I've 'accidentally' booked a trip to Boston - day 3 28th December 2017

[Goldia]

Day 3 - 28th December 2017 Harvard University

We all slept pretty well last night after the epic walk of yesterday. We managed until around 6.30am. We put the news on the TV while getting ready. There were warnings about the weather, today’s high was -10 celsius and the low was -17. That is before the wind chill is factored in which makes the real feel much colder. Also there were multiple warnings about not being outside for a protracted length of time as there is a high risk of frostbite on any exposed skin. We decided to try and heed this advice as much as possible today!

First up was breakfast. I’d packed a box of Christmas biscuits.



But DH said this wasn’t really a good enough breakfast. He went off in search of greater sustenance and came back with… a muffin! Really, biscuits aren’t a suitable breakfast item but a muffin is? Ok then!

We decided to try out the hotel swimming pool. This is in an adjacent building which has the parking garage on the first few floors and then the top floor is the pool, gym and spa facilities. There was a tunnel which linked the main hotel building so that we didn’t have to venture outside.



Unfortunately the pool was a little chilly. We persevered as there was only one other family and a man doing lengths. DH tried to get the sauna working to no avail, it just wasn’t heating up. In the end after about 45 minutes we’d had enough.

DD wasn’t a massive fan of the locker rooms as these were communal (albeit male/female separate rooms). We took our time showering and washing our hair. I tried to dry our hair using the very feeble drier. I decided we’d been long enough and that the boys would be wondering what was going on so we left with our hair still somewhat damp.

We were faced with DS who gleefully informed us that DH had made an error on his locker pin number and in spite of multiple attempts he hadn’t been able to unlock his locker and retrieve his clothes . DS found this hilarious. DH had asked him to get dressed quickly and go out to the spa reception area to get help, except there was just a sign at the desk saying ‘Back Soon’. DS had returned to the locker room to inform DH who in the meantime had attempted his locker pin on all the lockers and tried every combination on his locker that he could think of :angry:. So, I said I would go over to the main building and get someone to help. But DS said it was all sorted now as a cleaning lady had come in and DH had got her to help. Apparently she didn’t speak very much English, but eventually she realised DH (in just a towel) was not propositioning her and she entered the master code so DH was able to retrieve his clothing.

We went back to the hotel room to get ourselves ready for going outside. This took about 20 minutes, which was handy as it gave time for DD and my hair to dry out. I made a note of all the clothes I wore today, so here goes:
Underwear
Socks x 2
Leggings
Jeans
Thermal long sleeved vest
Strappy vest
Long sleeved t shirt
Jumper
Long thick cardigan
Scarves x 2
Hat
Gloves
Coat
Walking boots
And that’s just me

DD had tights under her leggings and then a pair of jeggings on top. She also had 2 pairs of gloves and a pair of mittens on top. Plus her hat was under her hoodie and she had a hood on her coat!

We decided to try to stay out of the cold as much as possible and so made use of the hotel shuttle to Kendall Square metro station. We caught the T train to Harvard. This was really easy and quick. Under 12s were free and the fare is a flat rate of $2.75 per journey regardless of how far you are travelling.

When we got to Harvard we were starving and looked around for somewhere for lunch. We ended up at the Border Café which we all loved as we like Mexican food a lot. It was colourful and had a great atmosphere.

DD took some photos of the totem pole.

There was an endless supply of tortilla chips and salsa.

We must have had 2 refills and in the end I banned the kids from eating any more to try to prevent them from being too full to eat their meals.

DS had a lemonade and DD had a coke. It was huge.

DH had a corona beer and I had a rather tasty margarita.

DS had a cheeseburger with fries. This is the largest plate of chips I think I have ever seen, once again it was huge and he struggled to eat it all.

DD and myself both had quesadillas, hers with chicken and mine with beef. We split it between the two of us and they were both good.

DH had beef tortillas with rice and blackbeans.

By the end we were stuffed, it was all really good and only came to $63 plus a tip, which I thought was a bargain for four meals and drinks.

After lunch we wandered around Harvard. The buildings were all beautiful and there were actually quite a few tourists looking around.

We found the Harvard book store and spent quite a while in there…books, plus wifi, plus warmth! A winning combination.

We walked around some of the shops and then back through the university grounds. The kids had a very brief game of table football.

