Day 37 - Cheers to Harvard

Yesterday was about the history of Boston. Today was more about the educational and cultural contribution of the city.

Alice and I decided on taking a tour around Harvard. This institution was founded in 1636, just sixteen years after the arrival of the Mayflower. This fact of the day and many more were revealed to us as we were guided around the grounds by a sophomore student. The tour was illuminating and we saw the buildings where famous students, including Matt Damon, Mark Zuckerberg and a large number of US Presidents stayed whilst studying here.

We headed back into the centre of Boston and specifically to Boston Public Gardens. With the sun on its way down after another sunny day, it was a lovely place to relax for a short while. We were also on the look out for a bench that was made famous from the movie 'Good Will Hunting'. There is a scene in which Matt Damon and Robin Williams speak whilst staring out to the lake. There are many benches facing towards the lake and it took a little while to locate. This bench also made the news recently when it became an impromptu shrine to Robin Williams soon after his death. Although there was a couple already enjoying the view from this bench it was nice to find the spot. Alice and I then headed out of the park and towards a large crowd of people gathered outside a bar. This was not just any bar of course, but the bar that featured in the sitcom Cheers. Both the exterior and the interior of the building were used for the series and the narrow stairs that lead down towards the bar brought back memories of various scenes shot as the actors left the bar through the entrance. The venue now has three cramped bars and restaurants and somehow a gift shop too. The more bars that were revealed the more confused I felt as to which were actually used for the series. Once we reached the final bar, Alice and I had seen enough and started our journey to try and leave. Seeing a slice of US TV history was fun, however it was a bit too crowded and cluttered to enjoy as a drinking establishment. I doubt everyone knew our name but we were glad we came...

We had dinner in the more spacious atmosphere of a vegan Thai restaurant. The choice of venue was a concerted effort on our part to eat less meat and the most interesting thing about this meal was the 'bubble' tea that Alice had. It was like a strawberry milkshake and had black balls of tapioca at the bottom and every so often they would travel up the straw and into your mouth. The spongy balls were tasteless and I seemed to like 'the experience' of fishing for tapioca a lot more than Alice.

We spent the rest of the evening going over our notes from a very educational day.

Song of the Day:
Gary Portnow - Where everybody knows your nameRead more