All Moved In…Again!

Today, I moved into my official Boston residence. Let the real adventures begin!

The house that I have been staying in for the past two weeks was lovely and comfortable, and I can’t thank the family enough for opening their home to me; they really helped me out in a potentially difficult (and expensive) situation. But with Watertown being a suburb of Boston, it wasn’t exactly easy for me to explore the city. Now that I am living and working in the South End, it will be much more convenient to go sight-seeing.

Living in Watertown was a fun experience, though! I spent most of my free time exploring Cambridge, which is where Harvard is located. I received a private tour of the campus from a young genius named Michael, who is one of Luke’s best friends from high school. I just want to throw it out there that Harvard wasn’t Michael’s first choice for college. That’s how freakishly smart this kid is. I don’t think I will ever meet another human being who had to “make do” by choosing Harvard as an alternative university.

Anyway, there are dozens of tour groups that go around the campus every day, but it was much more interesting to be able to see Harvard through the eyes of a real student. For example, when we walked past this famous statue of John Harvard, there were several people waiting in line to rub the foot. Michael informed me that rubbing the foot is a very misguided tourists tradition, because the actual tradition is that graduating students pee on the foot. I seriously hope most Harvard grads forgo that gross right of passage, but I didn’t touch it just in case.

Harvard itself is significantly smaller than I expected it to be. And – if I’m being completely honest – not quite as pretty as I imagined. But I’m probably biased because Miami University looked like the perfect college campus. Harvard had its moments, though! The main library is very grand inside, but you can only get in with a student ID, or as the +1 of a student. I was actually very lucky to be able to get inside, because Harvard owns an original 15th-century Gutenberg Bible, which they keep on display in the library.

But the most incredible part of Harvard is their Freshman dining hall. From the outside, you might mistake this building for a cathedral (at least, that’s what I thought every time I rode past it on the bus). However, this is merely the main campus dining hall, with a few study rooms located in the tower (and I say “merely” with heavy sarcasm.)

Annenberg Hall is not open to tourists either, but I was able to peak inside for a moment because Michael flashed his trusty student ID to the security guard. After seeing the inside of this place, I’m pretty much convinced that Harvard is actually Hogwarts.

In addition to discovering the secret location of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I think I also stumbled upon a great place to look at the Boston skyline…

…from a cemetery

Down the road from my first Boston residence was one of the most incredible cemeteries I have ever seen (just edging out the historic Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, where my family and I got locked in after hours. True story). The Mount Auburn Cemetery was created in the 1830s as America’s first “garden cemetery”. Located on 175 acres of rolling hills and woodland areas, the Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded with the modern idea that a graveyard should be a place that people want to visit, not avoid. 19th-century attitudes towards death, burial, and commemoration were shifting radically, and this was one of the first times that people started to use the word “cemetery”, which is derived from the Greek word for “a place of sleep”.

The headstones and memorials in the Mount Auburn Cemetery were intended to be viewed as unique works of art that people would wander along winding paths to find. After walking around for several hours (yes, I spent an entire afternoon here!), you really do stop thinking about it as a cemetery and instead view it as an incredible sculpture garden.

At the highest point of the cemetery, there is a tower – built in honor of George Washington – that you can climb to the top for an incredible view of Boston and the surrounding area. And you know what was awesome about this discovery? It was totally free. I bought a cemetery map for $1, but it was more than a fair price to pay for my afternoon out! I’m sure some people will think that it is completely weird to go out of their way to visit a cemetery, but you’d be shocked by the number of people who were taking leisurely walks or pushing strollers around this place. The atmosphere of Mount Auburn Cemetery was very peaceful, and as crazy as it sounds, I would highly recommend visiting!

Tags: Boston, Cambridge, cemetery, Harvard, Hogwarts, Mount Auburn Cemetery, travel, Watertown