9/19/2022
On this day, we went to Harvard University in Cambridge.
Bus no 1 stops in front of the hotel, which takes us to the university without changing the line. Actually, the bus leaves every 10 minutes, but this time we have a delay of 39 minutes. This was (also) annoying because we saw that there were 5 (!) buses with the same number going in the other direction. The terminus is only one stop away, but no bus came back first.
That was annoying. Officially the trip takes 33-35 minutes. Still, now it's an hour because the traffic in the city is a total mess, with traffic jams everywhere.
We finally arrived, and the bus stop is practically right in front of the campus. This is Harvard Yard. There are some buildings that you can enter and buildings that only students can enter. By the way, there is a fantastic app (App Store|Google Play) that shows you where all the significant landmarks are.
Harvard University is the longest-standing institution of higher learning in the United States. It was founded on September 8, 1636. Originally called New College, it was later (1639) renamed Harvard College after John Harvard, a priest who was the institution's first patron. Since 1780, it has been a university rather than a college.
Harvard is a private university and one of the world's most prestigious and respected institutions.
Its graduates include eight U.S. presidents and 188 living billionaires - the most of any university.
John F. Kennedy, Mark Zuckerberg, and Matt Damon, among others, studied here. And one of my classmates from high school. 😀
A statue of John Harvard stands (sits) in front of one of the buildings.
It is believed that touching/rubbing his left shoe brings good luck. At first, we just saw everyone stroking his shoes. Then we looked up why. Either way, it's polished to a shine! 😀
Apparently, this is one of the most photographed statues in America.
We looked at a few more buildings and then decided (Csibi's idea 😀) that we would walk until we found a Dunkin' and had a donut. It was our second to last day, and we didn't even eat a donut.
This time we succeeded.
After the donut and coffee, we strolled around. We visited John F. Kennedy Memorial Park (President Kennedy was born in Brookline, which borders Boston) and Cambridge Common Park. George Washington first assembled his troops here. There are also three abandoned cannons here and the Irish Famine Memorial.
From here, we went back to Harvard Yard and tried again to get close to the statue. Of course, this time, there were no fewer tourists, but we could still take pictures.
We looked at a few more buildings and then went to the bus stop. This time we were lucky, we got on, and the bus left.
We already bought a pizza nearby a few days ago. So we ordered one, and while waiting for it, we strolled around a bit more. I really like these typical houses, and one of them was even decorated for Halloween.
Equipped with pizza, we went back to the hotel. We ate our pizza and leisurely packed our bags. In the meantime, we noticed a huge cloud of smoke outside the window. A thunderstorm was predicted, but there were no clouds but huge clouds of smoke, and then, unfortunately, we saw flames. A nearby house was on fire. The firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, and the announced storm also came in the evening.
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