Food, Travel & Photography

Sweet Treats and Stirring Thoughts of Romance on a Chilly New Year’s Day in Boston

Discovering Boston Common and the Jewish delight of chocolate babka

Confounding — but in the most congenial way possible — and here I thought such things were long dead and buried in me. Can’t remember having a truly romantic notion pop into my head in… like… years. At this point, my heart felt like a diamond mine that had long been boarded up and encapsulated in old weeds and assorted debris. No trespassing allowed! Violators will be shot dead on sight!

So, where did these other completely incongruous thoughts come from all of a sudden? And why?

It all started innocently enough. As any self-respecting first-time visitor to the majestic city of Boston must do, taking a turn around Boston Common seemed like a fitting staple. Silly noob I am, I headed to the infamous green space thinking it would be a lot like Central Park in Manhattan.

I know, I know. Both New Yorkers and Bostonians alike will probably want to hurl their slices of supreme pie and lobster rolls at me right now because it’s really not a fair comparison. Central Park, in all its glory, sits at a total of 840 acres and is 2.5 miles in length, and includes a multitude of meandering picturesque pathways, lakes, a zoo, a theater, a castle, always a sh*t ton of bicyclists, and my absolute favorite spot of all, Strawberry Fields.

Conversely, Boston Common sits at 50 acres total — 75 if you throw in the adjacent Public Garden — but this isn’t to say Boston Common still doesn’t have plenty to offer. Founded in 1634, Boston Common boasts itself as the oldest public park in the United States and much fascinating and pivotal points of history have taken place here — beginning with and including the colonization and the abhorrent extraction of native people, the ghastly stank of Puritanism and infamous witch trials, grazing cows (yeah, more bullsh*t), town executions in the form of hangings, riots, the first stirrings of the Revolutionary War, the loathsome segregation of blacks and Indians (once again!) from the area, the allowance of the Public Garden to be used as a dumping ground, Vietnam War protests, and an infamous visit by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

Whew. What a history, and all mind-boggling to think about as you feel your feet hit the pavement while walking Boston Common. Indeed the place seems full of old ghosts everywhere a person turns.

Oddly enough, I know for sure I took several snapshots of tombstones in the Central Burying Ground located in Boston Common not far from Boylston Station, but when I got home none of those photos where anywhere to be found. They just seemed to have completely disappeared. Spooky!

And by the way, grazing cows have long been infamously banned from the park. How rude.

Oh, but hold on now just for a minute, if one adds in the sprawling network of Boston public parks known as Emerald Necklace, of which Boston Common is just one feature, then the total size jumps to 1,100 acres and numerous points of interest get added to the mix. A truly cool fact but let’s just go ahead and stick with Boston Common here.

After walking up the steps of historic Boylston Station, which along with Park Street Station makes up the oldest subway system in the country, I first encountered a small army of pigeons.

This may sound a bit kooky to some, but I do believe such wonderous wildlife is a great sign of things to come. I sent out a silent wish and prayer to the universe and stars above that I would be able to derive wisdom, strength, and blessings via these tiny humble creatures.

Even on January 1st, I found the park to be quite sunny and beautiful and not a stitch of snow was to be found anywhere.

I wandered around and saw various interesting things, like the Parkman Bandstand, built in 1912, where thousands gathered in 2007 to hear a future President Barack Obama deliver an infamously rousing campaign speech.

I walked past the frog pond, which at this time of year has been transformed into an ice-skating rink for the public to enjoy. No surprise, the first day of the year it was quite busy.

And I encountered The Embrace, which is a rather odd sculpture with an albeit quite wonderful message to convey — it was sculpted in 2022 and dedicated to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, who first met in Boston in 1952. Have to say though, I saw plenty of people making fun of this sculpture online, and understandably there is much controversy surrounding the whopping $10 million price tag. Wow!

Just think of all the scholarship funds that could have been created or the low-income housing that could have been constructed with that money!

And, of course, there were plenty of statues and monuments situated across Boston Common and the Public Garden in replica of important people and events in Boston history, including wars and early inhabitants to the area.

