Boston Strong
 

Boston Strong

A few weeks ago, I booked a short business/pleasure trip to Boston - from April 21-23.

As the date drew closer, I was surprised to find I was becoming, well, paranoid. I all but convinced myself that, within minutes of arriving in Boston, I'd be forced by the TSA to walk naked through Logan airport while police officers tazed and beat me before shipping me off to Guantanamo.

And then the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon happened, and my worries vanished. They suddenly seemed so childish and unworthy of my attention.

I knew I had to go - if only to repay the tremendous debt my city and my island owe Boston for its generous aid and support following disasters in 1846, 1892, and 1929.

And, wow, am I ever glad that I did.

Boston is now, without question, my favourite North American city. It has pushed Montreal and San Francisco into second and third place, respectively.

I'm thrilled to share this journey with you - it's my first thread that focuses on an American city - and I hope you enjoy it. :)


To set the mood for the beginning of this journey, I recommend Amelia Curran - one of my favourite St. John's songstresses. In a city renowned for its musical talents, she's one of the most effortless best.

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First, here is a map of the route I took. I started in St. John's in the right, flew southwest to Halifax, southwest to Boston, northwest to Montreal, and then home. :)

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My journey began at home, in St. John's, recognized as the oldest European city in North American and the capital of Newfoundland.

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Then it was off to the airport for my flight to Halifax.

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After an hour in the air, I was well beyond St. John's and admiring some unusual cloud formations above Nova Scotia.

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Halifax's airport is a significant distance from the city, limiting the ability to view the impressive (by Canadian standards) skyline:

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And, since I couldn't get close enough to do the city justice, here are a few more photos of Halifax to show you what you can't see in mine:


To change the mood... a famous American songstress whose mother is a Newfoundlander and whose parents met in Newfoundland, where I'm from.

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An hour in the air beyond Halifax, there it was... I instantly realized where all the gorgeous brownstones in the Simcity games came from.

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I'd never noticed such tall buildings on such narrow streets in any city before. New York City feels impressive, strong, and typically American - with its wide streets, grid layout, and modern buildings. Boston feels like a hug from the past... it's a tangled mess of beauty, charm, and confidence.

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As I was taking this picture, an elderly man approached me and asked me where I was from. I said St. John's, and he actually knew it instantly (as did most of the people I chatted with in Boston, surprisingly).

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The old lanes instantly reminded me of home.

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I realize the metro area population of Boston runs into the millions, but it's still amazing the number of amenities this city of less than 700,000 has. A city of a comparable size in Canada would struggle to have even a public bus system. Boston has everything, in spades. It's the type of place you can clearly live and want for nothing - experience small town charm and big city convenience and culture/creativity.

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It was fascinating to see how Boston balances preserving its heritage with growing.

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Can you believe these ****ing lampposts?

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This reminded me of St. John's - except that it was a half dozen floors higher than ours would be, ha!

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This archway had a giant American flag in it. It felt interesting looking at it. As a gay liberal, I tended not to have a positive view of the United States and blamed its influence for many of Canada's conservative-supported problems. But being there... it's hard not to feel proud of such a successful neighbour, whatever his problems. I can't stress that enough: If you're one of those Canadians who feels your eyes start to roll when the dramatic "American" moment in a Hollywood blockbuster, or you read about Republican Party antics and just wish your land could break off and float over to Europe... visit Boston. You'll leave a proud American, I promise! I feel like I was cured of a mental illness. I'm going to try to keep things in perspective better from now on...

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Time for a new song. Another Newfoundland artist, but a song that suits Boston as well.

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Boston has expertly blended its heritage buildings with modern structures. I particularly love this example because the modern buildings and the heritage ones evoke exactly the same emotional response with the styles of two different eras. Both were built with minimal ornamentation, clearly constructed simply to fill a need rather than add to the city's beauty. They both create the same sort of industrial atmosphere. I just love how harmoniously these two eras are blending in this example.

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I stopped counting all of the universities I stumbled into.

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This was the highlight of the trip for me and I can't explain why. It just was:

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Public transit entrances are disguised as gardens in this lovely park.

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The people in Boston were so friendly. I couldn't break my Newfoundland habit of saying good morning to everyone I passed during my 4, 5, 6 a.m. hikes throughout the city... and they always responded positively.

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The random buildings left over from Boston's past as a much smaller city created a very beautiful and unique atmosphere downtown.

