Citizens of the World: A Stoic Podcast for Curious Travelers - Best of Boston Ultimate Travel Guide

Episode Date: August 30, 2020

We are back with Vanessa Bouvry, a sophisticated Parisian living in Boston, and she is spilling the Boston baked beans on all the cultural and culinary experiences you should have in the U.S.’s most historic city. We discuss:celebrating Marathon Mondayexploring the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museumshopping in Boston Markettouring Fenway Parkeating at Top Chef restaurants quacking on Duck Tourstouring MIT (and using their bathrooms)and moreYou’ll learn about cannoli rivalries, secret restaurants, art theft, and off-the-beaten path hidden gems.***I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel. Did you know I host another show called Podcasting Step by Step? Check it out if you’ve been wanting to start a podcast. Every week, I break down ‘how to podcast’ with a little loving motivation to give you the skills and confidence you need to finally launch that show of your dreams. Ready to start your podcast right now? Check out Podcast Launch Academy.postcardacademy.coDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

We are back with my friend Vanessa, a sophisticated pre-region living in Boston, and she is spilling the Boston baked beans on the cultural and culinary experiences that you should have in the U.S.'s most historic city. You will learn about canoli rivalries and secret restaurants, art theft, and off-the-bant-path-hidden gems. Let's jump right back into my conversation with Vanessa. Welcome to the Postcard Academy, a show about travel, living abroad, and location independence for people seeking a more meaningful freedom-fueled life. I'm your host, Sarah Mike Citell, an American who first moved abroad on our own at age 18,

and who has been permanently enjoying life in Europe since 2010. I am so glad you're here. My guests and I will share with you how we made our travel living abroad and location independent dreams come true and how you can too, because you will never have this day again. Make it matter. So Vanessa, if I were coming to visit you. Is it you, what are some experiences that we would need to have in Boston that we haven't talked up around already?

Or what are some hidden gems that you would take me to? I think that I would try to figure out which canoli you like better. Is it Mike's Pastry or Moderns? It's moderns. Oh, really? Mine is Mike's. I prefer mics. Oh my gosh.

We are now at war. I know we are at war. But did you know that, do you know the story? Like, Mike's had somebody, so he trained people in pastry maker. and pastry makers and one of his trainee, like, literally open modern. So theoretically, you're liking the same because he comes from the same training and the same thing. But some people say I prefer modern. Some people prefer mics. But literally, I do like, yeah. And for anyone who doesn't know, so Boston has a really great Italian section called the North End. And they've got a lot

of good restaurants. And Paul Revere's houses over there, which you can tour, which you should definitely check out. But you need cash because I didn't. And I think it's only $4. But some lovely man in the queue decided to hand it to me. So yeah, you do need cash. To go to Paul Revere's house. Yes. Okay. Bring cash, everybody. But so north, the north end. So you've got your Italian restaurants, again, like really nice old buildings. And of course, in an Italian section, you're going to have some pastry shops with canoli. And Mike's is the most famous one. and the queue can be really long. I think that's why I first popped into modern.

And then I was like, oh, I actually like this one better. So I think the deal with mics is be an observer. So you walk in, you see the queue, you're looking at the people behind a counter and how they're working. And then you also have cash on you because that's how it works. And then you figure out which person is working on the side that potentially is not. near the queue because the queue at Mike's doesn't like the Q in modern that is a line that you have to go through the Q and Manx is like if a one person doesn't is not helping anybody they'll be like who's next right but it kind of depends where you are because the the places you know is like the

counter is fairly large it's an like it's a L shape but all in all I would say observe and then attack and then you'll be fine okay good strategy for mics because it can be completely completely chaotic. And so it's good to know if you just go in there with the mindset, like, this is an experience. It's going to be a little bit crazy. Yeah. So what I would recommend to anybody, especially if you come and you're from another country, is always observe, like, observe like what the locals are doing or how they're doing it. It's okay for you to be wrong. You know, at the worst, somebody will come up to you and say, there's a real cue. And maybe since I've gone, there is a real cue, you know, but literally walk in or observe, look at the menu, think about

what you're doing. It's okay for you to walk around and to figure it out. You know, there's different type of pastries that you, you know, lobster tails are amazing. You might want to do that. If you think it's too overwhelming for you to fight and you actually want to sit down and eat something because it's possible on mics, but there's not that many tables, I would go to Victoria's cafe, which is not far as well, and you can order the same pastries there. So, and you can sit down and enjoy. But all in all, like, I would say that for mics and modern, most people just go order and then you walk away and then you go and eat it at the Esplanade or in Boston Common. Like, you usually don't stick around in that place because there's not that many tables. Great tip.

