BOSTON

Back Bay - Boylston Street

Back Bay - Huntington Street

Back Bay - residential streets

View from Cambridge, across the Charles River

I moved to Boston in early April 1997. It all started because I was seriously considering leaving Florida in search of greener pastures, when my old friend "the Lapa" Echezuria offered me a three month contract doing some HTML coding. It wasn't a tough decision. I had visited Boston as a tourist before, and I liked it a lot. As all temporary projects, it lasted a lot more than originally planned. Eventually I decided to stay in the area and found another job. But for some reason I never really felt at home there. Perhaps because despite the tireless efforts of my good friend and rapper extraordinaire, Mugzy Merriam, I never managed to properly pronounce the word "cah" (as in automobile). Or maybe it was because I lived in the worst part of the worst neighborhood in all of metro Boston: "Severe" Revere. But more likely it was because you can't buy beer in a supermarket -and on Sundays you just can't buy beer anywhere in the state -it's illegal. Unless you live near New Hampshire, in which case it's perfectly all right.

Boston (pronounced "Boahwstn", I believe) reminds me of an aristocratic lady who has seen better times, but who's had a most interesting life. The core of the Boston area -"Boston proper"- though a bit unkempt, is truly beautiful and has character to spare. Take a walk through the twisting streets of Beacon Hill. Have lunch on the North End. Stroll along the tree-lined, brick-paved sidewalks of the BackBay. Unlike the majority of US towns, the inner city is where you can find the most coveted residential neigborhoods. Its old english style buildings and predominant red brick give it a warm feeling even in the coldest winter days. Its stone churches, dignified bridges over the Charles, the unpretentious yet elegant style of the city give it a most defined personality. But as an aristocrat's town, it also must have its dark side, and Boston definitely has it. In my opinion, more than any other city in the northeast, this town earns the right to be called Gotham city. Just minutes away from the charming inner core, you'll see old factories and warehouses, elevated steel highways, steaming factory chimneys, and rusty railroads generously scattered throughout the city; that used to astonish me -utilitarianism to the max; architectural values such as aestethics and human scale appear to have been entirely foreing concepts until just a few decades ago. But wait for a grey misty day, observe the cement plant with its strange towers and hordes of grey trucks, keep going and watch the smoke from an adjacent factory blow right between both decks of the Tobin bridge as you drive by -just like in one of those old horror movies- and you'll begin to appreciate what I call the gothic beauty of Boston. However, the "Big Dig" -a mamoth engineering project aimed at revamping the city and alleviating its constant gridlock- is threatening to put an end to that dark side of Boston, teasing its inhabitants with the prospect of a rejuvenated new look for this old lady.

But I have more than a few fond memories of this town. It is where I've made the most friends, most of whom I hope, will continue to be so for a long time to come despite the distance. And last but not least, it is the place where, with the help of Steve the Biochemist cum Brew Master, Bob-from-Boston, Amy-the-crazy-redhead, Charlie "Glossy" Hanegan, Mike "McBastard", "Mike "Verde" Green, the "NT" Gang, and a bunch of others, we had some truly memorable parties -and, uh, colorful trips.