boston!

we recently got back from boston and it has become one of our very favorite cities. i am obsessed with colonial houses (and new england buildings in general). tony is a total u.s. history buff. we both really love food (cannoli anyone?). needless to say, boston pretty much hit it out of the park (pun intended, we did go to fenway. more on that later).

we spent the bulk of our first day in boston walking the freedom trail. the freedom trail is a few mile long brick path through boston that has 16 historically significant locations including churches, graveyards, buildings, and a ship! tony was in heaven. actually. our favorite stops were the old state house (tony was geeking out about this being in the departed), the paul revere house, and the site of the boston massacre. the freedom trail winds itself through pretty much all of boston, so you can see most of the city this way. about half way through the trail is the north end of boston, a neighborhood known for their italian food (and bakeries!) it was a perfect stopping point to have a slice of ernesto’s pizza and a cannoli from mike’s pastry. the trail is pretty long (especially if you stop at all 16 stops), and a food stop is critical!

we loved the north end so much that we went back for dinner that night at la famiglia giorgio’s. this restaurant has the biggest portions i have ever seen. we got the gnocchi and the tortellini, and had at least another meal for each of us left over. we also stopped for another cannoli, this time at modern pastry (two cannolis in one day, why not?). i must say, i preferred this one to the one at mike’s pastry, although mike’s pastry is much more famous. on our walk back to the hotel, tony gave all of our leftovers to a homeless person. he is constantly amazing me with how selfless he is. do you know how excited he was to eat his leftover gnocchi? he is the sweetest.
i know i say it often, but isn’t he the cutest? this building with the gold dome is the one in the departed for anyone who was wondering! boston may be the most patriotic city of all time. i loved the american flags that were everywhere and the patriotic bunting on all of the houses! i love cannolis!! flags on so many of the homes. love. love. love.
cutest tiny door near the paul revere house. the next day, we walked through the boston public garden over to the back bay neighborhood to check out newberry street and the boston marathon finish line. it was extremely moving to see the finish line where the bombs went off, where the runners were killed, and where so many more were injured. boston strong.  next we went over to fenway. although neither of us are huge baseball fans, it was very cool to see the oldest baseball stadium in major league baseball. after fenway,  i had the best lobster roll of all time at james hook and co. it was everything i ever wanted and more. as many of you know, tony has a severe shellfish allergy. being in boston (or new england in general) was a bit difficult at times. luckily, i have the most amazing husband who not only to go to these restaurants (and not eat), but also wait outside sometimes due to discomfort. he is the best! our last stop in boston was harvard. we had lunch at a local student spot (can’t remember the name, good burgers though!) and walked around “hahvahd yahd.” tony could not get enough of the boston accents while we were there, and he spoke like that as often as possible. wicked smaaht!  the irony of this photo is not lost on me.look at this lobster roll! the best.
i’m bummed we only had one night in boston, as it definitely deserves several! until next time boston!