The city of Boston


The city of Boston is a perfect example of cities with rich American history. America’s culture
may not span off to generations and generations as far as China’s, for example, but places like Boston
keep America’s rich history prevalent in every brick and cobblestone laid. Before my family even dared
to brave the cold weather, we zipped into our oversize snow jackets and our collection of various hats,
scarves, and gloves. Since my mom was anxious to get the souvenir shopping done on the first day we
ended up going through some of the malls and markets on our first day. Our main source of
transportation during our trip was through cabs, but subways and buses are available pretty much
everywhere. Cab fares are around $2.60 for the first 1/7th mile or less and $0.40 for every additional 1/
7th of a mile. Most cabs have a rate for travel from the airport and to the airport to your hotel or
destination that is added on to your current fare. After our escapade throughout the various malls and
markets, such as Downtown Crossing, Copley Place, and the Prudential Center, we took a cab towards
Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in hopes of having the knowledge of Harvard’s
21,125 students rub off on us.

Unfortunately, nothing like that truly happened, but we were able to stroll through Harvard’s
beautiful campus and explore Harvard Square. The fact that we went during February meant that
mountains and mountains of snow lined both the sidewalks and the street corners. Of course being
from Southern California, a place with scarcely any snowfall during the year, our attitude towards
snow may have been compared to that of an elementary student’s reaction during their first snow fall.
After we got over our excitement of the snow, just kidding we never did get over it; we opted for some
photos next to the statue “supposedly” depicting John Harvard. As a word of caution to those who
travel in a tour to Harvard, if the guide tells you that rubbing John Harvard’s shoe will make you smart
and help you get into Harvard I would rather opt out. Some Harvard students find it funny to urinate
onto the statue and prank unsuspecting tourists, which definitely won’t make you look smart or get
into Harvard for that matter. There is however another interesting location in Harvard that probably
won’t be urinated upon, no promises. The “Whispering Arches” is an arch on the outside façade of Sever
Hall, where one can whisper into at one end and be heard at the other end by another person. Harvard
Square is the area surrounding the Harvard buildings and contains numerous stores and cafés. We
decided to travel to Harvard’s “sibling” school, MIT, and venture onto their campuses.

Subway trains are conveniently located near both schools within walking distances of the school.
Though I will admit that I do prefer Harvard’s red brick buildings to MIT’s campus buildings, MIT is still
an interesting place to visit. One interesting story that I heard from someone there was that MIT is
home to a team of pranksters called, The Hacks. Their antics have ranged from decorating the Great
Dome into R2D2 to assembling a model of a campus police car on top of the Great Dome complete with
a dummy police officer, a toy gun, and a box of donuts. Though I would have loved to hear more, my
brother was anxious to try out a restaurant many Harvard students frequent, Mr. Bartley’s. Their famous
gourmet burgers, onion rings, and sweet potato fries are just a part of the reason why I loved the place.
The restaurant is just a relaxing burger joint filled with memorabilia that give the restaurant a personal
touch. Their burgers are also quite unique, since their names range from the “The Jersey Shore” to “The
Barack Obama.” After we enjoyed “The B.P,” “The Mitt Romney,” and “The Ted Kennedy”, we decided

to call it quits and return to the warmth and comfort of our hotel. By the end of the day it didn’t really
matter to me if I looked like an oversize snowball or an obvious tourist, because I knew that while the
day had been fun there was still so much more to look forward to. See you next time when we truly get
into the history of Boston.

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