Tag Archives: Boston

The St. Patty’s Day parade is really just an excuse to drink

South Boston holds a parade every St. Patrick’s Day. Drawing somewhere around 600,000 people each year, it’s known to experience troubles. Alcohol troubles. Also known as drunk people everywhere.

My sister was visiting the weekend of the parade and decided that sounded like a good time. She declared that we should go to the parade. And go we did…

Slowly.

The reports weren’t exaggerating about the size of this parade. When my sister and I took the T, it was incredibly crowded. I’ve never seen the subway that packed in my life:

Boston knows how crazy it gets on St. Patty’s Day, though, and had the foresight to increase train service that day. So we moved through the pack relatively quickly.

And when we finally reached our stop, we found that it was just as crazy as the T:

Southie is historically a working-class, Irish-American neighborhood also known for its long record of organized crime. In recent years, however, Southie has changed drastically: The Boston Redevelopment Authority targeted Southie for redevelopment and property values have increased. And certainly, the day of the parade, there was no signs of Southie’s turbulent history. Rather, there was

…and, of course, the elderly, kids, and their parents. But in a city that has tons of Irish-Americans, and tons of college kids, and tons of people who just want to party, what else can you expect on St. Patty’s Day? We passed by houses full of college parties, tons of people toting their open containers of beer, and plenty of bottles littered on the ground.

Because the parade has had problems with drunkenness before, the police were out in droves:

So my sister and I, along with my suitemate, were content to perch up on a hill to observe. Unfortunately, the T could only drop us off at the latter end of the parade. We ended up waiting two hours before the parade actually reached us, by which time we had to leave anyway. At least the weather was nice.

And we did manage to get a peek at some cool floats.

Darth Vader waving like a boss from a truck. He was accompanied by a squadron of stormtroopers and jedi.

Ghostbusters.

People went crazy for this tank. BECAUSE IT WAS AWESOME!

Although I think I’ve had my fill of bagpipes.

Though drunk people never get old.

Autumn-colored Boston

The seasons are a’changing, and so are the colors. Boston doesn’t have anything on, say, Berlin in terms of greenery and parks. But for an American city, we’re still doing pretty well.

In fact, Boston is rather pretty in the fall. Naturally, then, I had to pull out my camera. Why? In the words of the cyber-manga Battle Angel Alita, 

…Okay, well, maybe I’m not bloodthirsty, per se, but when I see pretty things, I want to take photos. Here’s just a few of the photos I’ve taken this fall:

A segway tour near Kendall Square, Cambridge.

Candy apples at Northeastern's Parents' Weekend.

Recycled, hand-decorated, candle-lit lanterns being sold at the Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade.

Crossing the harbor on the train to Lechmere.

Trees at Northeastern, next to Ruggles Street.

A tree at the Arnold Arboretum, a tree conservatory located at the end of the orange line.

Boston Harbor.

A view of Boston from the 22nd floor of International Village. See that two-spired church on the left? I volunteer across the street from there.

Shillman Hall on Northeastern's campus, as seen from the 22nd floor of International Village.

The Arnold Arboretum has a sloth infestation, it seems.

So I find Boston in the fall quite pretty! Just nature’s last gasp before a cold, barren winter. Then again, it’s known to snow a lot in Boston… so that’s something to look forward. I just need a good pair of snowboots and I’m set!

You know you’re in Chinatown when…

Boston is often called the “Walking City,” due to its relatively small size, workable transportation system, and the fact that driving in Boston is a nightmare. Northeastern promotes the idea that students should walk places when possible so that we can see more of the city on the way. And the fact that Boston’s winters are terrible– so we should be outside, I quote, “while we still can.”

I haven’t been to Chinatown Boston since I moved in. I had a few hours in between classes today. I decided to walk to Chinatown.

Chinatown is a two-mile stroll from Northeastern. I don’t have a smartphone with a GPS, and I haven’t walked to Chinatown before, so I was a little afraid of getting lost. I have the worst sense of direction ever.

The whole time, then, as I was walking, I was looking desperately for a sign. Just one sign of Chinatown.

And I finally received it, in the form of this:

Chinatown Boston isn’t all that big. Compared to the likes of New York City or Toronto (two of my favorite Chinatowns) it’s pretty tiny. (Philadelphia’s Chinatown, on the other hand, is just as petite.) Still, I had a… satisfactory time.

Boston Chinatown is pretty standard: some bakeries, some restaurants, a couple of cheap souvenir stores, a smattering of grocery stores. I did note a lack of anime stores, though. Hey. I’m a dork. That would have made my day.

In the end, I spent more time walking to Chinatown than I actually spent in Chinatown. I even managed to get slightly lost on the way back. But I say the trip was entirely worth it. It’s definitely a good place for my Asian dining needs.

Awkward dancing at The Museum of Fine Arts

“College night.”

That seems to be a trend around here. Apparently, one in every five Bostonians is a college student. Target took advantage of this. The New England Aquarium is doing it too. The Museum of Fine Arts, though admission is already free for college kids, had its own college night, featuring live performances, free giveaways, and free food.

I missed all this, though. I came a few hours into the event– basically just in time for the… dance party?

It seemed kind of out-of-place in a museum, but indeed, in a large room on the first floor, music was blasting. Kids from colleges all over Boston were there. Girls were obviously dressed for a night on the dance floor.

I, of course, had no idea this was happening, so I was dressed like this:

It was okay, though. Me and dances just don’t mesh. Me on a dance floor almost always looks like this:

And that’s exactly what I did at the dance party.

I didn’t get the chance to explore the museum in full, but it seems like a pretty neat place. There’s a definite emphasis on sculpture, pottery, and other artifacts over just paintings. I thoroughly enjoyed the contemporary art exhibit.

It was an experience. I will definitely return one day! I absolutely love art so that’s another one on my list of places to visit while in Boston. (A list, by the way, that is pretty long. Which means more adventure in the future!)

I'm not sure what it is, but it's sparkly.

Newbury Street is not for poor college students

Newbury Street. It’s a popular tourist destination in Boston, known for its diverse shopping and restaurants.

This shopping also includes a Forever 21 and an H&M, so my roomies and I decided to make a day out of it. A girls’ day shopping!

Turns out, Newbury Street is just a little out of our price range.

As I failed to realize then (but I did later, thanks to Google) Newbury Street is home to many private boutiques and cafés. Those classy designer stores with the tailored suits and high-end clothing, I mean. This shop is pretty representative of what the stores on Newbury Street look like:

Newbury Street also features many Europe-reminiscent open-air restaurants:

And private art galleries:

We saw an “international poster gallery” and tried to get some prints for our dorm. No such thing:

Sales on Newbury Street often look like this:

Despite the general non-affordability, I’d recommend tourists to go to Newbury Street anyway! If you dig for it, you may be able to hit gold. (As my roomies and I did at the mainstream H&M.) Newbury Street makes for a nice walk, anyway– visitors can enjoy the laid-back, artsy atmosphere and beautiful New England architecture.

My roomies and I certainly enjoyed trying to figure out the more hipster stores:

So, kids, where do you like to shop? Where’s it cheap and where’s it good? Tell me, I could use the advice!