Day 301: Boston
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Sunday June 5th
As I’d crashed after arriving at the hostel last night, I had a few chores to do before my 10:30am tour of Harvard – the primary one being to get money out! I’d given every spare cent to the shuttle driver last night (and still hadn’t had enough for a tip) so an ATM was the first stop.
After printing out my tour ticket online, I caught the ‘T’ (public transport) down to Harvard. As it was still only 9:30am, I had an hour in which to walk around the area. Harvard University is actually located in Cambridge, and the city and the university enjoy a fierce rivalry. On my self-led tour, I walked past an ex-house of George Washington’s; the Kennedy Law Centre; and the old women’s college.
At 10:30, I joined about 50 other people on a ‘Hahvahd’ Tour – so called because Bostonians don’t pronounce their ‘r’s’. Our tour guide was a third year religious studies major – but don’t hold that again him, as he was hysterical. Over the course of 70 minutes, he told us numerous fascinating stories about the college (a couple: the night before exams start, thousands of students line up outside the John Harvard statue and yell to relieve tension - whilst naked!; a 1911 graduate had a library dedicated to his honour of 1915, merely 4 years after graduation – because he died on the Titanic, trying to rescue a precious book, etc etc). We saw the largest library, which apparently has 5 miles of book shelves; the dormitory window where Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore shared a room as freshmen; the John Harvard statue, known as the statue of 3 lies (he wasn’t the founder of Harvard; it’s not his impression; and the year of foundation is incorrect).
Harvard really is a beautiful University, and very much upper class. The buildings are all red brick, with some dating back to the 17th century. I loved it so much I was keen to join up – they accept 1200 undergraduates a year, and a year’s tuition, board and food is about $54,000 (hmm … might need a scholarship!)
On completion of the tour, I headed to the largest souvenir store, known as the Harvard Co-Op, for some shopping. I’d always wanted a Harvard sweatshirt (hoodie), although that’s not what I ended up buying. I walked out with a book on Harvard’s history, a t-shirt, water bottle, magnet, key-ring, and postcards!
After lunch at a hip Harvard hang-out (see, I fit in here already!), I took the T back to the hostel. I got off one stop early and enjoyed a walk in the sunshine, along one of the many beautiful streets here. There were heaps of people on the street, making their way to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox, baseball team). I arrived back at the hostel to do some laundry – very much needed! – and play on my laptop.
The Hangover 2 was playing at 6:50pm at the nearby cinema, and I decided to head out at 4:30 for a few more hours of sightseeing. I went in the complete opposite direction of the cinema – on purpose of course! – and ended up finding the main ‘cool strip’ of Boston. It had numerous restaurants, shops and theatres on it, so it filled in my time adequately.
At 6pm, I walked back in the opposite direction, and ended up finding Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Did you know that baseball has the most number of games per year of any of the major sports? They play six times a week! I think a match must have just finished as there were people in Red Sox shirts and caps streaming out and into the pubs. Just past the park was the cinema, which was a proper cinema complex but the movie theatre itself was tiny! Every seat was taken, and the crowd laughed ferociously the whole way through – the movie was hysterical! I don’t know if I really needed to see a lady-boy up close and personal like that though …
I walked back to the hostel just as it went dark, grabbing Subway on the way (I hope they have flatbread in Australia as well – I’m addicted to it here!) After some more blogging, I was asleep at about 11pm.
As I’d crashed after arriving at the hostel last night, I had a few chores to do before my 10:30am tour of Harvard – the primary one being to get money out! I’d given every spare cent to the shuttle driver last night (and still hadn’t had enough for a tip) so an ATM was the first stop.
After printing out my tour ticket online, I caught the ‘T’ (public transport) down to Harvard. As it was still only 9:30am, I had an hour in which to walk around the area. Harvard University is actually located in Cambridge, and the city and the university enjoy a fierce rivalry. On my self-led tour, I walked past an ex-house of George Washington’s; the Kennedy Law Centre; and the old women’s college.
At 10:30, I joined about 50 other people on a ‘Hahvahd’ Tour – so called because Bostonians don’t pronounce their ‘r’s’. Our tour guide was a third year religious studies major – but don’t hold that again him, as he was hysterical. Over the course of 70 minutes, he told us numerous fascinating stories about the college (a couple: the night before exams start, thousands of students line up outside the John Harvard statue and yell to relieve tension - whilst naked!; a 1911 graduate had a library dedicated to his honour of 1915, merely 4 years after graduation – because he died on the Titanic, trying to rescue a precious book, etc etc). We saw the largest library, which apparently has 5 miles of book shelves; the dormitory window where Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore shared a room as freshmen; the John Harvard statue, known as the statue of 3 lies (he wasn’t the founder of Harvard; it’s not his impression; and the year of foundation is incorrect).
Harvard really is a beautiful University, and very much upper class. The buildings are all red brick, with some dating back to the 17th century. I loved it so much I was keen to join up – they accept 1200 undergraduates a year, and a year’s tuition, board and food is about $54,000 (hmm … might need a scholarship!)
On completion of the tour, I headed to the largest souvenir store, known as the Harvard Co-Op, for some shopping. I’d always wanted a Harvard sweatshirt (hoodie), although that’s not what I ended up buying. I walked out with a book on Harvard’s history, a t-shirt, water bottle, magnet, key-ring, and postcards!
After lunch at a hip Harvard hang-out (see, I fit in here already!), I took the T back to the hostel. I got off one stop early and enjoyed a walk in the sunshine, along one of the many beautiful streets here. There were heaps of people on the street, making their way to Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox, baseball team). I arrived back at the hostel to do some laundry – very much needed! – and play on my laptop.
The Hangover 2 was playing at 6:50pm at the nearby cinema, and I decided to head out at 4:30 for a few more hours of sightseeing. I went in the complete opposite direction of the cinema – on purpose of course! – and ended up finding the main ‘cool strip’ of Boston. It had numerous restaurants, shops and theatres on it, so it filled in my time adequately.
At 6pm, I walked back in the opposite direction, and ended up finding Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Did you know that baseball has the most number of games per year of any of the major sports? They play six times a week! I think a match must have just finished as there were people in Red Sox shirts and caps streaming out and into the pubs. Just past the park was the cinema, which was a proper cinema complex but the movie theatre itself was tiny! Every seat was taken, and the crowd laughed ferociously the whole way through – the movie was hysterical! I don’t know if I really needed to see a lady-boy up close and personal like that though …
I walked back to the hostel just as it went dark, grabbing Subway on the way (I hope they have flatbread in Australia as well – I’m addicted to it here!) After some more blogging, I was asleep at about 11pm.
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