A guided tour of Boston

The view towards Back Bay and Cambridge with the Hult building visible from Prudential Tower

Not long ago, I had my another group of Norwegian friends coming over to Boston to let them see and experience the culture that I am now a part of. I have found a few things, and noticed some patterns that happens to repeat them-selfs when I take on the job as a tour guide.

Boston Celtics

I want to show my friends the most Bostonian things, and whats more Bostonian than looking at a game by one of the top teams for every game. The world series in baseball was won by Boston Red Sox, and The Patriots won the Super Bowl for the third time in six years which made them the first city to win two major trophies in one season since, well, Boston did it in 2004. Only beaten by New York, Boston comes in second when it comes to the amount of major trophies gathered by clubs in the city. Impressive considering it’s size.

TD Garden pre-game before meeting The Pistons

While I have seen Harvard Crimson play American football, I usually end up on a basketball game with Boston Celtics. It is the easiest and most convenient, having TD Garden nearby and there are games going frequently so there's always some game on. Sadly, while the ice hockey team, Boston Bruins, have the same type of schedule, they have a tendency to constantly having away games when I want to watch them.

Anyway, Celtics it usually is, and it tends to be very fun to be there. You barely get a break from entertainment when watching live. At the start of the game there is a show, in all the breaks there is some show, and it’s always something happening in/on (?) the court. Great entertainment and people are usually happy afterwards, even though the beer cost 13,50$.

View of John Hancock Tower and the Financial District in the background

Prudential Tower

So to avoid failing classes I have to attend them, and usually that means I must leave my friends to make their own journey for a few hours. I give them advices about where to go: Harvard, MIT, the harbor, museum of science etc. There are plenty of nice things to see in Boston. But I always save the best for when I can join, and that is the Prudential Tower. With it’s 52 floors it is the second tallest building in Boston (excluding the antenna spire). With the 360 degree view, you get to see the entire Boston-area from above. I think it’s beautiful, and they always agree. But it always seem like something is off, and I think there is something about the Prudential Tower that reminds people of something else. they always ask; “But it’s still not as tall as in New York, right?”.

All roads lead to New York

Suddenly, everything about Boston actually seems less interesting, and for some strange reason I have yet to have visitors that does not decide to go to New York out of the blue. It hurts my Bostonian heart, that people fly across the Atlantic to see me, and the city I live in. And New York, bleh. This seem to be the nature of life as a tour guide in Boston, all roads leads to New York. In New York, I have even gotten to a point where I could figure out where to go without GPS. Still can not say the same about Boston.

Building a sports arena on water, such a silly thing to do. New York, am I right?