JetSetWay

Boston restaurants

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:59:40 +0000

Here is a list of tried and true restaurants that I have eaten at recently, and people I have been with recently have frequented regularly.

None of these restaurants are snooty. None are particularly cheap, except Ankar and Panera.

All are casual, fun with great food and service. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. It is just places we have been to and like.

Ankara Café - This is a hole in the wall with no ambiance. The BU kids love it for great sandwiches and rollups. They are known for the best frozen yogurt (aka froyo) in Boston.

Atlantic Fish Company - Our family’s favorite fish place in town. That always means seafood here as well. Great sweet potato French fries and chocolate peanut butter pie.

Bricco - North Side. Do not miss a trip to the Irish part of town with its restaurant row.

Hamersley’s Bistro - This is another casual restaurant with great location, food, service, and fun.

Olives - Todd English’s flagship restaurant. Try the lamb sandwich. Forget that they mistakenly use the name sandwich.

Panera - This is the place for health, clean, great lunch focusing on their baked goods in over 1200 locations in most states.

Stephanie’s on Newbury – Another one of those downtown Boston restaurants with great seafood and salads, but known for their gigantic hamburger if that is your deal.

Boston

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:31:01 +0000

Our job the last couple days has been to get Jessica, Allyn’s daughter, a senior at Boston U School of Management, settled into her new apartment.

We weren’t the only ones with that task. Stores like Bed Bath and Beyond and Target are jammed with college kids and their parents buying big bulky things.

Nobody was very interested when I started waxing on about how, in my day, if you were old enough to go away to school, you didn’t need your Mom buying toilet paper for you. Oh well.

I’ve always enjoyed visiting Boston. There is so much intellect here, and this is generally such a beautiful peaceful place.

Of course in between seasons is when it is at its peak.

Silversea Cruises

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:52:51 +0000

Syracuse Day 2

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:09:42 +0000

For blogging there have been more exciting days.

We bought supplies and put them away. Not every day is the Fourth of July.

My find of the days is a brand I would like to share with those few of you who may also have been unaware. It is Uggs.

Uggs is an Australian brand of warm boots that are extremely comfortable.

They have become the rage in the states.

Lately they have expanded out of just boots to a moccasin type shoe, which feels just like a slipper even though it has an outdoor sole. I can’t wait to get a pair.

Here they are being modeled by the lovely Jessica Horan. She went shopping today for her brother and came home with a new pair of shoes.

Syracuse

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:18:32 +0000

The Syracuse Sheraton is our home for the next couple of days. It’ s not exactly 5 star. You can tell because of things like disposable cups in the bathroom and no doorman.

On the other hand, the people are extremely friendly and the service has been extraordinary. The front desk people are happy and answer all questions (they don’t have concierges in these type hotels) with a smile, accurately, and immediately print out map quest maps.

We are right across the street from Syracuse University, which is why we are here. Allyn’s son Julian is starting Syracuse Law School and we are helping him settle in. The hotel is jammed. It seems that others have the same idea.

Here we are at the initial orientation and Julian already is regaling a group of girls with his stories.

I don’t know much about their law school, but must admit I was quite impressed when I heard that well over 90% of last year’s graduates already have jobs. That seems good in this economy. I liked that I heard they feel it is part of their total job of training young people to be professionals.

Julian is 22. He was born and raised and college educated in Southern California. He is in for a MAJOR weather change. And they say that my hometown, Seatte, has bad weather. Let me give you some annual comparisons:

Precipitation days: Syracuse - 171; Seattle - 151
Days below freezing: Syracuse - 136; Seattle - 19
Snow (inches): Syracuse - 115; Seattle - 7
Clear days: Syracuse - 11; Seattle - 71

Dinner was at the Dinosaur BBQ. The line to wait was an hour but worth it. Some people think this is the best BBQ in the country. It is at least the best in Syracuse.

In Transit

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:20:28 +0000

Today was and in-transit day, from London back to the States, after being abroad for five weeks.

Fortunately we have some frequent flier miles. We tend to use them on international flights. Today we used them to fly on British Air First Class from London to Boston.

JetSetWay Tip – Allow at least a half hour at the airport to wait in line in order to claim you VAT refund. Generally you get it at the airport, when you fly home from Europe.

As I have said previously, I feel that the difference from Business Class to First Class is not nearly as big as the difference from Business Class to Coach.

One nice treat was that we had a free 15 minute chair massage prior to leaving. That’s worth about $20 probably.

Tonight we ended up in Syracuse, NY. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.

London; England

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:10:25 +0000

We spent our last Europe day of this trip in London. We have been here many times and it is always fun.

Generally we stay in large well known hotels. This time we decided to stay at one of the small boutique hotels, specifically The Milestone in Kensington.

I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Maybe that is why it is rated the best hotel in the UK by Conde Naste Traveler. Never have I had service like here.

For our one evening in town, we had dinner in the hotel and went to the theater to see Elton John’s "Billy Elliot." It was terrific also.

Palma, Mallorca, Balearic Islands; Spain

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:31:36 +0000

You can’t top this. I am on an island in Spain, looking for a magazine to read at the beach (and glancing through a Spanish magazine), I saw a picture of my son Happy. Now that is cool.

We had such a good time just mellowing out at the beach yesterday that we decided to do the same thing today.

We were in Palma, which is the main city of Mallorca, the largest island in the Balearic Islands.

Having been here on several cruises we know the beach is the best option.

Mahon, Minorca, Balearic Islands; Spain

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:17:21 +0000

We woke up this morning docked pier side, right in the heart of Mahon. We enjoyed breakfast on our deck looking out at the peaceful steps to town.

We had contemplated spending the day at the beach because we really haven’t done much of that. The decision was finalized when we learned that they have nice sand, and I was able to buy a couple U.S. newspapers to read.

Tonight we had a barbeque and entertainment on the pool deck. The weather was great. The food and entertainment were not.

Minorca is the second largest island in the Balearic Islands. However it is not nearly as well known or visited as Mallorca or Ibiza.

Sete, France

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:04:28 +0000

Today’s stop was Sete, France. It is one of those tourist ports where people do one of three things – they leave town for sightseeing, they leave town for the beaches, or they stroll around town and eat at one of the many local restaurants.

We opted for the later. There was a lot to choose from, as long as it revolved around fresh local seafood. We shared a platter.