Boston Things to Do Tips by tvor

There's a red brick strip in the sidewalks that will take you around to the historic sites in the city center. Get one of the "Where Boston" guides that comes in hotels and tourist kiosks and that will tell you about the things you will see along your walk. It's a good introduction and orientation to Boston. The downtown is more compact than it looks on the maps.

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In Trinity Square is a lovely church and the Boston Public Library. Also here is the 60 storey Hancock Tower with the top floor indoor observatory. It only takes 35 seconds for the high speed elevator to get you up there but the elevator is very stable, only your ears may pop a little. Coming down it's a little bit shakey though.

At the top are visual displays and audio presentations about the view you are looking at. There isn't a 360 degree view but you can see quite a distance. There is no outdoor platforms, you are inside, behind tinted glass so if you are a bit nervous of heights, this might not be too bad. There's also a gift shop. I believe there was a fee as well to go up. great views though!

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Address: Trinity Square, Boston
Directions: Take the T (transit/subway/underground) to the Trinity Square exit.

This area of Boston was all water and swamp 150 years ago but was filled in and by the late 1870's it was a new development. The streets here are wider and straighter than downtown in the older sections. Lots of turn of the 20th century mansions which, on Newbury Street are turned into shops and cafes. Newbury street has exclusive boutiques at one end growing increasingly funkier as you go along. Each street that crosses starts with a letter of the alphabet in sequence and the day I was there, someone was attaching bright balloons to each corner with that letter on it.

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Directions: West of Trinity Square and Boston Common

The Aquarium is right on the waterfront and is a great way to spend an afternoon. There is an outdoor tank i think and one in a building where i saw a sealion "show". inside the main building, the main fish tank is in a huge tube up the center with a ramp spiraling around it going up several floors. There is a big pool on the ground floor with all the different types of penguins and smaller aquariums lining the walls on each of 3 floors. We'd follow the ramp up and then check out the wall tanks on each floor. The big tank was cool, and there were even some small sharks in it and two giant sea turtles. I felt like I could stand there and watch the fish go by for hours! There were different species at different levels of depth in the tank, each adapting to their own preference. At the top you can look down into it and see the fiberglass coral.

I was fascinated at all the different kinds in one tank and wondered why they didn't eat each other as some of them must have been natural predators of others. Especially the sharks. Ron though that perhaps they were fed so well that they didn't have that ambition. We would often be startled by the size of the fish as they swam close to the viewing windows but again, I suppose they looked bigger than they were as water does affect the magnification somewhat. There was one particularly ugly fellow that looked as though he must have had a few tries at escaping through the glass at the detriment of his poor face, all pushed in. There was a large white flat fish that had pink eyes like an albino rabbit. The tropical species in the wall tanks had some spectacular colours.

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Phone: 617-973-5200
Address: Central Wharf, Boston, MA 02110
Website: http://www.neaq.org