Then we caught the train back to Kendall. We had a look in the MIT bookstore and DD bought herself a beautiful Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar for 2018 at just $7.50.

The wind was absolutely bitter at this point and we hustled up the road to a 7 eleven to stock up on some sandwiches, salad and fruit for dinner. We also bought some milk and cereal for breakfast the next day.

The walk back to the hotel was only 15 minutes and we decided it was better to do this than wait for the shuttle which would have meant standing around on the pavement, it just seemed better to keep moving!

MIT is huge and pretty much all the buildings between Kendall Square and our hotel were owned by MIT. I found this one particularly interesting.

DS photo bomb!

We did beat the shuttle back to the hotel and were back in the hotel room at 6.37pm. After a rest and some sandwiches we talked about going out for a drink but none of us could be bothered and in the end we got our PJs on at around 8.30pm (yes I know, party on!) and we lazed around for the rest of the evening. DS was the last up and I told him to turn his tablet off at around 10pm. I think he was the last awake a few times on this trip.

Today’s step count was a measly 15,227, which is less than half that of yesterday. Tomorrow we are off to the Boston Tea Party and Boston Library.

[Melbatb]

Wow - that was cold!

Too funny about your DH and the locker! I can’t blame him as in today’s world we have too many passwords to remember!

Lunch looks delicious - and what great value! We live a bookshop - O will happily spend 3-4 hours in one!

A night in sounds perfect!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Wow - that was cold!

Too funny about your DH and the locker! I can’t blame him as in today’s world we have too many passwords to remember!

Lunch looks delicious - and what great value! We live a bookshop - O will happily spend 3-4 hours in one!

A night in sounds perfect!

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I think he used the same code we use for room safes etc, just when he punched it in he must have doubled up one of the numbers and so mis typed. But it was funny, well to all of us not so much to him!

The bookstore was a welcome reprieve, we did a lot more browsing in shops than normal for us on this holiday!

[OB1LukeLucas]

I'd love to look around Harvard, Boston is on my to do list but I think I'll stick to fall when it's not as freezing. Another great day, your meal looks really good. I had a bit giggle at the locker, good job he was sorted and didn't need to do a walk of shame over to the hotel!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by OB1LukeLucas

I'd love to look around Harvard, Boston is on my to do list but I think I'll stick to fall when it's not as freezing. Another great day, your meal looks really good. I had a bit giggle at the locker, good job he was sorted and didn't need to do a walk of shame over to the hotel!

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Harvard was interesting, but you are right in the fall it would be perfect.

Hmm the locker incident in spite of the fact there was a tunnel it would have been a rather chilly walk and all dressed in just a locker room towel that was the size of a flannel. The poor housekeeping lady must have wanted to run away at the sight of him.

[MrsSilverStar]

Did you ever feel too hot inside in all your layers? Or did you just peel off as many as possible once in? That list of clothing is amazing!

I love Mexican food and that all looked lovely.

Looks like a fun day with plenty going on despite the freezing conditions.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

Did you ever feel too hot inside in all your layers? Or did you just peel off as many as possible once in? That list of clothing is amazing!

I love Mexican food and that all looked lovely.

Looks like a fun day with plenty going on despite the freezing conditions.

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Actually, even though I keep moaning about the cold it was ok in short bursts...the first day we were a bit naive and should have used public transport more. Today and in the future we made really good use of shops as a quick blast for 5 minutes was really nice (kind of like at wdw where we use shops for the AC). We also had more frequent pit stops for drinks or food, at these times we did peel off a few of our top layers. Neither of the kids moaned about being too cold so the wrapping up was worth it.

That Mexican was a great meal. In the coming days we had some tasty food from Irish bars as there are a lot in the city, but I think I preferred this Mexican overall.

I imagine walking around Harvard when the students are actually in session would be great fun as it was it felt busy, but this was just foolish tourists like us!

[Skittl1321]

Gosh, you guys are brave to tour in such cold weather! I'm enjoying reading about your trip.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Skittl1321

Gosh, you guys are brave to tour in such cold weather! I'm enjoying reading about your trip.

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I think it was more stupidity than braveness! But we did come out the other side unscathed so it can't have been too bad for us!

[sizzle]

Loving your trip report, we went to Boston at the beginning of December. The difference in temperature in only a matter of weeks is crazy as we had a mild 8 degrees. I totally fell in love with Boston.