Joey D
01-02-2009, 04:27 AM
...and it was incredible.
I wanted to give a "first opinions,' account on my trip to Boston, which I am doing right now, and I was trying to think of the pros and cons. I'll list the cons first (which were really hard to think of.)
Cons:
The city is laid out confusingly, and I was frequently puzzled at where to go to get somewhere.
Boston is a little too clean, as even the older parts felt new, just because it was so clean.
That's all for cons.
Pros:
Growing up in Wilmington, and being in Philly half the time, and living there, and staying with family in Queens growing up, and jotting up there from time to time, I thought the more northeast you went, the snottier, more arrogant, conceited, and colder people got.
Wrong! I kept searching throughout my first day in Boston (out of 3 days,) for a snotty, crappy attitude I had heard of, but did not find any. Every person I talked to who was from Boston (I asked,) was more than helpful, smiled, and open and conversational.
Even the MBTA and the Boston cops were quick to drop what they were doing to help me get where I was going. No NY/Philly 'tude here.. what a delightful surprise.
Boston feels WAY bigger than 600k residents. I often felt that I was in a part of Manhattan when in the downtown area.
I thought I was gonna hate hearing the Boston accent after a while, but it actually became endearing after a day and a half, after I learned not to associate "r" dropping with being cold, impersonal, and ignorant.
Two people slipped in the snow while I was there. Both times, people dropped what they were doing, came over, and helped the person up, ensuring they were ok, before moving on.
Transit is excellent. I didn't understand what I was doing, so I asked an MBTA transit worker. If this was SEPTA, I would have regretted asking a question to a transit employee, which I expected.. but this woman was totally different, again.
The MBTA worker went through a small education seminar with me at the spot how the T is like a spider, and the belly was Park street, how each line had an opposing branch, and the spiders' legs going out was outbound, in was inbound. I smiled the whole time out of my outright surprise with how helpful the woman was.
People were hot, like LA hot. I really thought I was in LA for a while, with all the friendly, goodlooking people, but then I saw the snow, and remembered I was in the northeast.
Anyways, Bostonians, quite the city you have, and you should be proud. No wonder it's so expensive - it's worth it! :)
To anybody considering a Boston trip, DO IT! It's one of my favorite cities in the US now.
I wanted to give a "first opinions,' account on my trip to Boston, which I am doing right now, and I was trying to think of the pros and cons. I'll list the cons first (which were really hard to think of.)
Cons:
The city is laid out confusingly, and I was frequently puzzled at where to go to get somewhere.
Boston is a little too clean, as even the older parts felt new, just because it was so clean.
That's all for cons.
Pros:
Growing up in Wilmington, and being in Philly half the time, and living there, and staying with family in Queens growing up, and jotting up there from time to time, I thought the more northeast you went, the snottier, more arrogant, conceited, and colder people got.
Wrong! I kept searching throughout my first day in Boston (out of 3 days,) for a snotty, crappy attitude I had heard of, but did not find any. Every person I talked to who was from Boston (I asked,) was more than helpful, smiled, and open and conversational.
Even the MBTA and the Boston cops were quick to drop what they were doing to help me get where I was going. No NY/Philly 'tude here.. what a delightful surprise.
Boston feels WAY bigger than 600k residents. I often felt that I was in a part of Manhattan when in the downtown area.
I thought I was gonna hate hearing the Boston accent after a while, but it actually became endearing after a day and a half, after I learned not to associate "r" dropping with being cold, impersonal, and ignorant.
Two people slipped in the snow while I was there. Both times, people dropped what they were doing, came over, and helped the person up, ensuring they were ok, before moving on.
Transit is excellent. I didn't understand what I was doing, so I asked an MBTA transit worker. If this was SEPTA, I would have regretted asking a question to a transit employee, which I expected.. but this woman was totally different, again.
The MBTA worker went through a small education seminar with me at the spot how the T is like a spider, and the belly was Park street, how each line had an opposing branch, and the spiders' legs going out was outbound, in was inbound. I smiled the whole time out of my outright surprise with how helpful the woman was.
People were hot, like LA hot. I really thought I was in LA for a while, with all the friendly, goodlooking people, but then I saw the snow, and remembered I was in the northeast.
Anyways, Bostonians, quite the city you have, and you should be proud. No wonder it's so expensive - it's worth it! :)
To anybody considering a Boston trip, DO IT! It's one of my favorite cities in the US now.
