Education and Sport - all in one day

A day of two halves - still trying to do as much as we can in the short time we have left in Boston - so that was our intention as we set off to Harvard University on a fine Tuesday morning. So lucky though that the metro goes straight there, no changing for us this morning.  Boston metro is very good and clear, air conditioned as well which is very refreshing as the stations are not.  With our Charlie ticket in hand off we went.  Excellent value for a week as well at $21.25 for as many hop on hop off journeys that you want.  See am full of information here😁

Harvard is over the other side of the Charles River about 40 mins away, so we sat back and watched life on the metro.  Nothing really exciting to see apart from a Chinese lady eating something that I have no idea what it was, looked green and stringy of vegetable matter but as for what it was.......

Arriving in Harvard the plan was to have breakfast in a local tavern, however seeing as we were an hour early, we had to resort to the local I Hop for breakfast.

Fully replenished we went off in search of the Harvard Tour, another benefit of our "Go Boston" card, think normal price is about $12.  Good wander around of the main buildings given by a  current student of Harvard.  We were able to identify the main buildings, some history of the University as well as insider information about the education system and life at Harvard.  We started the tour in Harvard Yard where most of the blocks were accommodation for undergrads and the statute of John Harvard, who is not who it claims to be as there was no evidence of what he looked like and the fact that he died before he could actually found the Uni.  He did give the money and the land but was dead before he did anything else at the age of 31 and had no descendants either!

The Statue of John Harvard but is he who he
claims to be?

 

                      Apparently it is lucky to rub your hand on his foot and as you can see the feet have been rubbed back to a gold colour......



As ever the American flag flies proudly over the buildings here.










The cost of tuition for 4  years
here at Harvard is about $80,000.

Add caption

Over looking Harvard Yard.

We then went over to the Library which goes underground with a further five floors as one of the stipulations for the building when it was built was that the outside of the building should never be changed.

These feet are made for walking.....

And that is what they are going to do...... all 19,459 steps or translated into 12.95km.  We certainly aim to see what we can of the city of Boston in a variety of different forms of transportation.........................we managed on foot, using the T (the underground system here in Boston), the Duck tour both on land and water and the trolley bus all in one day.  Have to admit the old feet are rebelling a bit this morning as I sit on the sofa and write - slightly tender but once on the move again they will be fine I am sure.  Sarah, I might add is still slumbering  zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

As you might have guessed yesterday was a mammoth day of sightseeing.  We left our apartment (must remember photos today of the apartment) at about 7.45 not to return again until after 8 in the evening.  Yes it is just a base but lovely to come back to and very spacious for the two of us and means that we can just have a bit of time to relax spread out on a sofa at the end of the day.  It also has two bedrooms and two bathrooms so no waiting for each other to shower as we get ready in the mornings.  I digress.

 I found some photos of the apartment so thought I would share before my mind wanders off again to another subject as I tend to do when I start writing.

This is my first ever booking of an apartment or any accommodation using Airbnb and I have to admit to being a little apprehensive.  Well you never know what the area is really like, how far out of the city it is or is it really going to be like what it is in the photos of the advert.  I chose a superhost apartment which had numerous reviews which were very good apart from one recently. I think it may have been a disgruntled visitor.

I have no complaints.  I love the space here
and the apartment is clean and meets all our needs.  It is in a good neighbourhood and not too far from the T station about a 8 minute walk which even at the end of the day is fine.  So all is good and we would book through Airbnb again I am sure.  I know Daniel has used them previously for his various trips around the world.

See I told you I digress...........


Well as I was saying, our mammoth day started with a ride up to Boston Harbour.  Another beautiful day of sunshine and a walk taking in the sights.

 We were heading off to the Aquarium this morning but booked our Duck Tour before heading in.  I didn't take any photos of the outside of the Aquarium as it wasn't the prettiest of buildings at all - thankfully we were looking at what was inside and not outside.  Loved the feel of the Harbour area though, a place of hustle and bustle especially early in the morning and the weather could not have been more perfect today. 


We enjoyed the Aquarium, it is not as big as some now but it was worth a visit with our "Go Boston card".  Normal entry cost for an adult is $27.95 - trying to work out how worth it was our ticket but love it for the convenience of missing the queues at the ticketing office.
I think the favourite of the exhibits had to be the turtle.

  Have to stop there off on our travels.