A Weekened in Montreal's Most Far-Flung Suburb: BOSTON --- Part I of III

[Kilgore Trout]

On a chilly weekend in mid-November, I went down to Boston for a weekend with my girlfriend and a friend. We rented a Toyota Yaris, drive down on Friday afternoon and then left on Sunday evening.

This was my seventh trip to Boston, but my first visit since 1999. Boston was the first "real" city (that is to say big, established and effortlessly urban) I visited as a kid. It was interesting to see how today's Boston compared to the Boston of my memory. It felt smaller and quieter than when I was a kid, no doubt because I've gotten used to living in a similarly-sized city. It also felt a lot more polished and gentrified. The only ragtag place left in central Boston seems to be Chinatown.

Still, I had a great time. We couch-surfed with a bunch of guys in Allston (not frat boys --- comedy improv geeks!), wandered around the city, shopped, ate good food, met up with an old friend for drinks and generally enjoyed ourselves. We concluded that Boston is a uniquely terrible place for smoking shisha (one sterile-looking place in Allston was charging $35 for a hookah!) but a truly excellent place for drinking good beer. We came across one place with 120 beers on tap and a menu that noted each one's beeradvocate.com score. Amazing. The only problem is that bars in Boston close at 1am.

Considering I drove more than 10 hours that weekend and that the sun set at 4pm every day, we packed an awful lot of stuff into our short time in Boston. We wandered around Allston, Boston University, Kenmore Square, Back Bay, downtown, Beacon Hill, the North End, Chinatown, the South End, Central Square, Harvard Square and Davis Square.

 

[ganjavih]

Great tour... love this town. Where to begin? The civilised air about the city, the yankee conservatism, Harvard snobbery, charming 19th century brownstone nabes, efficient transportation system, crazy deals at Filene's basement... I could go on. Beacon Hill is the most charming residential neighbourhood I've ever seen.

 

[poppajojo]

sweet looking basketball court, and lighted and vacant

 

[Hydrogen]

Great photos, as usual. Thanks!

A Weekened in Montreal's Most Far-Flung Suburb: BOSTON

I can recall some Habs-Bruins games where uttering such a phrase around some Boston fans - even in jest - could cost you your life.

 

[JasonParis]

Great pictures!

Is that a Banksy?

 

[Zephyr]

Technically these are some of your most crisply photographed pictures, and your night shots are exemplary.

But perhaps because I am not a fan of Boston in particular, even though I have family and in-laws there, I have trouble warming up to the scenery. I'll see how it goes in Part II and III.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[allabootmatt]

Fantastic photos; thanks for showing them.

I know Boston quite well and was just there for a week--your shots capture one of my favourite qualities of the city, which is, well, its essential Boston-ness, for lack of a better term. Despite being a small city (or maybe because of it?) Boston seems so sure of itself and its identity. Having such an incredible history helps, I suppose. But it feels like a very confident place, much more so than Toronto, even though it's much, much less of a metropolis both in terms of size and cosmopolitanism. It's one of three or four US cities I could happily live in, even though it lacks many of the amenities we take for granted in T-O. Exciting Boston is not, but it is civilized and staggeringly beautiful, so I guess two out of three ain't bad.

I swear, too, that Beacon Hill is the most attractive neighbourhood on the planet.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Thanks for the tour of Bawston- one of my favorite cities. Obviously a VERY storied and textured city.

"...but a truly excellent place for drinking good beer. We came across one place with 120 beers on tap and a menu that noted each one's beeradvocate.com score."

Do you remember the name? On a similar note- have you been to 'Dieu de Ciel' on Laurier in MTL?

 

[ganjavih]

Having such an incredible history helps, I suppose.

I think that's a big part of it. Cities with vast and interesting histories have an easier time forging an identity.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Good Pics of The Hub-Boston!

KGT: Good Boston tour! I recognize Haymarket,the North End,Chinatown and the Downtown Crossing areas right off. I like the reflective pic of your group in the crosswalk button and the young lady showing off her Charlie Card. As Bob Seger mentions in one of his songs "The Blueblood Streets of Boston" sticks in my mind...Ganjavih: That posted pic is Acorn Street in Beacon Hill-arguably the nicest street in the nicest Boston neighborhood. It is tough to walk on those rocks in that roadway-let alone attempt to drive on them! LI MIKE

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Do you remember the name? On a similar note- have you been to 'Dieu de Ciel' on Laurier in MTL?

Yeah, it's the Sunset Grill & Tap. It sounds corny, and the decor is even cheesier, but it's worth it.

I've been to Dieu du Ciel many times. It's very popular, especially with McGill and UdeM students, and hard to get a table on any night of the week. But it's worth it --- they have some great beers.

 

[salvius]

Great tour... love this town. Where to begin? The civilised air about the city, the yankee conservatism, Harvard snobbery

I think you've hit on just about everything I dislike about this city. It is architecturally beautiful -- no doubt -- but it's stuffy and sterile. The food options are limited (although Italian IS truly spectacular), the non-institutional art scene practically non-existent.

It's a great photo set, however, and really highlights the spectacular architecture of Boston.

 

[allabootmatt]

Well I dunno if I would go quite that far...Cambridge has some fairly funky parts...but a hotbed of creativity and independent culture Boston is certainly not. Then again, really beautiful places so rarely are. I submit Paris, for the last thirty years anyway.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Paris is a whole lot edgier and more creative than Boston...

 

[allabootmatt]

Oh, without a doubt. But it's a damned sight less edgy and creative than London, a *much* uglier place, but an immensely more vibrant one. Both of which pale in terms of edgy creativity next to Berlin, which is even uglier.

Every time I return to Toronto, for example, from Boston, I have the initial isn't-this-depressing-why-can't-we-get-our-act-together-aesthetically thought series. And then I walk around Kensington or Queen West or Chinatown or wherever, hear the music pounding from shop windows and see the crowds of people, and think that prettiness is overrated for sure. Beautiful places are for the most part boring ones. The theory even applies to your own hometown, Kilgore--which although pretty by Canadian standards is positively ramshackle compared to, well, Boston. And yet Montreal is a hell of a lot more interesting.