Desserterie, University, Geneaology, Meteorology!

We got an easy early start this morning, after a good night’s sleep in the “Sweet Sleeper” beds. The day looked to be sunny but muggy, and it started out as so. We went to Harvard first, and I was somewhat underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it was impressive in its size, but I think it would have been more impressive if some of the main buildings (ie—library, chapel) were open for the public, which they weren’t. All the same, it was a nice walk. We got our first taste of getting turned around in Cambridge. Streets on a grid system are beautiful thing, and well, they don’t really have those in Cambridge. We eventually found our way, and went to Finale, which is a “desserterie”. We got two desserts to try, and they were honestly some of the best I’ve ever tasted. So if you’re ever in Cambridge, check out Finale

The afternoon was spent doing tourist-y things. We went to the Prudential skywalk, and saw some great views of the Boston area. Next it was on to the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy library. The Mapparium itself was pretty—you basically walk inside a 30 ft. stained glass globe. However, it was a quick trip. We hopped back on the T and went to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. What this museum essentially is is a giant mansion that she filled with different antique furniture, artwork, and trinkets. Upon her death, her will said something along the lines of “don’t touch a thing” and so the mansion is open to the public and people come in and marvel at the antique furniture, artwork and trinkets. Both Ali and I agreed that it would have been nice if they had more signage on the different items, as it was hard to tell what everything is or when it was from. When we left the museum, it was raining, and we had some time to kill before the Sox-Sox game, so we went to the Boston Public Library. I had wanted to check out the genealogy section anyway, to see if they had any passenger lists from ships in the 1920’s, when my grandpa had come to America. I had figured that this would be an arduous process, but we were able to find what I was looking for in five minutes! It was exciting to see this piece of the past.

Ali wrote about the Sox game already, so I won’t bore anyone with game details. I did, however, have the misfortune of being seated next to a jerky group of couples who were antagonizing a dad and son sitting in front of us. On the way out, I complained to security and they said they’d have them thrown out. So, I may have gotten people kicked out of Fenway last night. I’m not sorry about it if it did happen though, because they were being total a-holes.