As home to Harvard, MIT and Emerson, Boston may be known for its elite universities. But besides its famed educational establishments, the capital of Massachusetts offers what seems like a near-perfect blend of America.
It's also famed for its premium medical services, and boasts some of the best hospitals in the US, according to digital healthcare company Medbelle. It has the country’s oldest baseball stadium, Fenway Park, and was the first city in the country to introduce a subway system. Its public library displays the personal book collection of founding father and second president John Adams. It hosts one of the world's most famous marathons. It claims the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the country and is also responsible for giving the world Dunkin' Donuts.
In many ways, the city draws parallels with New York City. It has a bustling Broadway theatre district, a thriving financial hub of skyscrapers and a large public park. Indeed, Boston seems to have many of the Big Apple's best elements, distilled into a smaller, less manic and easier-to-navigate space.
This is a place where history runs deep. More than any other city, Boston played a critical role in the shaping of the United States. It was a focal point of the earliest American revolts. Almost everyone knows the story of the Boston Tea Party – when chests of tea were dumped into the harbour to protest continuously rising taxes from the British. The city's historical significance is woven into modern-day Boston via the Freedom Trail – a 4km redbrick walk that takes in many of the country’s most important sites. It is a good starting place for my discovery of Beantown.
Cutting through the city's pretty Public Garden, located just a block from the Hilton Boston Park Plaza where I’m staying, I join a buzz of Bostonians pushing prams, jogging and walking dogs. The pond-filled park dates back to the 1800s and leads me to another. Boston Common is the oldest park in the US, dating to 1634, and has witnessed nearly 400 years of American history, including a civil rights rally by Martin Luther King Jr and a public Mass by Pope John Paul II.
Fittingly for my visit as a travel writer, The Common, as it is known, also played its part in spurring the travel industry by hosting 20th-century aviator Charles Lindbergh when he promoted commercial aviation to the masses. Walking across the park towards the start of the Freedom Trail, I stop to admire The Embrace, a recently unveiled sculpture of two intertwined arms that depicts the love story of King Jr and his wife Coretta Scott King. The couple met in the city in 1952.
Following the redbrick road
Following the red bricks laid into the city's pavements, I set off on the trail that takes in sights including the golden-tinged Massachusetts State House; the Boston Massacre site, where a brawl began between American colonists and a lone British soldier; and Faneuil Hall, a marketplace and meeting hall that has been a stage for debate for more than 270 years. At Granary Burying Ground, which dates to 1660, I wander past ancient gravestones from the American Revolutionary War era: patriots including Paul Revere and the three signatories of The Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine.
Some sites on the Freedom Trail cross over with stops on the more recently established Black Heritage Trail, a 1.6km self-guided tour of Beacon Hill that tells the story of its black community and how, despite oppression, it was instrumental in changing the course of American history in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's a worthy diversion, trawling through dark moments of history and areas that are now some of Boston's prettiest neighbourhoods.
Having built up an appetite, I am excited to reach the next stop – the Union Oyster House. The oldest known continuously operating restaurant in the US first welcomed diners in 1826 and is set in a series of pre-revolution buildings. It serves classic New England food such as scrod, broiled sea scallops, lobster and oysters. Stepping through its doors feels like stepping into history. The restaurant was a favourite of former US president John F Kennedy, who has a booth named after him.
Joseph Milano, owner of the Union Oyster House for more than 50 years, explains: “He would come in on Sundays and he enjoyed the quiet. He would spread out his newspapers and his favourite dish was lobster stew … but it was the solitude that was important to a busy person like him. This would have been when he was Treasurer of Massachusetts, just before he ran for president.
“We dedicated the booth to him in 1977 and had the entire Kennedy clan – Caroline, Ted, everyone – here. It was a wonderful time. The Kennedy family that are still around come in from time to time.”
Sitting in the same booth, I enjoy Milano's tales about the establishment’s past. Before becoming a restaurant, it served as a printing press, a fancy dress shop and even the headquarters for Ebenezer Hancock, the first paymaster of the Continental Army. It was also once a hideout for a man who would later become King Louis Philippe of France.
Although Boston is deeply rooted in America’s history, it is not a place that clings solely to its past. Milano speaks about some of the city's more modern heroes, like actors Mark Wahlberg, who he calls “a sweetie”, and Oscar-winner Matt Damon.
The stars fit Boston's modern identity. It is a city of renewal, one flooded every year by a fresh set of students. It’s a place where change happens – something that’s obvious as I head to the Back Bay to visit to Boston Public Library, passing restoration works under way at Copley Square. The arts-orientated space is being transformed into a greener, more accessible part of the city with new fountains and public artworks in front of the soaring 19th-century Episcopal Trinity Church.
