Newbury Street on a bright, sunny day

There are some places that define a city- a landmark, location, a streeet, a building- something that exemplifies what the city offers. Boston has many landmarks- Harvard, MIT, Beacon Hill, Bunker Hill. Boston Tea Party Monument amongst others- all that speak to the academic and historical significance of this city- but for me, the street that really brings Boston to life is Newbury Street. Especially on a bright, sunny day.

For the uninitiated, Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, running roughly east-to-west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. It is lined with historic 19th-century brownstones that contain hundreds of shops and restaurants with stores generally at the basement and street level and residential apartments above giving it a quaint, sophisticated and absolutely unique feel.

Having driven through Newbury several times, my wife and I decided that we needed to explore it, and this Saturday offered us the perfect opportunity- a temperature of 60, a clear sky and a slight wind. Of course, all of Boston seemed to have the same idea as us- and we had a great time. Lunch in Kashmir was delicious but the walk around the street was what made our day. It was lively, plenty of people- some of them window shopping, some having lunch outside, some sipping wine, some walking their dog and others just soaking in the atmosphere. Even our seven month old son seemed to enjoy the atmosphere- he seemed to talk a lot to himself in his pram, and looked around the street admiring the incredible mix of people, cultures, residential complexes with commercial ones and just vibrancy of the place seemed to invigorate him.

As we got back to our car, both Rica and I knew why Newbury defined Boston in a lot of ways- multi-cultural, classy, stimulating, and above all, incredibly vibrant. If only, finding parking was easier...