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Old 14 Oct 18, 01:16 PM  
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CrispyA
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Expedition East Coast: Day 17 Harvard & MIT and a trip to the Italian quarter

4 August

The bed in Kenji's apartment were very comfortable and we slept well. The forecast for today was wet so we decided to change our original plan of walking the Freedom Trail and to visit the Universities instead.

Hannah and I walked to the nearest grocery store to pick up some bread for breakfast. The selection of food really wasn't good so we didn't get anything else and decided to go to the local Wholefoods instead.

We had breakfast at the apartment and then persuaded Paul to drive to Wholefoods as it was too far to walk. He was reluctant to get in the car again after the previous day's awful drive but we reminded him that the local store had nothing and that our previous decisions to "get things later" had led to hangriness and disappointment, so he finally conceded that we were right.

As the grumpy teen was still somewhat grumpy about the Wifi situation, we left him catching up on Snapchat etc on my iPad and the three of us went to Wholefoods to stock up on milk and cereal etc . It turned out to be a good decision - we all enjoyed Wholefoods and Evan had some much needed space which put him in a much better mood. I say much better - to be fair, he was less grumpy when we got back which was a win for everyone.

It had started to rain as we set off for the local T metro station. The apartment was in between 2 stations and we could have gone to either. Unfortunately, the line from our stations wasn't running so we had to catch a shuttle bus to Jackson Square. Fortunately, they ran very regularly and it wasn't a long journey.

We got some assistance buying tickets which are known as Charlie tickets after a folk song about a man trapped on the train as he doesn't have enough money to pay the fare to leave the station! Typically, Paul managed to double swipe his ticket at the turnstiles, so it deducted a second fare but the lady was very helpful and wrote on it so that he would get a free swipe later on. He was chuntering about it but this time it was his own fault and we couldn't blame the metro system.

The trains were very easy to use and we got to Harvard Square in Cambridge with no trouble. The weather was still very wet and so we had a quick look before deciding to get an early lunch out of the rain. We found a nice Mexican place called Felipes which was good value clearly very popular with students. We also found a Dunkin Donuts but this time went for hot coffee with our munchkins, rather than iced.

We decided not to do the tour of Harvard but to just look around ourselves and headed for Harvard square where we managed to look very classy with our Dunkin takeout.



The weather had cleared up and it was warmer now, which was good. We stopped outside the library for a photo - unfortunately there wasn't much to see inside.



We didn't stay much longer and had to admit to being somewhat underwhelmed by Harvard. It looks like any other redbrick University and was very similar to the older parts of Manchester or Birmingham Unis. And if you've been to Oxford, Cambridge or Durham, it's hard to be very impressed by the buildings here. It's undoubtedly a great place to study but we weren't blown away by it as we have been by the older British Universities.

We also wanted to visit MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) so walked down Massachusetts Avenue towards the river and MIT. We passed this turkey on the way, just strolling around the lawn, as you do.



We had heard good things about the MIT Science museum but when we got there, the queues to get in were huge. With so many people, it wasn't going to be an enjoyable experience to try to look around the exhibits so we reluctantly agreed to give it a miss and head for the University itself.

We found the main MIT buildings which, unlike Harvard, were open for you to look around inside. Obviously you couldn't go into the labs etc but you could look through the windows and get a feel of the place. Hannah is planning to study Physics at University, being somewhere that so much cutting edge science happens was really exciting.

Here you can see Hannah being so thrilled to be at MIT, fully respectful of the history and learning of the place.



And here you can see Evan channelling all of the Inbetweeners.



He was so thrilled to have made the word "anus" that all thoughts of malfunctioning Wifi were forgotten temporarily.

We decided that MIT was far cooler than Harvard and would make a great place to go for postgraduate study.



We then headed for the Harvard Bridge which connects Cambridge to Boston. In 1958, a student named Oliver Smoot as part of a fraternity pledge, lay down repeatedly on the bridge so that his fellow fraternity members could use his height to measure the length of it. The total length of the bridge is 364.4 Smoots, plus or minus one ear.



After checking out the bridge, we walked along the river with great views across to Boston before picking up the T to go harbour.



The sun was out by now and we enjoyed watching the boats and listening to music on the waterfront.





The original plan had been to get something to eat in the North End which is the Italian quarter. There was a festival on, the feast of St Agripinna, and it was all very busy. Every restaurant we walked past was really full and we thought they were all pretty expensive as well. $20 for a plate of pasta marinara seemed a bit of a rip off and we wondered if you were really paying for the experience rather than the food?