A novel, albeit touristy, way to appreciate this old and new parallel is by clambering aboard the city’s famous Duck Tours. The colourful fleet of replica Second World War amphibious vehicles are named by local schoolchildren, and I clamber aboard a bright turquoise vessel called Daisy. It is piloted by a colourful tour guide who entertains our group with more tales of past and present. Stories include how Boston went from having the dirtiest river in the country to one of the cleanest and the demolition of the West End neighbourhood, displacing hundreds of immigrant families, to make way for brutalist government buildings. It is a fascinating spin through history.
Half an hour into the ride, the duck boats head into Boston Harbour and chugs along as we listen to more stories. We cruise by TD Garden, home to two of the city's major sporting teams – the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. The third major team are the Boston Red Sox, who play at the country’s oldest baseball stadium where I later get the chance to climb on top of the famous 11-metre high Green Monster leftfield wall.
A city of wonder
One of Boston's newest attractions is the WNDR Museum, an interactive and immersive experience that aims to make visitors part of the art. Touching the exhibits is encouraged, so I happily stomp on reactive light floors, hunt out sound clips in a room filled with hanging wires, add neon stickers to a whitewashed wall and allow a staff member to photograph my eye to embed on a wall filled with digital irises.
“WNDR is pretty cool,” says chief experience officer Brian Haines. “What we do here is hopefully tap into your sense of wonder, something that all of us have as children and sometimes we lose as we grow up. At WNDR we want to reawaken that for you, and let you find it for yourself again.”
Feeling inspired, I leave WNDR and make my way to Contessa, a swanky wrap-around rooftop restaurant inside the Newbury Hotel. Reservations are essential at this nostalgic-dipped eatery which serves delicious Italian-American fare as good as anything found in the North End neighbourhood. It is Boston's Little Italy. The pumpkin carpaccio is a must-try, as is the spicy lobster capellini. Both are served with sunset views over the Public Garden.
From here, there are only a few blocks to Chinatown, visible via its lion-flanked gateway, and Boston’s Washington Street Theatre District, a centre of entertainment for more than two centuries. Seven theatres serve up an ever-changing schedule of Broadway hits, ballets, operas and comedy.
I have a ticket to see Company at the Citizen Opera House, a venue that is another story of renewal. Dating back to 1928, the theatre was originally a movie palace, then an opera house before it fell into disrepair and closed in the 1990s. In 1999, it was granted Boston Landmark status and works were undertaken to renovate the space, which now evokes all the grandeur of Paris’s historic Palais Garnier.
After the show, I notice when walking back to my hotel at about 11pm that the streets are calm, noticeably so for a major urban hub. That's the thing about Boston. Although it is a major city, it manages to retain something of a small-town, close-knit vibe.
Perhaps it stems from the 'Spirit of America' slogan that adorns Massachusetts car license plates. Maybe it is the city's culture of acceptance – such as historically welcoming immigrants in search of a better life. It could simply be the familiarity between people that becomes obvious when wandering neighbourhoods like the North End or Charlestown. People here seem to care deeply about their community and have done so for nearly 400 years.
I reach my hotel at about midnight. The traffic has slowed and the streets are all but empty, with most residents having flocked back to the suburbs. At this hour, the city is largely for the transient visitors – the students and the tourists – to enjoy, but Bostonians are resolutely ready to return bright and early the next morning to the heart of their beloved city.
Getting to Boston from the UAE
Etihad Airways flies direct from Abu Dhabi to Logan International Airport four days a week, with a flight time of 13 hours. From October 27, it will become a daily service.
Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
More from our neighbourhood series:
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
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The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
Results:
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 2,000m - Winner: Powderhouse, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap Dh165,000 2,200m - Winner: Heraldic, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Conditions Dh240,000 1,600m - Winner: Walking Thunder, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
8.15pm: Handicap Dh190,000 2,000m - Winner: Key Bid, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 1,200m - Winner: Drafted, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
9.25pm: Handicap Dh170,000 1,600m - Winner: Cachao, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Handicap Dh190,000 1,400m - Winner: Rodaini, Connor Beasley, Ahmed bin Harmash
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
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How to vote in the UAE
1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/
2) Take it to the US Embassy
3) Deadline is October 15
4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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Brief scores:
Manchester City 2
Gundogan 27', De Bruyne 85'
Crystal Palace 3
Schlupp 33', Townsend 35', Milivojevic 51' (pen)
Man of the Match: Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace)
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Dunki
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Suggested picnic spots
Abu Dhabi
Umm Al Emarat Park
Yas Gateway Park
Delma Park
Al Bateen beach
Saadiyaat beach
The Corniche
Zayed Sports City
Dubai
Kite Beach
Zabeel Park
Al Nahda Pond Park
Mushrif Park
Safa Park
Al Mamzar Beach Park
Al Qudrah Lakes
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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FIGHT INFO
Men’s 60kg Round 1:
Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1
Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)