My Own Boston: Kate Weiser
A passion for exploring the city, camera in hand
When Westchester, N.Y., native Kate Weiser arrived on campus two years ago, she wanted to get to know Boston, but she chose an unusual way to explore the city—through Instagram rather than guide books or a Duck tour.
After stumbling upon @igboston, a member-based community of accomplished photographers who shoot and post pictures from all over the city, Weiser (COM’19) knew she wanted to be a part of this select group. To build a portfolio of Boston-centric photos (a requirement to join @igboston), she created her own Instagram account, @bucketlistboston.
Weiser now has 11,000 followers. Her goal is a daily update of her virtual bucket list of places, restaurants, and experiences she thinks every Bostonian should try. “I haven’t missed a day since last August,” she says. (As of this week, she’s posted 742 photos.)
Weiser spends a lot of time off campus to come up with her posts and video-based Instagram stories. An extrovert by nature, the public relations major says she’s discovered how much she enjoys that time alone. “Bucket List Boston has instilled in me a sense of exploration and adventure,” she says. “It’s helped me grow and hone in on my photography skills and my sense of independence.”
Three of Weiser’s favorite Boston locales:
Marlborough Street
Back Bay, Boston
Nestled between bustling Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street in Boston’s tony Back Bay neighborhood is Marlborough Street. Mostly residential, it’s a serene counterpart to its more commercial neighbors. The street’s historic brownstones are especially beautiful during the holiday season, when residents decorate them with lights and holiday greens.
Weiser recommends: “Visit brownstone #356. It’s always decked out for any holiday of the season: the fall, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter—all the good ones.”
Trident Booksellers & Café
338 Newbury Street, Boston
A Back Bay institution for nearly 35 years, this bookstore-café is always packed, with locals and tourists alike, and for good reason. With two floors of books, gifts, magazines, and cards and a café serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and with free Wi-Fi), it’s a cozy, comfortable place to study or catch up with friends. And the food is great.
Weiser recommends: “The scrambled egg special is most delicious with a hot chai latté and a book.”
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
25 Evans Way, Boston
This dazzling museum, founded by American art collector and philanthropist Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1903, is housed in a Venetian-style palace in nearby Fenway. Its collection of approximately 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, and decorative objects is arranged in a series of galleries anchored by a soaring multistory courtyard filled with a rotating array of flowering and tropical plants. Gardner’s will stipulates that each object must be displayed exactly as it was during her lifetime.
Weiser recommends: “Little known fact: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is free to BU students with a Terrier ID.”
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