THEATRE:
A lot of my friends who had played Boston, told me that the 'Opera House" was one of their favorite theatres in the Unites States. I must admit the design and decoration of the theatre was very impressive. They even adorned it with green lights in the spirit of the show. The dressing rooms where very spacious and elegant, however they were all scattered throughout the three story backstage area, so the elevator was in use all the time. The only real downside to the theatre was (in my opinion) that the audience was very far away from the stage. I usually like when the audiences are closer, it makes it feel more intimate, which I enjoy.
LIVING:
I lived in the Back Bay area in a nice studio apartment. I was literally two blocks away from the infamous "Newbury Street" and one block away from the "Urban Outfitters", which if you know me, could of been a very dangerous thing. I went into living in this apartment blind, had no idea about the area or the building. So my first day I went to the valet of this nearby hotel to inquire about the area. He told me it was one of the safest neighborhoods in Boston and it was completely ok for a girl to walk by herself home at night. I was very close to Boston University and a cute little midway park on Commonwealth Avenue, which was where I took Zoey most of the time on our morning walks. Back Bay, seemed like a part of town that was very old and full of either students or wealthy adults. I compare it to the Upper West Side, for those of you that know New York City.
A few of my friends in the cast lived in the South end of Boston, so I got to explore that area a little bit as well. That also seemed just as safe as the Back bay, but a little more desolate at night. I think that area was more for families and adults who go to bed a little earlier than the college students do. However I found the area to be more modern and full of Bostonian restaurants, and trendy salons.
SHOPPING:
Oh, the shopping. Boy, you could spend a lot of money in Boston. Pretty much any store you can think of is within a mile of each other. You have "Newbury Street" with all the designer stores, and boutiques, and then you have "Prudential Place", with all the typical mall stores. Let just say, within three blocks of each other, I had all my favorite stores, "Free People", "Urban Outfitters" and "Anthropologie". YIKES! Lots of damage was done, but at least I got my new fall clothes in the matter of a day!
FOOD:
I arrived late into Boston, so I didn't get to try as much of the Bostonian food culture as much as some of my fellow cast members did but I will mention a few highlights that I did attend.
Cafeteria (on Newbury Street) - very nice bistro style food. A tad pricy but it is on a touristy street so that is expected.
Trident Cafe (on Newbury Street)- This is a really cool spot because it is half bookstore and half cafe (has sort of a diner atmosphere). They offer breakfast (which is served all day), lunch, and dinner. I have to say I had one of the best breakfast burritos of my life and I am from Arizona so the bar is set very high with anything dealing with mexican food.
Quincy Market - This is an indoor market with a bunch of different food stands offering every kind of food imaginable. I personally had the New England Clam Chowder at the "Boston Chowder Company" and it was very yummy. Salted to perfection. This is a really cool spot to stop while on the Freedom Trail (which I will get to later).
The House of Siam (on Tremont Street) - Great thai food. Not too pricey. The Wonton soup was delicious and my pad thai portion was giant - it fed me for two days!
Finz Seafood in Salem, MA. - This was the only real seafood place I went to while in New England (which is quite a shame I didn't go to more) but I am glad I went to this one. It was right on the pier that looked onto the docks with all the fishing boats. We sat outside and enjoyed the ambiance while eating their oysters, and chowder. I had the lobster ravioli for my main course and it was amazing. The pasta was homemade and the lobster was fresh. YUM! I wish I would of been hungry enough to try one of their desserts but I was stuffed!
THINGS TO DO:
Did I mention shopping?? Just kidding.
Freedom Trail - This is a FREE (yes, I said FREE) tour you can do while in Boston. You can buy a guide book, which is 5 dollars and gives you detailed descriptions of the sites you will see, but you do not have to have the book. The Freedom Trail is a self guided walking tour, where you follow a red line (painted on the sidewalk) that takes you all over the city showing you historical sites of early Boston. To mention a few sites of interest, Boston State House, the first church in Boston, first meeting house, and a graveyard with the tombs of Paul Revere and Samuel Addams.
Quincy Market - I mentioned this earlier in the "Food" section but again it is a great little quick food pit stop, especially while on the Freedom Trail.
Harvard University - Maybe because it was fall and the leaves were turning, but the Harvard campus is stunning. I took the bus which stopped right at the gates of 'Harvard Yard"and as I walked onto the campus, I was awestruck. The "yard" section was so green and full of yellow and red trees with a bunch of colorful tables and chairs strewn throughout. The buildings that surrounded the area were all dorms, and they were all for the most part original to the campus. So old! Little did I know that Harvard was the first college in the US. Did you know that? As I walked around, I soon came to the realization that I was probably surrounded by the smartest group of people I might ever encounter. The whole experience just made me wish I was so much smarter and paid a lot more attention to my studies in high school. Does Harvard have a MFA for musical theatre?
Cambridge - This is the part of town that surrounds the Harvard Campus. It is so college, with all it's cute cafes and study spots. I just fell in love with the architecture of all the homes and buildings. They looked so "anthropolgie" antique looking, maybe that's where they shoot their catalogues? There were also so many fun sandwich and pizza places, but unfortunately I did not have enough time to try them. Cambridge is a wonderful place to spend the afternoon.
Salem, MA. - I absolutely knew that I had to go to Salem, while I was in Boston, perhaps because it was October or perhaps because I have a mental image of the place because of Hocus Pocus. It turned out to be everything I wanted and more. It is a tourist town, so as long as you know that going into it, you will love it! There are so many things to do there but we decided to take the "Salem Witchcraft Walking Tour". It was a walking tour where a guide takes you all around Salem showing you different historical sites and providing you with history, facts, and a little bit of ghost stories. After the tour, we went to the 3rd oldest graveyard in America. It was in fact as it sounds, very old looking, it almost looked fake. After our graveyard extravaganza we went over to the "Salem Witchcraft Trails Memorial" and then went to a spell casting session with a real modern witch. Of course we did all of this with hot apple cider in our hands. All in all it was a perfect October day to put us in the halloween mood.
Well that just about does it for Boston! I wish I could of been there for longer, which usually means I really enjoyed the city. Luckily Kyle's West Side Story tour hits up Boston next June, so I am going to try to make it back during that time. Goodbye Beantown, till next time!
Next entry: Toronto, Ontario.
