Saturday, September 06, 2008

Boston - Tall, dark & handsome



If Boston were a guy placing a personals ad, it might describe itself as tall, dark, handsome, educated and liberal with a sporty build. I think San Francisco would be ad stating "quirky, alternative, indie idealist seeking like minded". :-P

If you consider that Boston has a very high concentration of universities within its little city limits, the educated part is easy to understand. Some of the more famous educational institutions in Boston are Harvard and MIT. I was impressed, overwhelmed and intimidated at the same time being surrounded by so many smart people in one city. Since Boston's a city of learning, most of the Bostonians are also more on the liberal side of the political spectrum.

Many people say that Boston and San Francisco are very similar. I tend to agree. One thing that I found similar was the pace at which people walk. It felt normal and I could keep up. On the other hand, New York was just the total opposite. Those New Yorkers will mow you down if you slow down a bit and likely not feel an ounce of remorse for doing so.

On day three of our stay in Boston, you could say we passed the "getting-to-know-you" phase and were now exploring the individual neighborhoods to get a better feel for the city. Also we used this day to see locales we missed the first full day. For example, we had to see the little ducklings in the Public Garden and also take another picture of the iconic swan boats in the Boston Common. See pictures above. Some neighborhoods we saw were Beacon Hill and Back Bay. See images below.

Back Bay, especially Newbury street was really trendy and was full of young things just starting college. So naturally it was also a hot neighborhood for people watching, if all you want to see is good looking people in fashionable clothes that is. I personally find SF people watching more colorful. Newbury Street is like the Marina District in San Francisco. All the beautiful people and the yuppies live in the Marina. Need I say more? Beacon Hill, however, I found to be more understatedly elegant. It had a wealthy, well-to-do air to it, but it wasn't as "in-your-face" as the crowd in Newbury Street.
Stay tuned for the grand finale!

No comments:

Labels