marvelousmouse

As the title says...I'll be in Boston and New York later this month. I've been to Boston, but it's been...maybe 5 or 6 years since my last visit? And other than the airports, I really haven't seen much of NYC. So would love any more recent information you'd care to share! Especially interested in musicals and special exhibits that may be in town. Day trips that may be interesting this time of year? The only places I've been before are Salem and the Cape.

Boston: have done the Freedom Trail, or at least I think I did most of it. Have been to Boston MFA, and the Gardner and the Science museum. The only thing on my list for sure is the Mapparium. Any suggestions? Favorite museums? Is Harvard worth a visit? Any specific winter stuff to do in town? I've only visited in summer before.

Cheap food ideas? Last time I was in Boston I was with relatives who like to dine out at expensive places. This is definitely a more budget trip. Any good public markets? Ethnic food to look out for?

NYC- plan so far really only has Met and Cloisters. Any favorites other than those? Any current exhibits that are amazing? Would Brooklyn Botanical Gardens be worth an afternoon? Any favorite neighborhoods? I have lists for NYC, but they were for Christmas and August...now I'm going late January so I think revising may be in order. Broadway plays? Budget dining or street food? Public markets like reading terminal in Philadelphia?

I like shop, wander around, eat. Love culture, history, special museums. Day trip suggestions are always welcome but nothing that involves a car rental, please. Thanks!

SeaF

I really enjoyed the Mapparium. I also liked the Parish Cafe and Bar. I went to the one on Boylston St between Arlington & Berkeley. Very good & pretty reasonable.

Also, Solas pub had a nice menu. It's actually in the Lenox hotel, also on Boylston.

SambaChula

Current amazing exhibits in NYC? Peter Voulkos at the Museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle.
Favorites? Tenement Museum.
High line if not too cold.

Boston
Glass flowers at Harvard
Harvard art museums
ICA and its harbor view
Day trip to Salem for PEM
Winter stuff? Skating at Government Center new rink and marketplace
Indoor climbing at Brooklyn Boulder
Ethnic food? Ethiopian, Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish, Mexican, Brazilian, Italian, Japanese, Afghani, Salvadoran, Moroccan? Those're only a few.

IMDonehere

SambaChula mentioned the Glass Flowers at the Peabody at Harvard. It is one of the most extraordinary exhibits of craftsmanship I have seen. Last time we were in Boston, early 2016, it was under renovation and there were only a few flowers. But I think it is re-opened in entirety.

Surprisingly Harvard, it is not a beautiful campus, although it is obviously historical.
_____________

I was good weather in late January. Sometimes there is the January thaw. That said, you have mentioned The Cloisters, but any Botanical garden in the northeast is going to be limited in the winter.

Museum of Natural History, MoMA, the International Center of Photography (ICP, a trip Flushing Queens for a variety of Asian cultures, stores, and restaurants.

marvelousmouse

Thank you! Didn't even know about the glass flowers! Sambachula- the PEM is probably my favorite museum ever just not sure I want to sacrifice the time out of Boston!

Figured that about the botanic gardens. Hoping for ok weather. Wanted to go in summer but that's not looking likely and then a chance to go now came up, so I'm taking it.

Ackislander

The MFA costs a bundle but is of course Worth It, especially if the weather is not great and has reciprocal memberships with some other major museums which may get you in gratis.

SambaChula's list is excellent. You could spend a whole day in Harvard Square, morning at the Natural History Museums, lunch in the Square, afternoon at the Fogg art museum. Lots of ethnic places to eat, but you might consider Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage on Mass Ave.

In the North End, on Hanover Street, the Daily Catch (Calamari Cafe) has wonderful Sicilian style seafood for the 21 lucky people who get seats. Just down the block is Umberto's Rosticceria, universally known as Ralph's. You stand in line for arancini, sheet pan pizza, and panzarotti, bits of fried bread dough with a dab of beef stew in the center. There are two lines, one for pizza dough and phone in orders, one for walkins. They cook in the morning, and when they run out, usually around 2, they go home. It is an experience.

I had lunch last week at Parish Cafe in the Back Bay, recommended above by SeaF. The menu consists of interesting sandwiches invented by local chefs who don't usually do sandwiches, so it is very imaginative, not expensive, and the portions are large enough to split. Convenient for Trinity Church, Boston Public Library, and the Public Garden.

SambaChula

MFA is free on Wednesday after 4.
ICA is free on Thursday evening.
(See their websites for details.)

