It is best to visit Boston in September to enjoy the gorgeous parks and outdoor cafés that give the city the air of a European capital, and you can wander around lovely neighbourhoods like Beacon Hill, enjoying the shopping, the bars and bistros.
The ghosts of America’s colonial roots - Paul Revere and the infamous Tea Party - still linger among the cobblestone streets alongside the stylish hotels, shops and cutting-edge restaurants, but you can explore Boston armed with good shoes and a Subway Charlie card.
We were booked at the Taj Boston, the epitome of sophistication, perfectly perched in downtown Boston overlooking the Public Gardens dotted with bridges , ponds, majestic statues - notably an equestrian George Washington, but now covered under a snowy blanket. The Taj feels like a luxe private residence (it was formerly The Ritz Carlton), decorated in hues of gold, rose and blue, housing the chic Chanel store no less. After a speedy check-in it was off to Beacon Hill Bistro with our chipper guide Maria Speridakos. The Bistro is a cosy Franco- American bar-cum-restaurant attracting a smart set with their popular brunches. We eyed the perfectly made French toast and pancake platters making their way to tables, but settled eventually for a perfectly juicy burger and a side of fries.
Walking along the narrow, red-brick sidewalks of Beacon Hill, with their gas street lamps and stately Federal-style row houses, our literary tour guide explained how Boston is best appreciated as a small city with a hyper-educated populace, plenty of Dunkin’ Donuts, maybe, and an artistic and historical importance far surpassing its size. She paused to highlight the homes and haunts of greats like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Henry James, Charles Dickens and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among other writers and poets, who collectively make it the epicentre of American letters.
Among the touristy things to do here is a trip to The Skywalk Observatory, Boston’s only sky-high vantage point for sweeping 360 degree views of the city. We let our eyes and ears do the walking using the handy antenna Audio Tour available, detailing the city’s many points of historic and cultural interest. We stopped at The Boston Public Library. The place is part library, part museum, part social gathering spot, part park and part architectural masterpiece, seriously one of the most impressive buildings in Boston and their climate-controlled rare books section is pretty amazing. In the evening, we discovered a little Italian eatery called Artu, near Charles street, with a huge welcoming fireplace that doubles up as a wine rack, open kitchen and friendly service, where we tucked into some excellent lobster ravioli, zuppe de pesce (fish stew), vegetable antipasto and a lovely red Italian Barolo wine.
The next day, we set off to explore the tree-studded and redbrick expanse of Harvard University - but first we stopped for lunch at the The Ritz Carlton downtown.
With its handcrafted wainscoting and whitewashed wood floors in a sophisticated yet casual European bistro setting, the menu at their artisan bistro incorporates fresh produce, native herbs, locally-sourced meats, seafood and cheeses. Then it was time to head to the spot local wags refer to as WGU - World’s Greatest University - aka Harvard. Our student guide Vince explained how it was named in 1639 after John Harvard, a young Charlestown clergyman who died in 1638 and left the college his entire library and half his estate. After a peek at Memorial Church, a graceful steepled edifice, and Memorial Hall, a tribute to Harvard men who died in the Union cause, we spent time at The Coop, a multi-level bookstore loaded with books and the signature scarlet Harvard memorabilia - everything from babies’ toys to adult jerseys.
We wound up our stay with dinner at the historic Omni Parker House, a landmark since 1855, located in the heart of Boston, and a perfect blend of historic charm and modern conveniences. Over dinner, we learn that every American president since Ulysses S Grant has stayed here, John F Kennedy made his first public speech at the age of seven in the Press Room at his grandfather’s birthday party, where he announced his candidacy for the U S Congress, and where he held his bachelor party. Parker’s Restaurant was were he proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier. As John Murtha, the general manager of the hotel also explained, “It is also the place where Longfellow drafted “Paul Revere’s Ride,” the idea for the Atlantic Monthly was born, Dickens gave his first American reading of “A Christmas Carol”, the Boston Cream Pie, now the official Massachusetts state dessert, was invented along with Parker House Rolls, whose recipe was kept secret until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt requested it for a state dinner at the White House, and the term “scrod” meaning “the catch of the day” was also coined. Culinary history at its finest.