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And there was lots of construction going on.

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As I was taking this picture, an African American woman put her hand on my shoulder as she walked past and wished me a good day. Definitely the politest "Get the **** out of my way!" I've ever received.

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The arts were a little harder to find than in St. John's, which is absolutely saturated... but you can still find the telltale signs of an intellectual class.

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There were no flowers. But buddy was smoking hot from the front so I figured I better capture the back for posterity. ;)

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From a distance, I assumed it was another university. But it's the Massachusetts State House, the States' version of our Provincial Legislatures.

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Trees were in full bloom in many places. It was beautiful!

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And the gardens were starting to come back to life.

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This courts building next to a university has an almost Pentagon-esque feeling because of its sheer size.

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Like St. John's, the city has strong side streets and lanes that are actually staircases.

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Time for another song to keep the mood. :) Again, a local...

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A construction worker beside me blessed himself after he noticed what I was photographing.

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Instantly reminded me of Quebec. No idea why.

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Gorgeous bones.

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A little market.

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Boston's superior version of our Confederation Building.

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Back to the airport.

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Then it was time to go. :(

I was genuinely sad to leave Boston and, even today, processing these pictures, I've been feeling homesick for Boston. It's so strange...

Still, flying into Montreal was a beautiful experience, as always.

I shot a video of the sparkling city from the plane:

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Time for a new song to get us home, the best one. A song about Boston and my city, St. John's.

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The next morning it was time to go. Quebec has A LOT of massive holes in the ground.

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And ski hills.

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And then there was nothing but cloud until Newfoundland.

Just outside St. John's, you can see the town of Wabana on Bell Island. It's connected to the city by two ferries that run simultaneously all day, every day. You can see them on the left. The city of St. John's is mostly off-screen to the left of where this photo ends. The built-up area in the background is comprised primarily of the suburban city of Mount Pearl and the towns of Paradise, Conception Bay South, and Portugal Cove-St. Philip's.

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The town of Torbay with St. John's in the background. You can see St. John's International Airport below. Planes flying into the city from Canada generally have to pass by it, continue out over the Atlantic, and then turn around and re-approach at the appropriate angle to land. It always makes me laugh and reminds me of that old song:

We're proud of our own native isle, Newfoundland
No stranger shall hold an inch of her strand
Her face turns to Britain, her back to your Gulf
Come near at your peril, Canadian wolf

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Coming into the airport.

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And that was it. Home, sweet home.

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So, thank you, Boston, for such a wonderful experience. I could spend the rest of my life thinking and not find a bad thing to say about your city. I love it - and I'd love to live there!

An aside...

An article in the local media about the Boston officer who was executed by the terrorists and his love for Newfoundland.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundla...04/23/nl-mit-officer-gros-morne-423.html

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Fantastic thread.

St Johns looks like a beautiful place & I always enjoy everything Boston

Thanx for posting :cheers:

Aww, thank you! :)

Boston is amazing. I think back on cities with a similar population that I've been in... and Boston blows them out of the water. It could be age.

St. John's, for example, has only 106,000 in the city proper, and 201,000 in the metro region. But it feels much bigger than that because it's so old, was a regional capital/service centre/education centre, etc.

Thank you for this beautiful tribute to Boston --- a remarkable city in so many ways. I am convinced it is the best of America rolled into one city.

Boston remains the one major East Coast city I have yet to visit. I need to fix that soon, especially after viewing these great photos! :tup:

Aww, how cute and emotional :)

Great thread! I've been to Boston a few times over the past few years, and it has remained my favourite American city to visit.

And it's always nice to see a bit of Halifax thrown in the mix as well. ;)

Awesome tour!

Bad a$$! Great set, thanks for sharing. :)

Boston looks fantastic. One of North America's greatest cities to be sure.

Great Boston tour!

Boston has a great American/European vibe going on. I might transfer to Harvard just to be able to live in this city. I have to work hard.

Excellent! I really hope I get to visit there myself in the summer. Hopefully the timing works out to allow for that.

Great tour! Thanks for the lovely shots of my hometown. Glad you had a lovely trip.

I especially appreciate the photos of the older part of Downtown - you captured some of my favorite buildings.

Great photos! Sad to say I have never been to Boston despite it being pretty close to Halifax. Thanks for the tour!

St. John's has a nice airport.