Inakauaidavidababy

Boston:

You will have to look hard at the corridor of Christian Science to appreciate the architecture as the area is having a major facelift - but I don't think that would effect the Mapparium experience. just the area which is a shame, as I find it beautiful in all seasons. I think the reflecting pool is completely blocked off, although it is always drained and barren in the winter. It is now a construction zone.

In the hood, I love Pho Basil on Mass Ave. Usually a quick moving line, always packed.

http://www.phobasil.com

marvelousmouse

Yes, I killed a whole day at the MFA last time. Simply wonderful. I remember Boston being rather expensive over all, so I was thinking of only doing the MFA if I had a spare day.

You know, I think I've been to daily catch before. Do they possibly serve wine in plastic cups? That may have been the place I dragged my grandmother to- she didn't stop complaining until she tasted the food but she did make fun of my delicious black pasta we were staying at Marriott long wharf and north end was so convenient that we ate there a lot.

travelgourmet

Any good public markets?

There is a public market in the building that houses the Haymarket T stop. It is just okay, IMO.

Ethnic food to look out for?

There is the usual array of ethnic food that one finds in any major city, though I would say that the Latin American food options are relatively weak. Asian is better represented, with Taiwan Cafe or Gourmet Dumpling House being good options in Chinatown. Pho Pasteur is a decent option for Vietnamese, also in Chinatown (I prefer some other places, but they are in Dorchester and I wouldn't make the trek there if I were just visiting).

IMDonehere

We stayed a quirky hotel called the Verb. It was a Hojo transformed into a rock n' roll themed hotel. It is in the shadow of Fenway, so it must be nuts when there are Sox games.

Thanks to the recommendations of people on these boards we like Atlantic Fish Eastern Standard.

SambaChula

" the Latin American food options are relatively weak."
Maybe downtown. But with all the Brazilian places (still full of "real" Brazilians, a good recommendation)? And Peruvian. And Argentine. And Salvadoran. And Venezuelan. And .....
(Yes, you may have to take the T to Cambridge/Somerville or walk to the South End.)


"Pho Pasteur is a decent option for Vietnamese, also in Chinatown"
And Pho Le in Harvard Square and elsewhere, with one of the original owners of Pho Pasteur.

emalloy

For a public market experience on Friday or Saturday go to Haymarket Square.

travelgourmet

But with all the Brazilian places (still full of "real" Brazilians, a good recommendation)?

Muqueca is pretty good, but most of them trade more in portion size than quality. As for the "full of real xxx" as an indicator of something being good, I'd be willing to wager that the Cheesecake Factory at the Pru is the highest grossing restaurant in Boston and it is full of "real" Americans. I wouldn't use that as a basis to judge the quality of the American food they serve.

And Peruvian.

There really aren't many Peruvian restaurants in Boston/Somerville/Cambridge. None that I'd go out of my way for.

travelgourmet

We stayed a quirky hotel called the Verb.

The restaurant in that hotel is also pretty good - it is the "izakaya" from the folks over at O Ya.

bachslunch

There's a Peruvian eatery in Union Square Somerville if memory serves. Not bad, but hard to get to.

Taranta in the North End is very good and offers a menu that fuses Italian and Peruvian elements.

Ackislander

travelgourmet wrote

"I'd be willing to wager that the Cheesecake Factory at the Pru is the highest grossing restaurant in Boston and it is full of "real" Americans. I wouldn't use that as a basis to judge the quality of the American food they serve."

I wish I had written that.

Inakauaidavidababy

I agree Ack - a brilliant post - rather poetic

bachslunch

You've gotten good suggestions for Boston sightseeing. Other options include the JFK Presidential Library and Museum or (if you like this sort of thing) the Museum of Science or the Aquarium.

There are loads of excellent day trips, though in winter your best bets are probably Salem and New Bedford. Other towns, like Marblehead, Newburyport, Plymouth, Concord, Lexington, Lowell, Gloucester, Rockport, and the Cape/Islands are best in summer or early fall.

bachslunch

Re NYC: there are scads of wonderful museums and other attractions of all types and sizes. The Met and Cloisters are wonderful and absolute musts, but you could spend a good couple weeks seeing places like the American Museum of Natural History, Musem of Modern Art, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Frick Collection, American Folk Art Museum, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Jewish Museum, Morgan Library, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of the City of New York, Neue Gallerie, Museum of Jewish Heritage, and New York Historical Society. You can also see things like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Rockefeller Center, the World Trade Center Memorial Site, Grand Central Terminal, and the Empire State Building. Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge are enjoyable to wander, though maybe not so much in winter.