What do you do when you have a four day weekend in a new country? Shop , Read , Mope Around and may be travel. I chose the last option and my oh my I've been paid back quite well. A close family friend offered to show me around Boston and I jumped at the chance with glee - who wouldn't for Boston is a city steeped in History - so much of it that one day has not been sufficient to see all the sights.
The day started bright and sunny - which was to me an indication of things to come. With that thought in mind and warm clothes on person , we started our day with a drive to Alewife station on a cute Honda Civic. The drive was very pleasant and so were the sights - so much so that I wanted to stop by and take a pics. That would have meant quite a delay and hence I let it pass and concentrated on what was to come.
Alewife station sounds like the name of a pub or an old English buttery . But in reality it is a train station where we caught the first of our many trains. It was also one of the many English sounding names that I've come across since I've travelled to the United States - Worcester , Devonshire et al a couple of other's I've come across - but that's the story for another blogpost and before I can digress , let me get back to destination one - Harvard Squire and yes this station is where you disembark if you want to check out one of the most prestigious institutions in the world and check it out we did. It was queer to find out that the university is open to public as a tourist spot but the feeling vanished as I stepped inside the gates. We roamed around taking a couple of snaps , seeing some sights like the library which used to be Gore hall , the war memorial and the founder's statue. We'd have seen more had our tummies not grumbled - but grumble they did and hence we rushed for lunch at this place called chutney's in JFK street.
The day started bright and sunny - which was to me an indication of things to come. With that thought in mind and warm clothes on person , we started our day with a drive to Alewife station on a cute Honda Civic. The drive was very pleasant and so were the sights - so much so that I wanted to stop by and take a pics. That would have meant quite a delay and hence I let it pass and concentrated on what was to come.
Alewife station sounds like the name of a pub or an old English buttery . But in reality it is a train station where we caught the first of our many trains. It was also one of the many English sounding names that I've come across since I've travelled to the United States - Worcester , Devonshire et al a couple of other's I've come across - but that's the story for another blogpost and before I can digress , let me get back to destination one - Harvard Squire and yes this station is where you disembark if you want to check out one of the most prestigious institutions in the world and check it out we did. It was queer to find out that the university is open to public as a tourist spot but the feeling vanished as I stepped inside the gates. We roamed around taking a couple of snaps , seeing some sights like the library which used to be Gore hall , the war memorial and the founder's statue. We'd have seen more had our tummies not grumbled - but grumble they did and hence we rushed for lunch at this place called chutney's in JFK street.
After a huge lunch and a very desi Masala Chai , we validated our options and took the train to Kendall - yet another puritan sounding station in the Boston area. From Kendall we took a brisk walk to the bank of River Charles and we were greeted with a spectacular view of Boston's Skyline. The deep blue of the river , the towering buildings in the background and the cool wind blowing made us want to linger but walk on we did ( after a couple of photographs of course) to yet another university - this time the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
If Harvard was about Old red brick buildings steeped in history , MIT was about the new world , the abstract sculptures and concrete structures bearing evidence to the fact. The Two institutions are on the opposite side of the spectrum going by how they look - but they share a common goal - growth of wisdom , a sentiment so lovingly engraved on one of the Harvard gates. It was with this feeling that I left MIT for Boston.
Boston for me would be synonymous with the American Independence movement. The city has borne witness to the birth of a great nation and is littered with monuments everywhere. It's a vibrant vibrant place , teeming with people all around , reminding one of Bombay or Delhi - cities which never sleep. We covered parts of the Boston Freedom Trail but it soon started becoming dark and we turned back after a cup of coffee- back to Hudson , taking a train to Alewife and the driving back to Hudson - back home to TV and dinner , carrying back memories worth a lifetime!!!