We did find a sports bar which served chicken wings and was more reasonably priced so went there instead. The food was okay but our server was pretty surly and didn't make us feel welcome at all. It wasn't a huge problem but needless to say, didn't result in much of a tip!

By now we were pretty tired, so caught the T back to Jamaica Plain, picking up the shuttle bus again from Jackson Square. As we had enjoyed ourselves so much in Doyles last time, we stopped off for a drink before watching a bit of another baseball tournament in the park.

Then we walked back to our apartment, meeting a rabbit along the way which was a little surprising! Then it wasn't long before we were all in bed, the lack of Wifi for Evan having the bonus effect of forcing him to read something other than Instagram before going to bed! He totally doesn't see it like that but we think it was actually good for him!
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Old 14 Oct 18, 01:25 PM  
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Melbatb
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O would love to study at MIT! It looks like a great place to do so!

You must have walked a lot - we got the subway between the two

Boo to miserable serving staff! Though I guess we all have our off days!
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Old 14 Oct 18, 04:35 PM  
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i love jack
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I’m laughing at Evan’s photo
Shame about your grumpy server
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Old 17 Oct 18, 01:23 PM  
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smithlane
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I've just binge read your entire trippy today, I've really enjoyed it.
What a shame you didn't love New York, Jim felt exactly the same. Mind you as you know I fell out big time with the subway system this year, why does it have to be so darn confusing!
Washington DC is a place I really want to visit, I've never heard a bad thing said about it.
A New England road trip is a potential contender for next year if the flight prices to California don't come down so have been jotting down some notes from reading. Maine looks just stunning, it will definitely be on the list.
Shame about the weather in Boston and the lack of Wifi for Evan. With 2 teenagers myself I know of the moaning that would incur if this happened to either one of them!
I would also have to visit both Harvard and MIT. I've seen so many TV series and films set there it would be great to see them in person.
Looking forward to reading your final few days
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Old 17 Oct 18, 03:26 PM  
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katiebaz
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Love Evan’s picture and made me smile! Shame about the rain and surly waiting staff but another interesting day
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Old 17 Oct 18, 08:11 PM  
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CrispyA
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
O would love to study at MIT! It looks like a great place to do so!

You must have walked a lot - we got the subway between the two

Boo to miserable serving staff! Though I guess we all have our off days!
I an understand wanting to study at MIT - I think Hannah has the same ambition!

Originally Posted by i love jack View Post
I’m laughing at Evan’s photo
Shame about your grumpy server
Evan was pleased with himself!

Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
I've just binge read your entire trippy today, I've really enjoyed it.
What a shame you didn't love New York, Jim felt exactly the same. Mind you as you know I fell out big time with the subway system this year, why does it have to be so darn confusing!
Washington DC is a place I really want to visit, I've never heard a bad thing said about it.
A New England road trip is a potential contender for next year if the flight prices to California don't come down so have been jotting down some notes from reading. Maine looks just stunning, it will definitely be on the list.
Shame about the weather in Boston and the lack of Wifi for Evan. With 2 teenagers myself I know of the moaning that would incur if this happened to either one of them!
I would also have to visit both Harvard and MIT. I've seen so many TV series and films set there it would be great to see them in person.
Looking forward to reading your final few days
Thank you. We only had one wet day in Boston so it was fine overall. I think some people really love NY but it just didn’t do it for us. DC was fab though and can definitely recommend East Coast if you decide against the West - although that’s awesome too.

Originally Posted by katiebaz View Post
Love Evan’s picture and made me smile! Shame about the rain and surly waiting staff but another interesting day
He is so proud of that picture - and is actually smiling in it!
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Old 20 Oct 18, 03:39 PM  
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Fuellady
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I feel bad for Oliver Smoot, what a chore that must have been Good day despite the rain, it sounds as though there was a lot of walking involved.
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Old 4 Nov 18, 05:19 PM  
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Cool seeing the two big unis and the randomness of a turkey as well. Priceless. Sounds a decent day mooching even with the rain and crowds. Food sounds expensive and a bit limited !
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Old 4 Nov 18, 08:21 PM  
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CrispyA
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Originally Posted by Fuellady View Post
I feel bad for Oliver Smoot, what a chore that must have been Good day despite the rain, it sounds as though there was a lot of walking involved.
He must have been a very good sport - cool to have become a unit of measurement though.

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote View Post
Cool seeing the two big unis and the randomness of a turkey as well. Priceless. Sounds a decent day mooching even with the rain and crowds. Food sounds expensive and a bit limited !
The turkey was incredibly random !
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