No finals during finals week = YOLO trip to Boston to visit the elusive SNK who's currently being awesome by saving the world at Harvard medical school.
Two takeaways: cute old buildings and fantastic public transportation.
Day 1: Even though my red eye flight into Boston was a pretty terrible experience that involved motion sickness and delays, we both hit the ground running upon arrival by going to Freedom Trail. Too bad most of the exhibits and houses required admission fees, so we just ate at Faneuil Hall and walked around.
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| So much freedom |
Day 2: MIT, Harvard, and New England Aquarium.
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| Giant dog and weird building at MIT |
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| A view of the Charles River |
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| In Kendall Square |
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| Iconic brick buildings and green scenery at Harvard |
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| Here is a view of Harvard square from the Harvard Coop, which is where I chilled while I waited for SNK to finish at lab. I ended up reading 30 pages of The Fault in Our Stars before I passed out for an hour. |
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| Colorful chairs at Harvard |
After my academic adventures, I joined up with SNK and we went to the New England Aquarium in search of cute sea creatures.
On our way to find dinner, we got caught in a bit of rain. As SNK says, the sky looked angry and became weepy.
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| A comforting delight at Pasta Beach |
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| Ironic :O |
Day 3: North End, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Prudential Center, MIT museum, and back to North End.
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| Really wanted a cannoli so I ventured to Mike's Pastry early in the morning for one of these huge ricotta cheese filled pastry shells |
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| Juxtaposition of old North End buildings (full of Italian character) with high end modern skyscrapers in the background. And oh look, a pig! |
I hadn't planned on going to Boston Public Library (it's just a library after all, right?) but when I was on the subway I saw that one of the stops advertised it so I decided to check it out and see what all the hype was about. Well... I was completely wrong in my initial assumption and did not realize the full magnitude of this gorgeous museum-esque library.
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| Regal looking lion at Boston Public Library |
After I was done marveling at the library, I headed to Copley square, the high end Newbury street, and the ritzy Prudential Center.
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| This is my failed attempt at going to the 50th floor of the Prudential Center. Didn't want to pay $16 for a view, so I cheated and just leaned over the front desk. |
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| I don't remember where this photo belongs, so I'm randomly inserting it here... |
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| One of the many amazing kinetic structures at the MIT museum. |
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| Pre-dinner dessert with SNK at the famous Toscanini near MIT. She got blue cheese candied walnuts, and I got hazelnut. DEFINITELY worth the hype. It was fantastic in both flavor and texture. (Photo credit: SNK) |
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| Back to North End! Dinner at the popular Giacomo's, which usually requires an hour+ long wait. SNK and I were at the back of the line, but since we were a group of 2, we waited a grand total of 30 seconds to be seated. Woot!! SNK liked her lobster ravioli and I was a fan of my pesto cream pasta with chicken and shrimp, but I probably wouldn't wait hours for it... |
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| Pretty marzipan fruits at Modern Pastry |
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| Fail: my Boston cream pie got stuck to my box |
Day 4: Harvard Natural History Museum and tea!
So many amazing creations that can only point to the glory of the Creator:
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| slooooooth |
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| Ended the evening with "afternoon" tea with SNK at 6pm. Or as she would like to call it, a "Boston tea party" har har har.... |
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