So what else should we do in Boston? So I would say to go to the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum. I, it's, some people know the story. Some people don't know about it. But tell us. Tell us the story. Yeah, so Isabella Stewart Garden, she used to live in Back Bay. Her house is still on Beacon, but then decided to buy herself a mansion. And so she, her, I mean, it's gorgeous. Like you walk in and there's a gigantic courtyard, and it changes obviously with the season, and you kind of feel like away from Boston. So all in all, if you are a plant lover, and which kind of want to get a,

get away. I would say that's amazing. But she also, when she died, she had bought all these paintings and she was an art connoisseur and she literally donated her mansion and said that this is a museum and no painting should be moved. So literally the entire museum has not changed like what she has left since she's passed away. Six paintings have been stolen and therefore were not recuperated yet, so we hope that one day we will. But the frames were left behind, therefore the frames are still there. And yes. And these weren't just like paintings that your neighbor did.

This was like Rembrandt Vermeer, Monet. These were significant and very expensive pieces of work. And yeah, they're still looking for them. And there was actually a podcast about this. I haven't listened to it yet. I think it was called Last Scene. I definitely want to check it out. It was a nice podcast.

I did listen to it. Yeah, so it's all in all, I think it's an experience to just walk through, you know, the living room and in places that she lived and the amount that she collected. I mean, it's just in itself, it's a shot in time, you know what I mean? And at the same time, you get to have this wonderful courtyard and sit down and potentially have you inspired that created a new world. wing since. So they're actually additional space. And the museum now does a lot of different events where people come and play music. Same with the Boston Public Library. There's a courtyard in the middle. It kind of reminds me a lot of that. And there's also events like public events of the city puts together how one can go. So it's just kind of fun. It's a little, you would think about going to other

places before going to that one. But all in all, after doing the MFA and other musicians, I would really say that that museum is one of my favorites. I actually haven't been to it, I confess. So maybe when I'm home this summer, hopefully it will be open and I can go back and visit. I do miss Boston. My dad is always on me to like move there. But right now I'm happy in the UK. And I also really like Providence, which is only like an hour away.

So I've like gone a few times, but I was told that I'm missing out. Like a lot of people are saying you should live in Providence by work in Boston. Also, the cost of living in Boston is one of the highest with New York and San Francisco. So in the train is, you know, it's a half an hour. You know, if you take the M-Chack, it's not that far. And I heard the city is wonderful. It is. My sister lived there for a number of years.

And yeah, I loved visiting her there. And in the summertime, they have something called firewater where it's just, They've got fire on the water and just people hanging out and food. And it's just like a fun. It's very, if you have to do a New York comparison, Providence would be Brooklyn to Boston's Manhattan. I like that. Yeah. Maybe I should put that on my list since I'm not traveling to South America this summer. Maybe I should go in to that. Absolutely. Okay. You've given us some great ideas. Before we move on to my lightning round, was there any other activities or experiences? that you want to talk about. Yes, there's two things. I would say that if somebody had to plan a time to go to Boston, I would plan it during

Marathon Monday. Marathon Monday is, I don't know how to explain it. As soon as you land and come, you would understand there's so much energy. We literally shut down for the marathon. It's Patriots Day. Yeah, this is the Boston Marathon you're talking about. It's a holiday. So it's a holiday because it's an only master's holiday that's called Patriots Day.

