On a warm summer night, the winding streets of Old Town Marblehead are a haven for peace and quiet. Life slows its treadmill pace and is conducive to just being. Flower boxes attached to vintage clapboard homes overflow with geraniums and trailing vines, and the rosy glow of Maxfield Parrish sunsets invite daydreaming.

Copley Square was named for the great Boston painter John Singleton Copley who was born in Boston in 1737. In the 1870's the square was an awkward piece of leftover land in the Back Bay area south of Boylston Street. The area was never given any serious design attention until landscape architects Sasaki, Dawson and DeMay's stepped in. The trio later won a national competition for Copley Square's design that was executed in 1969. Today, the square bustles with the energy of tourists and residents who live in elegant, beautifully restored brownstone homes.

Got garlic? If not, you'll find plenty in Boston's North End. The pungent aroma of this flavorful herb will give your olfactory glands a workout for sure, and you won't have to move a muscle. All you have to do is stand on any street corner and inhale. Little wonder, given the inexhaustible supply of Italian restaurants lining the North End's streets. And every one of them is shouting "Mangia!"