So it's the first day of classes and you're already looking for some weekend fun away from the Hill? With dry rush only a couple weeks away, venturing off campus may sound quite appealing. No ideas? Have no fear - the Daily is back from vacation and ready to show you a wicked good Bostonian time. So go ahead and take advantage of Beantown? just don't forget to bundle up, since it can get pretty chilly this time of year.
The 'hoods
Boston is a city of neighborhoods. There's the North End, Chinatown, Back Bay, Southie, Roxbury, Beacon Hill... the list is various and sundry. But some neighborhoods are more popular than others, especially among the overwhelming population of 18-25 year-olds in the city. What ever you want to do - be it clubbing or taking in a museum trip - your options are wide open and the T can get you just about anywhere you'd want to go.Hungry college students seeking good Italian food and great Italian company need look no further than the North End, located a quick walk from the Haymarket stop on the Green and Orange Lines. Countless small restaurants line the streets, each suggesting that the meal will be an experience in itself. The narrow streets and old men speaking Italian makes you feel like you've wandered onto the set of every mob movie ever made ? but in a good way.
You have probably heard about ? if not yet experienced ? the homemade pastas and cannolis, but you may not know that the North End was also home to Paul Revere. If you're feeling particularly patriotic, you can check out Old North Church, where lanterns were hung to warn the Boston suburbs that the British were coming. Ironically, you'll likely find that the North End - one of the oldest neighborhoods in America - is more European than any other section of any other city in this country.
If you haven't yet hit Faneuil Hall, you're missing out on a quintessential tourist attraction. During the warmer months, the marketplace is characterized by the various plant stands and the overwhelming selection of fresh flowers. People gather in circles around performers who sing, perform magic tricks, and do just about anything else to please the crowd. In colder months (a.k.a., now) the outside courts are not nearly so crowded or boisterous, but the restaurants and bars that line the streets more than make up for it.
When most people talk about going to Faneuil Hall, they really mean Quincy Market. Faneuil Hall refers to the building that once served as the location of the rebellious town meetings leading up to the revolution, earning it the nickname "Cradle of Liberty." Now the hall is home to historical paintings, a military museum, and a collection of small restaurants and shops.
The recently renamed "Faneuil Hall Marketplace" ? the building formerly known as Quincy Market ? opened in 1826 and became Boston's first food market. Today tourists and natives alike flood the building for the variety of available foods and the busy atmosphere. But a word of advice ? if you're lucky enough to find a seat in the rotunda, hold onto it with your life because someone is likely laying in wait to jump in your seat should you get up.
And if you can brave the cold (and cold, of course, means freezing), there's nothing more romantic, or just plain pretty, than a nighttime walk through Faneuil Hall when white lights illuminate the trees in the courtyard. Besides, you can always warm up at one of the many Starbucks that have cropped up in the area. Even commercialization has its perks.
For a shopping scene closer to campus, stop by Harvard Square. This ever-popular destination for stir-crazy Jumbos deserves recognition as one of Boston's more interesting, honorary neighborhoods. Just two T stops from Davis, Harvard Square provides excellent shopping, live entertainment, and people watching to the most interesting extent. The variety of people that hang out at Harvard is noteworthy, from the downright nerdy to the skate punks. The stores in Harvard speak to this dichotomy ? the foreign language bookstore is just as well-known and popular as Urban Outfitters.
If shopping is your forte, Newbury Street should be at the top of your priority list. Eight blocks of international shopping await you, with everything from Armani to Boutique Unique. Newbury Street is also a popular place to sit and people-watch at the restaurants and outdoor cafes that occasionally interrupt the blocks of stores. Just make sure that the people you notice are well out of ear shot before you start talking about them. Chances are good that they've got something in one of those shopping bags that would hurt you if they "accidentally" threw it in your direction.
For a more active pastime, ice skating at Frog Pond in the Boston Common is an experience not to be missed. The music is a little teeny-bopper-ish and the rental skates are sometimes flawed, but the whole scene can't be beat - and the crowd is forgiving of those skaters who spend more time brushing themselves off from their last fall than actually skating. Whether you bring a big group of friends or you actually go for the ultimate cheesy-but-sort-of-sweet date, it's a good time. And if you're really miserably cold, you can always watch from afar with a cup of hot cocoa from the snack bar.
There's a lot more to Boston than we could possibly print here, but if you're still lost for ideas, you can always make it a Blockbuster night.
