Boston & NYC

Boston & NYC

I arrived to Boston Wednesday morning and attempted to master the public transit system called the T. After a few transfers, walking up some hills, and asking people lots of questions along the way, I made it to my friend Christine's place and dropped off my things. She lives in the Somerville area which is across the river from downtown Boston. 

I hopped back on the T to meet a friend for lunch. When my family was on vacation in Mexico we met a family from Scotland, and the daughter goes to school in Boston. I got in touch and was able to meet her, Anna, and her mom, Tina for lunch before they flew back to Scotland later that same day. 

After chatting with them I got to exploring. I was planning on doing the freedom trail, but after a few attempts to find the trail I gave up and found a lovely lawn next to the Harbour that I took a nice nap on. I think I couldn't find the freedom trail because I was so exhausted. I got up at 3am and didn't get much sleep, so as soon as I laid my head down on the grass I passed out. I woke up with all of my things, so I was happy about that, and I felt a lot better, so I continued to explore. I walked through the Boston commons, which is a large park, through a cemetery with a lot of famous historians, and I also went over to Cambridge and wandered around Harvard's campus. Harvard was a beautiful campus in a completely gated community. I explored and then went back to Christine's and chatted with her room mates. Christine got back from work around 6:30 & we headed straight to Fenway for the Red Sox game! I was so excited to go to a game at Fenway & get to sing sweet Caroline :) it was also cool to see the green monster, and talk to a local next to us about all the traditions at the park. The game was super fun and the Red Sox won, by a lot! After the game we headed back to her place for a good night of sleep!

Thursday morning I went back to downtown Boston to walk around a bit. I explored the Boston public garden. I walked down Newbury street, and Charles street-- I had an excellent pistachio crossoisnt at Tatte cafe. I loved the cobblestone streets and the adorable brick apartments with colorful shudders and flower boxes on the window. I walked a lot and all the way past the emerald lakes to where my past Wisconsin advisor and friend, Chris, now works. I walked in his office & got to see his new space. We then went out to grab lunch and catch up. It was so great to see him & know that he's enjoying Boston. 

After lunch, I took the T to a neighborhood called Back Bay, which is where my friend Molly lives. She recently moved there and I was able to check out her adorable apartment. We then walked around the Esplanade, which is a trail that goes along the Charles River. We caught up and walked around, and got some ice cream at a local chain called JP Licks. We met her boyfriend, Hayden, near his work in downtown Boston, stopped back at their place, and then took a long trek to Charles town. It was over an hour walk, but we got to see a lot of sites along the freedom train, and we also fit in a stop at Mike's Canolis. (As you can see I had a lot of healthy food this day). We were going to meet Christine and her roomies at an event on pier 6 that Harpoon brewery was putting on. It was at a really neat spot- the pier offered great views of Boston and with the water, it was picturesque. The harpoon brewery was promoting their new summer beer which was a mango beer and it was delicious. They had large Jenga games- and our group dominated and built the largest Jenga tower I have ever seen. We always thought our tower was going to fall, but then it just kept getting taller! People around he bar rallied around us to watch & see how far we'd make it. It eventually toppled, and we got some food & then headed back to sleep.

Friday morning I went back over to Cambridge for a bit to explore and check out Flour bakery which was recommended to me. I then took the T back to Back Bay to meet my friend Molly. We walked downtown and met Hayden for lunch- we got food at a Vietnamese food truck and brought it over to the greenway, which is a bit of green space just beside all of the big buildings. The food was amazing- I had lemongrass chicken noodle salad. Then Molly and did the Harbor walk, and saw the seals by the aquarium. 

I went back to Christine's and did some laundry before meeting back up with Molly & Hayden. We went to a bar called Yvonne's which had a very speak-easy gatsby feel. They opened a door for us into a a library/ chandelier filled very dim lit room. It was such a cool & classy vibe! We had a drink and hung out with some of Hayden's work friends. We then went to the prudential tower for a good view of the city- it was a little cloudy, but we could clearly see Fenway and the river! Molly & Hayden went back to their place and I met Christine and her roomies out in the north end for dinner. The north end is known for good Italian food and I had some amazing, fresh ravioli from a restaurant called Bella vista. I also got a mini canoli from modern canoli after dinner :) mikes and modern are the two main canoli spots in town & I think I liked modern better! 

After a few drinks and dancing at a bar we got back to Christine's and slept before we had to get up early for our bus to NYC.

