Atlantica - 01.04.2006, Page 64

Blue Blood Special
Ten ways to while away your long weekend in downtown Boston. By Krista Mahr.
62 AT L A N T I CA
1 Go for a good long walk through the boutiques
of Newbury Street to the 75 green acres and
paths of the Boston Public Garden and Boston
Common. Started in the early 1600s, these parks
were the first public greenspace in the United
States and still offer a quiet pause in the thick of
downtown today.
2 Pick up a copy of Boston magazine, the city’s
glossy monthly with a calendar of monthly events,
the latest shopping in town, and a thorough selec-
tion of places to eat and drink in the city.
3 Start thinking about that raise while at the
racks of Boston’s newest fancy feather in its cap,
Barneys New York. Barneys has long captivated
Angelinos and New Yorkers with a taste for small-
er designers and big price tags. Since its March
opening, Barneys now lends its tastemaking cache
to Boston’s Copley Place, a vast indoor mall of
upmarket chain stores in Boston’s Back Bay.
4 Finish off the afternoon with a champagne
cocktail and a dozen oysters while you’re in
town. Seafood is a good choice in Boston, and The
Palm, though known for its steaks, has mighty
good shellfish.
5 Move on for some global perspective at
“Journeys of the Imagination,” a free exhibit on
display at the grand old Boston Public Library.
The exhibit, on through mid-August courtesy of
the library’s Norman B. Leventhal Map Center,
chronicles primarily Western mapmaking from
the 15th century to today. It’s an amazing record
of how politics shape the way we see our physical
world. Afterwards, take a break in the library’s
venerable reading room, or go visit the museum’s
collection of over 10,000 images of Joan of Arc,
on display through June 15.
6 Make like a socialite and have a calling card
personally letterpressed for you by the Kate Spade
Paper line at Crane and Co. Paper Makers.
7 Now that you’re in the mood, rest with the
orchids in the steamy courtyard garden of the
strange but beautiful Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum. The museum, named after the art
patron who built and bequeathed her home
and immense art collection to the public, has
remained virtually unchanged since Gardner’s
death in 1924. It is built around a central indoor
garden that changes seasonally, and pieces like
John Singer Sargent’s “El Jaleo” (1882) are dis-
played unconventionally throughout the museum
according to Ms. Gardner’s eccentric taste.
8 Pull up a barstool and dig into a plate of tender
spare ribs at Carmen Wine Bar and Trattoria in
Boston’s Italian North End. With only a handful
of tables, a great wine list, and a gracious staff,
this is the kind of golden hole-in-the-wall you
hope some local foodie will whisper in your ear
while you’re visiting town. Drop in early on a
weeknight, or make reservations.
9 Take the T over to Cambridge and soak up the
scholarly vibes for a morning. Find a corner chair
and spend a few hours in The Coop, Harvard’s
immense bookstore run by Barnes and Noble.
Walk down JFK to the paths along the Charles
River and on your way back, finish off with a beer
and a good soundtrack at Shay’s Pub and Wine
Bar while you’re in the neighborhood.
10 Quick! If you’re in town in early May, spend
some time with the faces from the life of artist
David Hockney, whose portraits are on display at
the Museum of Fine Arts through May 14. Even if
you miss this impressive exhibition of over 100 of
Hockney’s portraits, the museum, with summer
exhibitions like “Light My Fire: Rock Posters from
the Summer of Love,” and the museum’s collec-
tion of gift stores, is worth the visit. a
PHOTOS PÁLL STEFÁNSSON
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