Great photos! I really see what you meant when you said that Halifax's streets are wide and straight compared to Boston's. I guess I just had a hard time imagining a bigger city with even smaller, more haphazard streets, but it creates a very interesting look that, you're right, is pretty rare in North America.

Thank you so much, everyone. :D

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Alps: St. John's International Airport is relatively new and was built from scratch all in one go, some distance from the old airport - that's why it looks like an attractive whole, rather than a combination of buildings from different eras like many other airports.

BUT it's already too small - there are only three gates, I believe - so they're going to be expanding it. And there's a lot of work (road re-alignment, etc.) going on outside the airport. I didn't share a picture because the bustle made it look so messy, but it feels like a construction zone right now:

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Great thread. I've always thought of Boston as a very European kind of place and yet very American at the same time. God those street scenes are beautiful. Such a fine city. Beautiful

One of my first thoughts after the bombings and gun battles with the police was how disruptive and terrifying it must have been. Boston strikes me as being one of the most civilized places in the US.

What building is that in Montreal with the beacon? I thought that was a camera flash when I first saw it. I swear, somewhere back in my ancestry there must be some New England heritage, because I have always loved the sight of a beacon/lighthouse light off in the distance. There's just something about it.

I don't know - but I'll try to find out for you.

Very nice pictures ...

Great photos my friend. I'm happy I made a point of popping over to the photography section to check out your trip.:cheers:

Thanks, guys.

One more picture. I didn't use it in the main thread because it was too blurry (took three, but the plane was just moving too fast). But it's still cool to admire:

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That was a beautiful trip, SignalHillHiker! Thanks for sharing.

Boston is my favourite city in the USA. Well, I must say I only know 6 large cities there. I love Boston´s streets and parks (Public Garden and Boston Common are simply lovely). I´ve unforgettable memories about my three times there. Boston is a very pretty european-north american city. I miss some pictures about Beacon Hill, a really pretty historic neighbourhood in Boston.

When I heard about the terrorist attacks in the Marathon of Boston, I felt much sadness, because I consider Boston as a quiet city with friendly and polite citizens. But as your tittle says: Boston is strong enough to recover from those terrible events.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!:tup:

It's incredible how much better the city looks without that monstrous highway that used to cut through the center of it. Now they just need to fill in those awkward spaces...as if Boston doesn't already have enough parks. I'd love to see some nice infill there.

Thanks for saying this. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Boston has somewhat of a reputation in the U.S. of being unfriendly -- and yet when I was there last year, I found the reality to be exactly the opposite.

Thanks for the great photo set! These are some terrific photos of Boston. It looks like you mostly stayed downtown and didn't venture into the Back Bay or North end on this trip. You'll have to visit again for sure!

I have to agree with others' comments as to how European Boston feels. It still has a distinctly American feel, but it is by far the most European feeling city in the U.S.

That's got to be Place Ville-Marie. It may no longer be Montréal's tallest, but it is still the centerpiece of her skyline as far as I'm concerned. I've always loved this beacon as well.

Great thread. Enjoyed the commentary.

one of the best threads since i've been on here. Your pictures are incredible and brought out the best of Boston. Thanks and I'm so happy you became enchanted with Boston. It does that sometimes;)

how have you been Expat? Glad to see you here!

:shrug::shrug: yes, fix that soon:yes::tup:

triple hard or harder;)

Thank you, all! :D

I don't know if I ended up in Back Bay but I definitely did in the North End.

I just didn't take my camera all the time because I wanted to be present and enjoy it myself too. :D

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And you are right that it's Place Ville-Marie. Acajack had the answer but I gave it to Kevin on FB instead of here. Never thought others might like to know too, ha!

I think it has 5 gates ;) :P

They're gonna turn her from this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...-St._John%27s_Airport_Aerial_Picture.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St._John%27s_Airport_Aerial_Picture.jpg

into this (doubled in size and capacity 10 years ahead of projections):
http://www.stjohnsairport.com/media_uploads/jpg/314.jpg
http://www.stjohnsairport.com/index/index.cfm?id=190

small but perdy and growing

It was a similar feeling for myself. These events really hit home for me here in Montreal, not only because Boston is close to us geographically but the Northeast US and Boston in particular are the US citizens that are closest to us here in Canada, in terms of our beliefs, values and what we want as a society, having a more liberal mentality and wanting to take care of our less fortunate citizens. I sometime feel that it's just a matter of time, before something happens in my area, seeing it happening in our backyard in the US... It's unfortunate that cities that are open to the world, welcoming everyone from any backgrounds into our community, have to endure these unfortunate events.

