• Ambience
• Basics Must Do
• Neighborhoods
• Events Off the Path
• Freebie Restaurants

Boston, Massachusetts THE AMBIENCE- HISTORIC HERITAGE Author: Barbara Hayo www.TrustedTours.com

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Ambience and History

Boston is traditional and trendy, scholarly and passionate, upscale and blue collar. Its character is one of colonial sensibility energized by immigrant customs, and all Bostonians, regardless of background, display a pride that is centuries deep.

Bostonians are proud of their pivotal role in the birth of America - and want you to experience it. They cherish their diverse immigrant heritage - and want you to feel it. They pride themselves in being the center of academia - and want you to know it. They are passionate about their sports teams and their politics - and want you to hear it.

Boston is early America enveloped by contemporary America: quaint cobblestone streets surrounded by the “Big Dig;” the 1713 vintage brick Old State House, from whose balcony Bostonians heard the first reading of the Declaration of Independence, dwarfed by contemporary glass office towers; the massive late 19 th century Richardsonian Romanesque Trinity Church, one of the most significant buildings in the U.S., side by side with the 20 th century, John Hancock Tower, 60 sleek stories high.

The historic magnitude of those who lie buried in the simple colonial era Granary Burying Ground is not diminished by the surrounding sounds of a bustling urban downtown. The importance of the two lanterns signaling “by sea” from the Old North Church shares equal billing with the excitement of attending an event at the TD Banknorth Garden, a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex.

Boston ’s rich ethnicity is best experienced through its food. Savor homemade gnocchi in the North End; try a traditional Irish Breakfast (or stouts and ales) at a pub near Faneuil Hall; feast on lamb prepared the Mediterranean, Turkish, Indian, Russian or Afghan way in Cambridge; fill up fried clams or chowder along the wharf; taste delicate dim sum morsels in Chinatown; enjoy intimate fine dining in a brick townhouse in Beacon Hill.

Participate in activities in Boston’s famous public parks, stadiums and historic sites. Yell at the top of your lungs at Fenway Park, walk through Harvard Yard, stroll Boston Common, where the Redcoats encamped. Visit all 17 sites along the Freedom Trail, glide on a Swan Boat, ice skate on Frog Pond, climb aboard “Old Ironsides.”

Treat yourself to wonderful theater in the restored jewels of the Theater District: the Shubert, the Wilbur, the Charles, the Colonial, the Wang. Enjoy ballet at the Boston Center for the Arts, symphony at the acoustically perfect Symphony Hall, art at the Museum of Fine Arts. Stop to read in magnificent Bates Hall in Boston Public Library, shop along sophisticated Newbury Street or in urban malls linked by glass walkways.

With all this and more to do, Boston is surprisingly small and easy to navigate. It is approachable, walkable, and the pride felt in its role in the “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is catchable.