Today took us across the river on the T to Cambridge and Harvard. We set off with great plans for breakfast, but greatly overestimated the hospitality the town could provide. One place we thought of was now closed and there were not many others to choose from, but we finally found some coffee and breakfasty stuff in a Peet's coffee shop off the main square. Suitably refreshed on this hot day, we eventually found our way into Harvard Yard. Here we discovered that it was Commencement Day, yesterday and Oprah Winfrey had addressed The Quad as she received an honorary doctorate. There were empty easy-up tents and chairs in rows all over the area, that the estate staff were starting to clear away.
We had read about the glass flowers at the Natural History Museum, and so that was our next visit. These are really amazing, made by Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, between 1887 and 1936. The father and son team came from a long line of jewellers and glassmakers from Dresden in Germany. There are life-size models of some 847 species and also some enlarged anatomical sections and flower parts. It was quite nerve wracking to watch some of the school children also visiting, careering up and down the display cases. We also saw some wonderful beetles
The galleries of the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler museums are closed from 1 June for a fabulous renovation designed by Renzo Piano, much to our surprise. So we hurried off to visit the Sackler Museum where there was a display of Islamic Art as well as several other exhibitions. Now we needed some more coffee to keep us going and called in at Peet's Coffee again, which was very welcome, before we made our way back to Boston.
Tonight we went down to Charles St. again and popped into the Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro for dinner. We were not disappointed and ate a delicious dinner - our last one in Boston before we move on tomorrow.
Peet's
Harvard Yard
Harvard Natural History Museum
Harvard Art Museums
Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro
No comments:
Post a Comment