Just like NYC, these events will just make Boston a stronger community with a deep feeling of belonging and wanting to help each other even more.

Then, when everything is back to normal or so, we can beat the sh** out of them on the ice! Go Habs Go!! :cheers:

Excellent thread. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

A side note: One of our local tv news anchors just moved to Phoenix from the Boston area about four months ago. He was able to give some good descriptions and coomentary, of and on the city, in the days following the bombings. It was quite interesting to hear.

Beautiful pictures, Signal! Boston is one of the places I really want to visit someday!

Thanks!

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RE: St. John's International Airport's plan... MOAR SURFACE PARKING LOTS! But, seriously, enough with that. The Airport Authority needs to give its head a shake. Ours has to be one of the only airports left in the world without a hotel on site.

So... partner with a major hotel chain, share the cost of a LARGE and proper parkade, and stick the hotel on top of it.

Really enjoying this tread and the last one coming from you Signal....already looking forward to the next.Thanks and well done.

It's been 3 or 4 years since I've been to Montreal, but I believe the beacon tower is the Hydro Quebec building.

You really made the best of some dreary conditions. Inspiring shots!

It's Place Ville-Marie.

Great thread SignalHillHiker, beautiful pix all around. I wish the little shit who did this to the people of Boston some long solitary time to think of how he paid back the courtesy of living in the great USA. I have no sympathy for him whatever. I have sympathy for the suffering families of the missing and the hurt, period.

it's 1 place ville marie.

Very nice photos and excellent thread Ryan.
I visited Boston when I was in my early 20s, and still remember it as one of my favourite places.
By Canadian standards it is a bit like a mix of St. John's and Halifax on steroids, but with the extra class of Quebec thrown in.

not only does it have that rep but in the US,but after all this time gone by, the media and public in general across the USA, still, Boston is known as a racist city. That was certainly true 40+ years ago , i lived it, but I believe no big city in America has changed so positively in this area as Boston. To this day, you read where people comment on Boston as a racist city, totally untrue and in fact quite the opposite. That's why i find the commentary from non-Americans here so interesting.....................and accurate. Thank you

I hope something like this never happens in your gorgeous city. You seem to echo others on Boston . See my comments above, it wasn't always like this. The past 20-30 years have really changed the city forever for the better. I remember the ugliness of the 60's in the way the city looked and acted. We have been blessed with a string of great mayors , especially the current one. He has done a brilliant job. The city is a real beacon (no pun intended). :tup:

Go Bruins!! Les Habitants de Montreal? :yuck::hell:;)

Beautiful photos and a wonderful dedication to the great city of Boston.

Awesome thread. Great processing. :tup:

Excellent tour and great photos!

Thanks, all! :)

So, my parents are very well-traveled. It's been my mother's dream to visit all seven continents and she only has one left (Antarctica). They've been everywhere - even a painting class in Paris, for God's sake - but NEVER Boston.

Last night they got back from a trip to Florida/the Caribbean and we got together for a drink to exchange travel stories.

My mother loves New York City more than anywhere else in the world. She said they were the kindest, most down-to-earth people she'd met anywhere outside of home - and the city "has more going on every day than you could possibly do in your entire lifetime."

I showed her the pictures of Boston and she was floored. She wouldn't believe it was the United States, she was convinced it was somewhere in the United Kingdom.

Anyhow, the point is, Boston is now at the top of their list of places to visit. :) They'll probably be there before the end of summer, I bet. When they get a place in their head, not much can slow them down.

Bravo ! I ate those pictures like a delicious cake :)

Several Bostonians assumed this was why I was in Boston. Great Big Sea had a concert at the same time I was there.

Here is the famous folk song "Boston and St. John's" that they performed as a show of support from the people of Newfoundland and St. John's.

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Beautiful job! Boston is spectacular and you are a good photographer.

St. John's is not the the oldest European city in North America, though. It's the oldest still existing English-settled city in North America. Santo Domingo, DR is the oldest European city in North America (1498) and there are lots of older cities in Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, etc. In the US and Canada, I think St. Augustine is the oldest still existing European settlement (1565). Just sayin.

St. John's is very, very high on my list of places to visit. Looks magical.

Great tour!