Our bus took about 3.5 hours and we got in around 10:30am. We took the subway to our Airbnb which is on the upper west side, just 2 blocks from Central Park! We dropped our bags and then my friend Mackie met us for lunch near our Airbnb. We got amazing Mexican food at a place on Columbus called Mitote. Then Mackie showed us around some of the other neighborhoods like the west village, Chelsea, the meat packing district, and Greenwich. We got ice cream rolls- which is liquid the turns into ice cream and then rolled up in to little logs- the place was called I CE NY. We went to Washington square garden, we also walked along the high line, which is an old elevated rail road track the has been converted into a park/ walkway that also has some vendors up there. I loved walking up there having some nice views of the city from above. They even had a set of stairs that you could sit on and look through a window to watch traffic! I thought it was the funniest thing! We walked through some markets, saw people doing art, and a guy collected stories from random people on the street and had them hanging up- those were cool to read. We walked everywhere and ended up in Times Square. The over stimulating environment of time square. We were near Broadway and decided to check out if there were cheap tickets to any shows. Mackie had to meet his friends for dinner, we said good Bye and then went to see if the book of Mormons had any tickets left. We arrived and everyone was   Huddled outside the theater. We asked what everyone was doing & they said there was a lottery for tickets for the show at 6pm. It was 5:57, so we quickly scribbled our names down on the pieces of paper and handed them to the lady administering the lottery. We didn't win. However, the lady told us we could wait in line and see if there would be room in the standing section. It was only $27 to stand and watch it, and it would be an assigned spot with no one blocking us, so we decided to go for it. We bought our tickets, went to grab a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant called Mother Burger and then went to the show. I really enjoyed the musical, I laughed out loud many times and the cast was so talented! When we walked out of the theater we were confused why it wasn't dark yet-- it was dark, but everything was just so lit up from the bright lights surrounding time square. We walked by Times Square and the back towards our Airbnb. Near our Airbnb is a famous bakery called magnolia, so we decided to check it out. We got a peanut butter toffee bar & some chocolate banana pudding. OMG the pudding was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. Words can't describe it. We went back to our place & passed out- we probably walked a half marathon that day.

Saturday morning we got up on a mission to find the best bagel place near by. Christine searched them on yelp & we found ourselves a couple blocks from our place a jewish deli called bagel & co.. I got a plain bagel toasted with strawberry cream cheese & Christine got a bagel with lox & cream cheese. They were really great & super filling. We walked with outer bagels through a nearby market & then through Central Park. I remember my last visit to NY when I was looking at colleges, and we went to Central Park - I loved it then & I still love it just as much now! 

We went back to our Airbnb & packed up our things & left. We walked to my friend Jake's and I dropped my things off there so Christine & I could do some more expiring before she had to leave. We took the T to the World Trade Center and decided to go to the 9/11 museum. It was very sad but such a well done exhibit. They had photos of all those who died because of the event, and each of their stories. They also had telephone calls from people who were on the hijacked planes. It was really something.

We left he museum and looked at the ground zero fountain monuments. We then hopped back on the T towards the west village. One of our priorities for the trip was to go to cien montaditos-- which is a chain restaurant in Spain. Since Christine & I both studied together in sevilla, we had the same feelings about going to cien. We each got a montadito (little sandwich) and reminisced our time in sevilla. We were a bit underwhelmed- they were not as good as the ones in Spain, but it was still awesome to go. We then decided it'd be a good idea to get some NY pizza, so Christine got a big piece from Artichoke pizza, and I had a couple bites! Then we headed back towards where Christine had to get on the bus, we hugged & said our good byes & she headed back to Boston. 

I wandered around a bit, found a food festival to explore in Madison square, and saw the flatiron building. I then headed back to jakes place & we went out to get dinner. We went to the west village to a place called the spotted pig. There was a wait, so we walked around & grabbed a beer at a nearby bar in the meantime. When we finally got to dinner it was Amazing. My favorite thing I tried was the gnudi (type of pasta) with a Sherpa milk cheese inside and brown butter sauce- so fantastic.

We enjoyed our meal & then headed over back towards jakes place in Hell's Kitchen. But couldn't go to sleep without dessert, so we went to a near by ice cream place that I heard was delicious called ample hills creamery. I had a salted Carmel ice cream and a ooey gooey butter cake ice cream- it was the perfect end to my food tour through NYC. We went back to jakes where I finished up my packing, and passed out on the couch- not even new yorker's honking could keep me up.

My east coast adventure was a blast- I got to explore new areas, reunite with friends, and eat amazing food. Thanks so much to everyone who hosted me, looking forward to having some visitors in SF!

Sending smiles from Manhattan,

Rebecca