gail

There are walking food tours of the North End (Italian) and Chintown - you get samples of food, some history, a nice walk. I recommend those.

thursdaysd

@gail - do you have links? (Not Italian.)

@DonTopaz - great! Mini-GTG on Sunday or Monday? If we can pick a day/time I'll start a separate thread.

travelgourmet

There are walking food tours of the North End (Italian) and Chintown - you get samples of food, some history, a nice walk. I recommend those.

Are any of these any good? I have seen one such tour in my local neighborhood and eavesdropped. I was not impressed with the guide at all.

DonTopaz

thurdaysd, I'm good with either day. Best time for me would be somewhere around the Hospitality Hour. Were you thinking that somewhere in the Cambridge/Red Line area would be suitable?

SambaChula

Not lobster roll, but the cheapest(in July, probably about U$15 for the two lobsters), great double steamed lobster in town......the Mount Vernon. Take the CT2 bus (weekdays) from Kendall to Sullivan Square and walk a couple of blocks up (a bit indistrial in that stretch, but safe) Broadway in Somerville. It's on the left.
Broadway. within a few blocks further on from there, also offers two new bistros, an Ethiopian restauarant, a couple of Brazilian steakhouses with salad and hot buffet, a Brazilian pastel place, Spanish and Mexican, and more, all reasonably priced (maybe $10-25)
-------
One more enthusiastic vote for the unique Gardner Museum.

The Harvard art museums just reopened after constructing additional speace next to the only Le Courbusier building in the US, and across from a nice Henry Moore sculpture.

thursdaysd

Don - let's make it Sunday - could you define Hospitality Hour? I take it that means pre-dinner wine and nibbles?

Anywhere not too far out and close to a T stop is fine. Well, anywhere that doesn't break the bank! I'll almost certainly buy the transit pass.

DonTopaz

thursdays, can we do the prelim details offline? My email is in my profile -- thx

DonTopaz

Another thing about your time in Boston: if the weather isn't great for being outside, please consider checking out the Mapparium at the Christian Science Center, adjacent to the Pru Center. The Mapparium is an inverted globe, created in 1935 (and not updated since), that is absolutely amazing -- www.marybakereddylibrary.org/exhibits/mapparium

cynstalker

I just recently moved to Winthrop - and I do think the Belle Isle lobster roll is pretty amazing - but pricey at $20+. It is STUFFED with ton of lobster!

If we are around, I would love to meet up with you at both the ISG & the MFA - we are members of both museums, so you can come in as my guest. Maybe we could do the mini-get together at one of the museums. ISG has a restaurant called Cafe G's - really quite good. The American Cafe in the MFA is also good. Both have somewhat small menus that change seasonally.

Seems to me we were travelling solo to Sicily around the same time, weren't we?

Cyn

thursdaysd

Hi cynstalker! Nice to hear from you. Yes indeed, we both rode the train from Naples to Sicily back in 2008, although not together (which would have been much more fun).

DonTopaz and I had an off-line chat and settled on Sunday at 6:00 pm for drinks and dinner - I was holding off on posting an invitation until after Easter. I don't think that will work with the museums, but thanks so much for the offer. If you can't make Sunday maybe we could meet at the museum anyway. I expect to be at the MFA most of the day Tuesday, haven't decided about the ISG yet.

flpab

We did rt ferry to Salem and bought the little hop on hop off tram pass. We walked a lot but ended up doing the whole loop on the tram and it was an interesting narrated ride.
I have said many times it is cheaper to stay and eat in Paris than in Boston.

HappyTrvlr

You mentioned an interest in Asian art so a visit to the Sackler Museum at Harvard may be of interest.

CharlotteK

The Sackler Museum has been subsumed in the Harvard Art Museums re-opening. There is still Asian art to be seen, but it is not a separate museum any longer.

thursdaysd

Thanks, Charlotte.

FYI, All - I started a new thread for anyone interested in a GTG: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ge-july-12.cfm

wtm003

Thanks for starting this thread thursdaysd. I'll be in Boston in June and again in August so I'll be able to use many of these recommendations too.

dwdvagamundo

bookmarking.

Also, we're thinking of driving to NE this fall (or flying and renting a car)--anyone have an idea for a good place (that is, locality) outside of Boston to stay? It should be on transit so we could get into Boston at least a couple of days. Primary focus would be the Gardner Museum and the MFA.

Thanks

travelgourmet

Why do you want to stay outside the city? Parking? And where are you coming from?

dwdvagamundo

Parking and less expensive lodging. We're coming from Atlanta--not our first time here, as my spouse is from Mass. Looks from Tripadvisor like Cambridge might work.

travelgourmet

Yes, there are a couple of hotels in Cambridge that would work well. I believe both the Hampton Inn and the Holiday Inn Express in East Cambridge have free parking. The immediate neighborhood is uninspiring, but safe, and it isn't far from the Lechemere T and really not that far from Kendall, which has the Red Line stop and increasingly has decent dining.

I would note, though, that parking costs may be built into the rates for the Cambridge hotels, so make sure to comparison shop. Looking randomly at 8 May to 10 May, the Hampton Inn is $279 per night. The Marlowe is $212. Even at $30 per day for parking, the Marlowe will be cheaper (and probably nicer). The Courtyard is $169 and in an only slightly worse location for transit. The Park Plaza, which has some small rooms, but is in an A+++ location, is $199.

If you have some dates and a budget, we can offer more specific help.

dwdvagamundo

Thanks TG! No dates yet---we're still hoping airfares drop enough for us to go to Europe this October. We'd want to go in the fall--probably September, but before leaf season.

I don't have a budget when travelling, other than "that's too much." $350/nite would be too much for Boston, IMO. The places you've mentioned would be right in the ballpark!