too bad.
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
I met my first urbanite in Boston....Mation lived there for a year.
Nice city, good transport for the US, New England is lovely in the fall
Nice city, good transport for the US, New England is lovely in the fall
mhendo
Aussie in San Francisco
Absolutely worth a visit. I really love the place. A lot of the good stuff has already been mentioned, including the North End with its lovely Italian restaurants (somewhat overpriced) and old-fashioned coffee shops and delis.editor said:
Public transit is pretty good, with a subway and streetcar system that will take you to most parts of the city. The last time i visited was a couple of years ago, and i believe they've hiked the prices a little bit since then.
While the massive number of colleges and universities do give it sort of a "college town" feel, you get both the good and the bad. On the upside, there's plenty to do; on the downside, there's lots of self-obsessed undergrads everywhere, jamming the public transport while talking on their cellphones.
Be careful crossing the street. Boston drivers are notoriously bad, homicidal even. Of course, Boston pedestrians aren't too much better, and will blithely step out in front of speeding traffic as if they own the place. The whole process of crossing the road is some sort of high-stakes death match in Boston.
If you fancy a bit of culcha, i highly recommend the Museum of Fine Arts. It's easily accessible by public transit, and its collections are fantastic. It's a bit pricey ($17), but if you go after 4pm on Wednesdays it's free (although often very crowded).
As others have said, some excellent bookshops, especially for antiquarian and scholarly and academic books. Cambridge is a good bet for that sort of thing.
You can pretty much rule out any possibility of "fall color" if you're going this month. That far north, the leaves were probably all gone a few weeks ago. Even here in Baltimore, a few hundred miles to the south, there are no leaves left on the trees after recent windstorms and then snow swept through. New England has had a cold start to the winter, and all the trees will be bare.
lang rabbie
Je ne regrette les gazebos
Yes, but you probably won't see the city at its best at this time of year, unless you are looking for photogenic combinations of snow and old red brick rowhouses.
December weather can sometimes be crisp and sunny, but be aware that the weather can change in a few minutes to thick, thick fog which rolls in faster than you can run to the nearest coffee shop.
It is worth walking the city centre parts of the touristy Freedom Trail, but combine them with an exploration of the rest of the North End's "Little Italy".
The main tourist drags are not good for vegetarians, but you may lapse when confronted with seafood chowder on a cold winter day.
If you are not all "kulcha'd" out by the MFA, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an eclectic mix in an amazing house.
I'm not the best placed person to advise on leftfield locations, but Jamaica Plain was on the interesting cusp between third generation immigrant communties and boutiques of crap for hipsters the last time I visited.
Previous thread
December weather can sometimes be crisp and sunny, but be aware that the weather can change in a few minutes to thick, thick fog which rolls in faster than you can run to the nearest coffee shop.
It is worth walking the city centre parts of the touristy Freedom Trail, but combine them with an exploration of the rest of the North End's "Little Italy".
The main tourist drags are not good for vegetarians, but you may lapse when confronted with seafood chowder on a cold winter day.
If you are not all "kulcha'd" out by the MFA, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an eclectic mix in an amazing house.
I'm not the best placed person to advise on leftfield locations, but Jamaica Plain was on the interesting cusp between third generation immigrant communties and boutiques of crap for hipsters the last time I visited.
Previous thread
