Another place I could easily call livable is Boston, Massachusetts. Right from the moment I touched down it just felt right. I'm not sure why or how exactly but it felt good to be there instantly. It's a big city but it's not too big. It's a busy city but not to the point where you get frustrated at people constantly zipping around you like in New York and the place is so incredibly clean and beautiful, at least in most of the parts I saw. Lots of people are nice, I even had one come up to me and politely ask me if I needed to know where something was as I looked at my map of the city, and almost above all else it appeared to me to be safe as houses. But just watch for the guy in a red truck who offers his services outside of the TD Garden after sporting events as a taxi. The taxi drivers know who he is and hate him for taking their revenue. He also looked kinda creepy when he offered me a ride.

Boston is home to one of the most famous and traditional sporting venues in world in Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox major league baseball team. It fits like a glove in to a city so rich of history and like a lot of the downtown area's brown stone buildings it is so impressively preserved. You can see the famous Big Green Monster wall of the stadium from down the street and although I had no time to go in for a tour of the place, just seeing it from the outside was an eye opener.

The Boston accent is real. That whole old school gangster, Irish sounding voice you hear Bostonians talk like in the movies is not just a beat up. I discovered this when a girl walking the streets gave me, what I hope, was a compliment on my khaki pants I brought at Woodbury Common. Bostonians pronounce them 'Car keys'. I had to try not to chuckle. Other words they say differently, even from Connecticut natives who live less than a couple of hours away are 'park' and the word 'Boston' itself. I don't think I'll ever fully understand accents and how people can sound so different having grown up practically across the river from each other. I've heard so many variations of the American accent here already, it's quite mind boggling.

The Cheers bar is still there, overlooking the Boston Common Park and public gardens. It still looks exactly like it did on the TV show from the outside but unfortunately Sam wasn't behind the bar on the inside.

The gardens are really nice and I was quick to take my camera out there as soon as I touched down in my hotel but they look a lot better at night time, at least during this holiday season. Similarly so with the park life around the river which many joggers take to even during this chilly time of year. In fact there are so many areas of the city that are so well lit at night in Boston and it provides a warm and comforting atmosphere amid icy cold, north east, winter breezes. Unfortunately there was no snow again but I certainly can't complain.

My second NBA team, the Boston Celtics, won their home game that I attended at the TD Garden on this night. As it turned out I saw a bit of history as it was the last night the team's last remaining 2008 championship player was in a Celtic uniform before he was traded. Rajan Rondo had a great night on the assists, boards and scoring to lead his team to victory for the last time, unbeknown to me or anybody else in the arena. I'm sure if we knew the stadium would have been full instead of only three quarters and he would have got a sendoff fitting of a team champion.

I was debating whether or not to make the trip to Boston twenty four hours earlier than when I actually did but I'm sure glad I went through with it. It was only a small taste of New England, including seeing some stunning lake and ocean side residential spaces throughout Connecticut, but without a doubt this is a place I will be planning to spend more time in the future, a lot more.