Nobody else in America celebrates Patriots Day. And we call it Marathon Monday. It is the entire weekend the city comes together. Some businesses do open, but most of them end up closing because on a marathon route or because people run it or because you decide to take your day off and you're like, no, it's Marathon Monday, which is what I used to do if I worked in Canada. Cambridge. So the city literally just comes together. So many runners come. It's so inspiring. It's also less amount of runners. It's about like 34,000 because the streets of Boston are really tiny. And therefore we can't open it up like even Paris. I think right now if they're like 54 or even more than that thousand people. There's no way. So it's hard to get in. You have to qualify. It's the

only one. You have to qualify by running at another marathon under a certain amount of time depending on your gender and your age. So you have to do a qualifying one. Or you have to run for charity. So some charities do have numbers. So Dana Farber is in one of them. Like a lot, you can look at that through the Boston, the BA website. And then volunteering for the marathon is also a really hot ticket But after I think six to seven years of asking, I finally got in last year. And I didn't even work the marathon day. I worked the expo, which is also a lot of fun. Wow, that is quite in demand.

Why do so many people want to take part in this? I think it's like you feel it's really just coming together. There's such an energy. I mean, you know, people, restaurants that open at 7 a.m., you know, You scoop your favorite seat. You want to be there for the runners and cheering them on, you know, wherever you are on the marathon route. People are runners. Boston is a very big runner.

Like there's a very big runner culture. You know, at the end of the day, we have a new balance here. Marathon sports is a very big, well-known running gear. Like it's a store that you, that's on the marathon route. I think that some people know about Boston Marathon because of the Boston Marathon bombing. But all in all, it's always been an event that brought everybody together. It's like my favorite day in Boston. I know it's a lot of people's favorite day.

If you never worked out and never wanted to run, I can assure you that at the end of that weekend, you're like, oh, I'm going to start walking tomorrow. Very inspiring. It's very, very inspiring. People work so hard to be able to get there. I mean, one of my dreams one day is to run it. I ran Paris, but I didn't do it at any close at all to the qualifying thing. And then at the same time, like, you know, the other thing I would say is to go to a game at Fenway Park. And the reason, you can also do it on Marathon Monday, by the way, because the Red Sox always play on Marathon Monday.

So you can actually see the runners arriving at the same time as you're watching the game because they will show it to you on the Jamitron and you'll cheer at the same time. But whatever you love baseball or not, as a person who is from European, I was not a baseball fanatic. I am now. But people do come together. At the end of the day, we will always support the Red Sox, whatever other team. I know some people are going to get mad for like the Patriots or the Celtics or the Bruins, but, you know, we will always wear a Boston Red Sox cap. But on top of it, it's the oldest park. It's so close. Like you can't change it because since 2012, what happened was it went over 100 years old.

So now there's no change to Fenway. They've upgraded as much. And then they won't add any seating. And so when you literally walk up to go, you feel wherever you are that you're on the field. It's so close. It's so much fun. If you are not American, go because literally it takes forever. Fine, I agree.

But the whole fun of the game is making friends with people around and like getting to know them and understanding like why they have season tickets, ordering a hot dog, having peanuts like, you know, thrown at you and you pass the money on and it pays the guy from then and then eating them and putting them on the ground because you can do that and just watching the game. It's really just enjoying it being with other people. I would definitely say, you know, it's it feels, you feel really close. the field, it has a different feeling than all of these other gigantic parks. Yeah, it's like, yeah, transportive. Yes. Another historical experience that you can take part in. Oh, you're giving me such nostalgia.

I wish that I were in Boston now. And it sounds like with all of the, it sounds like the food culture has gotten better in Boston over the years. I mean, it's always had good restaurants. But I've heard that like over the last 10 years, it's gone like next level and competing nationally. Yeah, I mean, we had, if anybody watches top chefs, we had a few top chef people who won from here. But also there was a season here. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of restaurants, you know, that, you know, Barbara Lynch is very famous and has multiple one of them.

But you have like very high class one, but you also have, you know, the street food and the food trucks and all of that stuff, you know, like I understand, you know, people may think of New York or other places, but there is, there's definitely, it's grown a lot and it's a lot of fun. They also have restaurant weeks here. So you can go and enjoy. And also there's a lot when it comes on to the summer to be able to have patios and like going outside and eating outside. And, you know, whatever it's here or Maine, you always want to have a lobster roll and just kind of enjoying all of that. Yeah.

