We made it! The flight was actually quite smooth and couldn't have gone better. I find myself more nervous each time I fly which is really bad. A few years ago, it wasn't even a concern.
Anyways. We took a cab from the airport to the hotel. There was some inane march going on and a few roads were blocked off so we opted to get out of the cab and walk the 3 blocks over to the Park Plaza. I didn't mind at all--I love Boston so much. It's really my favorite city out of all the ones I've been to so far (in the US). I wouldn't even have to think for 10 seconds if I wanted to move here--I'd have to live right in the heart of downtown though!
I snapped a quick shot of part of the lobby (with cell phone) but we didn't take any better pictures yet. Rick probably will later--he likes to have pictures of the hotels we stay in.
Need a better picture of this too!
The North End is a favorite place of both of ours in Boston. It's the Italian District and being mostly Italian myself I can't help but love it. I especially like seeing--FINALLY--people with the same olive complexion as me. =D We walked there from the hotel which took about 25-30 minutes. Once again, I don't mind walking anywhere in Boston.
We ate at our absolute FAVORITE restaurant. There was an older Italian gentleman who had walked (using his walker) to the restaurant sitting on a chair waiting for his dinner to be brought to him. One of the waittresses brough him a bowl of rigatoni and meatballs and her and the other wait staff took turns making a big to-do over him. He must be a regular. G'vanni's has the best meatballs I have ever tasted. They use Kobe Beef and they are so good that you would continue eating them as long as they continued putting them in front of you. Luckily, for the state of my waistline they only give you 3 (large ones). It's a teeny tiny place where there is literally 2 inches between your table and the table next to you. It can feel a little strange sitting so close to strangers but once the meal is brought to the table all strange thoughts cease to exist. Last year we ate at G'vanni's two days in a row becasue it is THAT GOOD.
There are nearly as many places in the North End to get dessert as there is to get dinner. All sorts of little bakeries, pastry shops, cafes, etc. Nevertheless, the Caffe dello Sport is my favorite place to get dessert. Let me correct that. To get a cannoli, which is my favorite dessert. (I told Rick I wanted to serve them instead of cake at our wedding and he looked at me funny so I grumpily agreed that probably wasn't the best idea) The caffe fills the cannolis as they are ordered (so never soggy) and they must use the freshest ricotta ever in their filling. I seriously couldn't not work there because I would be taking hits off the pastry bag they use to fill the cannoli shells.
Okay, enough talk about food. On our walk back we admired the nice work they did rebuiding the road from downtown Boston to the North End. It's full of fountains and decorative plants. When we first started coming here a few years ago, it was all churned up because of the Big Dig. It was so nice to finally see it finished! Rick also snapped a shot of the building that is featured on numerous postcards but I can never remember what it's called.
I especially like the lion and the unicorn on the top of the building. =) The buildings here are so intricate--one can't help but admiring them.
We got back to the hotel fairly early. I was eager to work some of that dinner off (but I missed lunch!) and while Rick relaxed in the room I went down to the gym and got in a decent work out before returning to the room and joining Rick in relaxing.
