REVELATIONS FOR THE NOVICE BOSTONIAN!

Leave it to a New York City girl to introduce me to the wonders available to a lost city dweller.  The dear Rachel Schwatzman, visiting Boston during this past weekend, has told me about the following wonderful sites.  Perhaps you were using these sites back in the 90s and are scoffing even as you read this post.  If not (and let's hope not), prepare to have your mind blown! 

• menupages.com is the place to go to check out local eateries and decide whether that sign with the missing letter hides a dump or your new favorite breakfast joint.  The website lets visitors rate and comment on each restaurant (listed by city neighborhood and restaurant style), noting pricing, value, service and food.  Rachel promises immediate addiction, so proceed with caution!
• hopstop.com details the fastest path from point A to point B in real city terms, detailing the various forms of public transportation to take, all the stops which you will encounter (great for a narcoleptic girl like me who tends to fall asleep and then wake up with a start, worried that I have missed my stop) and where to get off/change means of transport.  

Now for my little two cents: Ork Posters!  Ork is a design company that "maps" out various American cities (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., etc) by writing out their neighborhoods.  For instance, the label for my neighborhood in Boston (Brighton) demarcates its physical space, leaving the viewer for a neighborhood name-based map of their favorite city.  Better yet, the posters now come in a handful of different colors and are only $22!  It would make a great gift (hint, hint) . . . . .