Downtown Crossing, Boston MA

Two short blocks southeast of Boston Common is Washington Street and the heart of Boston's department store and jewelry shopping district.

Between West and Winter streets, Washington Street is a pedestrian zone that's crowded with shoppers every day of the week.

The actual Downtown Crossing is the intersection of Winter, Summer and Washington streets, where in past years the great department stores of Filene's and Jordan Marsh faced each other across Summer Street in the battle for customers.

Jordan Marsh is now Macy's, and Filene's has closed, its historic building to be renovated for a new commercial embodiment, but its carillon still plays popular numbers each afternoon.

Jewelers are concentrated in the Jewelry Building at 387 Washington Street. If you're at all interested in bling, have a look: the building is filled with individual shops and millions worth of glitter. (My wife and I bought our wedding rings at Joseph Gann Jewelers.)

It's easy to get to Downtown Crossing by subway. It has its own underground station on the T's Red and Orange Lines , and the Silver Line buses come right by on the surface.

When you visit, take time for a bit of history: Old South Meetinghouse is just a block north of the Filene's building on Washington Street.

If you crave Chinese cuisine for lunch, Chinatown is only a few blocks to the southeast.

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