The case of Boston (or as I like to call it Dollar-Value New York)

Okay, I will admit it, that Boston is a great city and I am a little jealous of the academic nature of the city and the people that live along the Charles River. I recently had a chance to spend a day in the Italian quarters of Boston, which is a quaint part of the North End of the city; where are the streets are lined with cobblestones, and there is the aroma of coffee kind of wafting down the streets. The twisting and winding of the streets will remind any Italian of the countrysides of Verona, and the constant churning of the Canolis by the pasticcini in the neighborhood makes even the most rigid among us think about the dolce far niente that Italians keep talking about. It was also my dear friend Corona's 25th birthday, so it was an excellent day to visit the Italian quarters. Additionally, their birthday happens to fall on Christmas Eve, and everyone who has ever interacted with any Italian knows, that is the best time to acquire the freshest Struffoli. So as is my brand and tradition, here are some of the pictures that I took and the stories that I so love behind them:

Of course to start a portrait of the one with the Birthday, Corona M. Anderson who turned 25, so basically they are now ancient property (jk I love you <3). But they provided the perfect cover against the sun as we were waiting to cross the street and I love this picture so much, since you can see that they are about to shake their head at me trying to twist and turn to take this picture!

We ended up stopping first at this pretty busy café called Caffe Vittoria, which had the feel and crowd of a small cafe in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. But the crowd was much more older and vibe of the cafe was very much the same as one would expect from a place that is frequented by the old Italian families of Boston, and probably the mafioso of the city too.

We did have to wait about 30 minutes before we could understand what was happening, and another 30 to get someone to actually try to get us some coffee (read liqueur) and some sodas, but it made the space for some very good conversation as is expected from our friend group which as Corona describes aptly "is a mishmash of some parts of the world's cultures."

At this point after we had drank our coffees, and had our Italian deserts we were waiting for our checks, while Corona was on their phone trying to plan out the next place that we were going to go to, and A was sitting there trying to figure out why the two people who were going along with him were so unhinged to order anything but coffee from a coffee house (he himself ordered a soda, boo). I do not remember what exact point in the conversation I took this picture, but I loved it too much to not include it here:

Finally after a million attempts and a quick trip to an ATM across the street, cause apparently this place was "Cash only" we managed to end our experience at Caffe Vittoria and we discovered that we were literally a two second walk away from the classic Boston Italian bakery (or pasticcheria) Mike's Pastry, so I had venture in to provide for our family Christmas Dinner the next day and introduce my friends to the heavenly wonders of the Napolitana tradition of the "Struffoli" which in my humble opinion (I am neither Italian, nor Christian so take this opinion with a grain of salt, I am just a amateur photographer) is better than Panatonne which is Milanese Natale tradition.

This is definitely the look of someone who has secured a fresh struffoli, ecalairs, and Rum cake, all essentials of what Bengalis call বড়দিন or as the Anglophones around the world like to call it, Christmas. This place was also Cash Only, but now I came prepared. I am a New Yorker at heart (as can be seen from the Yellow MTA card proudly sitting at the top of my cardholder) and once I see a cash only place, I carry half my fortune in cash just to avoid any of the awkward situations.

(PSA: if you wondering how the photographer made it into the picture, A took these while I was busy juggling cash and boxes full of pastry)

By this point the cold had started getting the best of us, and we wanted to rush to the confines of warm space as quickly as possible, after finding two or three restaurants that we wanted to try fully closed due to the occasion of Christmas Eve, we decided the best thing to do was return to our car and come back to Boston sometime later to try all that we had missed.

You know it is cold when Corona Anderson decides that dressing like a old Slavic grandmother is acceptable on the streets as a mere 25 year old, since in their own words:

"It is better than freezing my ears off in the cold"

To which I correctly said "No"

I mean doesn't this picture (with very minor color-grading) remind you of the Soviet Era pictures that you would see in the textbooks or old movies from the Soviet Union, showing a grandmother walking home with her daily quota of fish, and the the young Soviet walking home with his bread (both of these people in the photograph were given no directions for this picture so kudos to them for creating this so naturally)

So Boston was a such a fun time, and I am so glad that I got to experience this unique side of the city on such a unique day. I still have my NYC pride, and I still call NYC home, but Boston got something going on for it, I guess. I am so ready to be back in Boston taking more pictures, telling more stories, and making more memories. Until then, arriverdverci mei amici!

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