My Crazy Trip to the North End

So, it's kind of been a while...

But I have an excuse!  Lots of activities, lots of studying, lots of everything.  Whoever said second semester of senior year was easier than first semester was a dirty liar whom we should all fling poo at.  Because that was definitely NOT the case.  But it's all over and done with, and I have a high school diploma to prove it :)

So anyways, a month or so ago, I was in Boston.  And I know what you're thinking.

And that was precisely the week where Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev bombed the Boston Marathon and then were captured.  I was there for the capture (which took place between the 18th and 19th of April).

So, basically, what this means was that on the 19th, a Friday, I was stuck in my hotel room for several hours while the police searched for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, on the Cambridge side of the Charles.  I was staying on the Boston side of the river, looking dead on at Cambridge, and saw a large number of police cars pass by.

My dad and I were very bored, and by 2:00 PM, very hungry.  Since we were on the Boston side of the river, we were able to leave the hotel, so we escaped to the North End.

The North End, most notably Hanover Street, of Boston is famous for the seemingly impossible number of Catholic churches and it's wonderful Italian food.  It was where many Italian immigrants decided to inhabit upon coming to Boston, and their legacy was the wonderful food they left.  And all of the freaking churches (there are literally two churches within a five minute walk from each other.  On the same street).

So anyways, after spending half an hour trying to find a parking spot, my dad and I went into this cute little bar/restaurant called Florentine Cafe on the corner of Hanover and Prince streets.  We sat down to some deliciously warm bread and olive oil, and our server was very cheerful and nice.  She informed us that the restaurant we sat in was the oldest bar in the North End, opened directly after Prohibition was lifted and renovated in 1995.

The Florentine Cafe!  And a really tricked out Ford Fusion.  And you can see one of the many churches.

 So there it is in all its glory.  We were kind of hungry, because we had been trapped in a hotel room all day, so we decided to order some fried calamari.

That looks delicious even now.

Now, I don't say this lightly, but oddly, this was the fluffiest, lightest calamari that I've ever eaten.  It was chewy, but not rubbery, and the batter was buttery and delicious, with just the right amount of flavor.  The tomato sauce had a bit of a bite to it (in a good way), and complemented the calamari in a very beautiful way.

My next course was the specialty of the house:  Lobster Ravioli.

Needless to say, these make Chef Boyardi toss and turn at night.

Dear Christ.  This dish perfectly defines the North End, with its geographic location right by the water and its Italian heritage.  There were a couple of lobster nuggets outside of the ravioli, which, paired with the sauce (which I will get to), tasted something like I envision heaven tasting like.  It was divine.  The sauce was deliciously creamy, with flakes of parsley mixed in for color and flavor, and honestly, could be eaten by itself as a soup.  When you add the wonderfully crafted ravioli, cooked al dente with a delicious filling that hardly tasted like seafood at all, your tastebuds just rocket into space having been propelled by an incredibly flavorful force.  It was that good.

So, that's some of what happened when I went to the North End they day they were looking for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the loose in Cambridge.