Well, so you work at Emerson College. Yes. What are some other things that you've shown students or have told them about the city? The city. So it depends. Like if it's, so I've done multiple kind of students. So it kind of depends on what they want to learn or what, how old they are. So I've also worked with high schools in France.

My mom used to bring French kids to America for a little bit. So a few years back, I welcome them to show them like what. universities are and what dorms are. That doesn't really exist in France. We're in Europe. So we did, we did that of like understanding. And, you know, MIT is great. I know it's not technically Boston's within Cambridge, but the infinite corridor and walking through the halls of MIT, all that is open to the public. Also, a great way to stop in the bathroom if you want to use it. But it never, it never closes. So if you wish to go through and like go and see the dome or even, which is part of the infinite corridor, if you want,

to go on Mass Ave and walk down. You absolutely can. That's always open. So I would say to check it out. Because MIT itself has a lot of art. So even if you're not a scientific person, but you want to see art on campus, it's absolutely available there. There is a map just for that. And they also have a business center with maps of things that you can learn in facts as well as free tours. So that's always fun to see, right? I think that, as you mentioned, the Freedom Trail is fun. but also the duct tours just because you get to visit the city, but then at the same time end up in the Charles River and potentially even drive a dock tour in the water.

Yes. You have to explain what a duc tour is because I think people will have a hard time understanding. Yes. So, and I could be completely wrong on how I explain it, but they are, so they're, it's going to be, I'm a horrible description too, so bear with me. So they are like vehicles, right? It kind of, it's kind of like a boat on wheels, but it, so it used to. Yeah, that's a good description.

Yeah, right? It's a boat on wheels. So it goes through the city, right? But at the same time, it can go in through the water. And I think it was repurposed. I'm not, I'm not one percent sure if it was used by the army, but it was, it's a repurpose vehicle, right? And so, and now you can have it in so many different languages.

And every duck boat has a personality in the sense of, It's painted differently, but also that drivers have different personalities and different names. So all the time that you would go on it, it's a different experience. When you drive through the city, you also quack because you have duck. So you quack at people and wave to them. That's my one quam with duck tours. I'm not that into the quacking part. The quacking pack.

They quack. And then the duck tours, as soon as they go back, so it's kind of the same thing as the public garden, as soon as you see the ducks and the swan and you see the duct tour, you're like, oh, this is coming. It's spring. So usually the duck tour comes back around early April and they go until around October, I believe, unless it's a little longer because of the weather. But you know as soon as you start seeing the duck tours out and the tourists, you're like, oh, it's that time of the year. You know, we have passed winter. Yes.

Yeah, so then you end up the tour in the Charles. And so you can take it multiple ways. There's one next to the Science Museum, but it's also one next to Copley, which is an indoor mall, the Copley place. So like there's different locations in Boston that you can go and take one depending on where you're located. This episode is sponsored by me or rather by my online course, podcast launch academy. me. You are a podcast lover and thank you so much for being here. But I was wondering, have you ever thought about creating a podcast yourself? Well, visit sarahigatel.com to learn how we can work together and to take the podcast personality quiz. All right, Vanessa, do you have time for a little

lightning round of your favorite Boston places? Yes, sure. What is your favorite bakery? Clearflower and I think it's in Brookline or maybe, yeah, clear flower bakery. because it's the best bread. I do love fresh bread. Okay. What is your favorite coffee shop? A blue bottle. I think that I'm just that person.

And I understand that it's not from Boston originally. I apologize to people. Okay. So I have lived in the UK or over here in Europe for about 10 years now. And I don't think we have blue bottle. And I've heard it's like a fancy pants coffee shop, but I don't really know the story of it. It's fancy, fancy. It's drip coffee that you can see yourself being made.

It's great. The thing is, you know, There's American coffee, which we have a lot of. If you're going to go, I mean, I will never be the person that says no to Duncan Donuts. I love Dunkin' Donuts. But if you are going for like, I want a coffee with a certain taste to it or, you know, I want some, like, you would go to a blue bottle. El Casual are in a leg. But you don't have that, I mean, for a coffee.