The park boasts many beautiful fountains, although given the time of year they remained starkly empty, and most of the Public Garden area was going through a winter renovation so there really wasn’t too much to see there.

This was the closest I could get to the infamous statue of George Washington.

But I did get to take a photo of Cheers, the location, of course, of the infamous 80s TV show, which is still open to the public and is situated at the north end of the Public Garden and features, interestingly enough, a kid’s menu.

By the time I got done with all this traipsing around and discovery, this tropics-loving gal was chilled to the bone, even though I was wearing a fairly thick coat with my hood up and around my head at this point. The tissues in my coat pocket were getting their full use what with my steadily dripping nose — plus my iPhone was teeming with too many photos and the charge was near dead.

I was looking for some salvation and saw a Dunkin’ Donuts and a McDonald’s nearby, and then and there I said a silent prayer: Dear Lord, please deliver me from this hell and please don’t let it be too expensive! Thanks!

Sorry to all you Boston Dunkin’ lovers, but between NYC and Florida I’ve really had my fill of it already.

Since Him and me are rather close these days, my prayer was quickly answered in the form of an unassuming bakery called Bakey. Not a terribly inventive name or sign, but it looked warm and cozy inside. I could see lots of yummy baked things on display, coffee brewing, and plenty of otherwise happily contented folks milling about and I knew this was my kind of place.

Luckily, even though this was New Year’s Day, I easily found an empty seat and sandwiched myself in between two college students, of which Boston is notoriously full of, and found a plug in for my phone. After thawing out a bit and catching my breath I headed for the bakery counter to check things out and this is when I heard a friendly and surprisingly soothing voice behind me.

“Got any chocolate babka coming out of the oven?”

I looked upward to see a tall handsome stranger holding the hand of his little daughter — a girl with cute tufts of brown hair falling all around her sweetly masked face, like a slightly older version of Curly Sue. And yes, plenty of people here in Boston still wear masks.

“About five minutes,” said the girl behind the counter as she headed off in another direction.

“Great, we’ll wait,” said the handsome stranger.

I’d seen the babka advertised on the menu, and even though I had no idea what that was, I was intrigued. So, I opted to ask this handsome stranger all about it, and he proceeded to patiently explain to me how the babka was fashioned from a form of challah bread. The way he described it, all warm, soft, braided, and comforting, it just sounded like a small chunk of heaven.

“But the chocolate is the best?”

I asked this as I gave the counter a perusal and saw several other different varieties of pastries already on display. One thing I’ve learned well from my travels is to go with what the locals recommend. They don’t tend to steer a person wrong.

“Oh yes, that’s what they’re known for here,” he said with conviction. “But then we are big chocolate lovers as well.”

He proceeded to open up the contents of a shopping bag and show me a selection of chocolate treats he and his daughter picked up from somewhere I don’t recall now. The details weren’t all that important as I became preoccupied with his large strong hands and for some reason I began to check for a wedding ring.

Huuuhhh! Where was this coming from? I thought curiously.

We chatted easily for several more minutes as I tried not to seem overly smitten with this handsome stranger. I mean, who wants to come off seeming like such a weirdo. But transfixed I was. We continued to chat and before long a hurried, flour-dusted man came along with a tray of delicious-looking chocolate babka and set it down. It looked ready.

The man got his babka and paid, and as he and his little daughter walked toward the door I smiled and said, “enjoy”. He offered me a glowing smile and said, “thanks, you as well.”

And he left as quickly as he’d appeared.

I proceeded to secure my own chocolate babka on a small plate, paid, and went back to babysitting my charging phone. As the perfection of the chocolate baked goodness hit my tongue, I marveled at the odd sensation of what had just transpired, and the strange tingle of warmth traveling up and down my body.

Turns out, I wasn’t romantically dead after all — merely I’d been caught up in a bad romance for far too long.

Need yet another reason to love chocolate babka, check out this hilarious clip from an episode of Seinfeld, which I discovered while doing just a tad bit of essential babka research.