Cheers To A Fabulous Trip To Boston!

       Cheers!  Our first vacation of the year was a delightful toast to the unforgettable year ahead.  Mark and I had so much fun and we were only in Boston a total of about 24 hours. 

       Mark and I arrived on time for his cousin's birthday party at a restaurant called The Red Fez http://www.theredfez.com/.  While staying at Mark's cousin's brownstone apartment in Back Bay we had the opportunity to live like the locals.  We woke up in the morning and ran to Sadhana Yoga Studio http://sadhanastudios.com/, which was only around the corner.  At lunchtime, we headed over to Boston's North End.  Mark and I savored one of the best pizza's I have ever had at a restaurant called Antico Forno, Cucina A Legna, http://www.anticofornoboston.com/ .  We shared Involtini Di Melanzane; rolled eggplant stuffed with ricotta cheese and basil, baked in brick oven with plum tomato sauce and parmigiano cheese, woof!  Next, a walk past the Boston Sailing Center on to Quincy Market where it was warm.  We missed the sailboat races due to the frigid temperatures, I have never been so cold.  From there we were able to go to the real Cheers, http://www.cheersboston.com/pub.  Here again because it was so cold we missed out on Samantha Brown's suggestion of the bar called Eastern Standard.  We became complacent and did not want to leave the warm Cheers bar to fight the wind.  From Cheers we headed to dinner with the family at a wonderful restaurant called Davio's, http://davios.com/. 

     Samantha Brown's suggestions guided us in the all the right directions.  I learned a lot about the city of Boston from the places she suggested.  I found there were none of the pains of planning a vacation,  it was more pleasurable having ideas and locations already planned out for us.  For instance the idea of taking a Yoga class while in Boston would be something I would never have thought of.  It gave us the feeling of living like a local instead of just tourists.  Sadhana Yoga was such a great class that it was the first time I have ever enjoyed Yoga.  Even though we didn't get to the frostbite races we did get to see the harbor because of Samantha Brown's great suggestion. 
      My top five favorite things about Boston are: ( 1 being the best)
                   5:  Living like a local.  Having the opportunity to stay with a cousin in a great neighborhood  made the trip that much more enchanting.
                   4: Pizza at Antico Forno in the North End.  Delicious!
                   3: The city is absolutely beautiful!
                   2: Samantha Brown's suggestion of the Yoga class at Sadhana Studios.  It was fabulous!
                   1: Just being able to experience Boston with family and friends.  We were lucky to have family there with us for our first trip of the year.