But you don't have as, it's not as fancy as you being able to live in Europe and just going down to anybody and they know how to make an expresso. That's what I would say. Yeah. And you mentioned Duncan. Donuts. Well, it used to be Duncan Donuts. They rebranded to Duncan, which I think is kind of silly. That probably cost them like $50 million to do that change. And yes, famous in New England, kind of watery down coffee, but it can give you that caffeine kick when you need it. Yes, exactly. What's your favorite restaurant? I would have to say Yvans. It's in Boston. It's like the reason I said this is because if you want fancy food, there's fancy food and it's great. If you're really going to a restaurant to take pictures and. Instagram worthy. It also works. It's literally next to, it's not far away from the Boston Common.

And it's right next to, it's in downtown crossing. It's a hideaway place. When you walk in, it is really just the hostess. And then you're like, oh, I have reservation. And they open a door within the wall. And then you go back. And then there's two different bars and chandelier. And like this is, and you see like pictures of JFK. So if you want to go like super fancy, I would say this. If you want to go super old, I would say the Union Oyster House, which is the oldest restaurant in Boston. And it feels kind of a family. Like everybody just knows you. And that's down in the Faniel Hall area.

Yes, yes. The fancy one, you said that's called Yvans. Yes. Do you have a favorite food hall or food market? Yeah, I think that here would be like the Boston market. It's also, so it's in between. So when you go to Fanio Hall, if you walk towards the left, I would say, great for directions, this Boston market.

And it's really between that and the north end. And like it's just kind of a marketplace where you walk in and everybody has different stands and you can taste different things. And some people have other locations with shops. But here it's just kind of like one shop stop. You know, you can just kind of go everywhere and taste whatever their donuts or crepe. So like, you know, real food. It's a lot of fun.

can just go and do taste testing. So I would recommend that. Is this the same thing as Quincy Market? No. So it's next door, but it's not the same. So Quincy Market, I would say, is really expensive for food. There is a food hall there, which is next to Fanio Hall. But the Boston Market is an indoor market that opened a few years ago, not far away from the RMV. Like, they actually share the building. And there's like one door separating both. of them. But it's just opened a few years ago and it's really fun. So it's like a lot of people would probably open there and then I'll like, oh, maybe I should do a food truck or maybe I'll spend money and like get a storefront. And other places, it's just like they already have that and they're able to be part of this. But you end up having a lot of local foods and local producers. This is amazing. Thank you for that recommendation because I, like when I go back to Boston, And I've got like things in my mind from like 10, 15 years ago.

And so now I'm like, oh, I can go here instead of like the places that I've always gone like my whole life. And like when I was a student at Emerson, I used to like to go to this Irish pub called The Littlest. And it was full of all Irish people and then me and my roommate. Unfortunately, it's closed down. But it was my favorite. So if I go back to Boston, what are your favorite? bars and pups or where do you like to hang out at night? So, well, I'm lame.

I don't hang out on night anymore. I'm too old for that. I knit. What can I say? But there's a lot of different things that one can go. Like there's, you know, I'm not, I don't know much about the Southie bar scene, but they're fun. But also, like, I would also, you know, go in, if you go to Nefanyo Hall, there's a lot of

different bars. And there's also the oldest bar in Boston. So, you know, you can do that, which is always fun. And you can also, a lot of people like to go bar hopping. If you are into sports, there's a bunch of bars and a bunch of nightlife next to the TD Garden, which is where the bruns are playing, as well as the Celtics. So there's a lot of, you know, before the game or after the game. So I would also recommend that.

And in the summer, the seaport is, you know, because like you end up having so much possibility of being outside on the patio. So there's also different style. If you're very fancy, you can go at the legal seafood. They opened and there's three different floors. And, you know, the last floor is very hip. And I think they have like a DJ on Saturday nights. And then the first one is like a restaurant.

And then the second one is a sushi place. And so like you can pretty much pick and choose, which I think is really fun. The one thing is we are a Puritan city. So we do close at 2 a.m. That's fine by me. I'm living in England where things close at 11th party. And for me, that's like, perfect. Any later, I will turn into a pumpkin.

You mentioned the oldest bar in Boston. What was that name? The bell in hand. That's in Quincy Market. Do you have a favorite shopping area in Boston? I don't shop that much, but I would say, like, if somebody wanted to come and was like, oh, I just want to, you know, scroll and watch. You have Newberry Street that it's outside, so it's kind of like I own Fifth Avenue.

Indoors, there is the prudential center as well as couple. and both of them actually linked with that indoor bridge. So you can walk into one side and then still end up going into the other. There's a big debate on which one you like. Copley is usually fancier when it comes down to brand names and, you know, you have Michael Cores and Louis Vuitton in there. And then the Prudential Center will have, you know, Pelotan or, you know, Bath and Body Works and all of other kind of like your American mall.

And I think there's still a food court in it. I don't know. Last time I went, there were a, oh, no, it's not the food court anymore. Now there's Italy. That's what it is. So there's now like a whole new thing. We're about kind of a little Italy food section now. Italy?

Yeah, Eitelli is in there. What I used to love is I used to live right near Emerson. So in the heart of Boston, near the common. And I used to love to walk down through the common, through the gardens. Then I would get to Newbury Street. and I would walk all the way down Newbury Street. So that's like the stolen buildings with all the boutiques. You walk all the way down there.

And then I would come back down Boylston Street. And that's more the main street like chain stores. So I love Newberry Street because it's more unique. And then when I lived in Beacon Hill, I also used to love to stroll down Charles Street, which was even quieter and some unique shops there. Yes. And then do you want a fun fact?

Yes. The public garden to Mass Ave. So like you think about you walking down Newberry Street, right? Every single street that intersects is an alpha order. An alpha order? Yeah. So you have the public garden, right? And then you just continue walking down.

So your first street that you're walking down from New Bear Street is Arlington. Then the second one is Berkeley. Then the third one is Clarenton. I never noticed that. Yes. Right? So I know. It was once, I only say this like I realized it in college, I went to Trivia Night and they said to name all the streets in order.

And we were like, oh, my God, we went really good until Exeter. And then I was like, wait, what is what is afterwards? So yeah, so you literally from A to M. So throughout, you just know where you are in Newberry Street because as soon as you hit Mass Ave, then you're like, oh, okay, this is the end. So it's from A to M. That's very clever. I very much like that. Oh, and I used to go to Phylene's basement sometimes with my, you know, girlfriends when I was in school.

Yeah. Is that closed? Yes. So that is closed. That was such an institution. It is. But so now things have changed. Finley's basement is now a grocery store, which is called Roche Brothers, which I do not live in that area.

But I would like to say that it's kind of nice to have a grocery store in that area. So it's like, yes. So it's a gross. series store and then harder building also change. So now you have a prime mark as well as an old Navy. And then the building itself higher up

is now very luxury condos, like the condominiums. And I think they all rent. Oh, I don't know if they're all rentals because the top the top one, the penthouse was sold for an outrageous amount of money. And it probably should. It's probably sitting empty. If it's anything like London.

Yeah, I don't know. You mentioned some really great museums already. But is there anything else you wanted to mention about culture, what you like to do culturally in Boston? I'm going to repeat the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum. Also, you can take a tour of Fenway Park, which is, I guess, it's on museum as well, you know. Those are fun. I think it's $12. You just walk around and you can get to see the green monster. You will not go on the grass, FYI. But you can kind of like see things. It's a lot, it's a lot of fun. You get an inside tour of things, especially if you don't know anything about baseball.

So I would say that. And then really, like, you know, there's a lot of different tours. It all kind of depends on what you're interested in. But, you know, the MFA is still a great museum. I just happened to have lived in Europe and have been raised with, you know, the Orsay Museum and Rodin, the Louvre. So, like, I am totally snobby. But all in all, it's great. And if there's also other museum that's not in Boston, the Peabody Exeter Museum and Selham is amazing.

I'm a big fan of that one. Yes. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. And I can't wait to meet you in person when I am back in the States. Absolutely. I think that it would be so great. And it's so great to also show you around. I knew Emerson College because the campus has grown and shifted and it would be really nice for you to come back to your alma mater. All right. Well, thank you. See you soon. Thanks. Bye. Okay. I have to know, if you've visited Boston or lived in Boston, which team are you? you on Modern Pastry or Mikes. Find me on Instagram and let me know I'm at Sarah Micahetel. That's all for now. Thanks so much for listening and have a beautiful week wherever you are. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity,

whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.