Cambridge, MA

So, I've spent most of the past couple of days in Cambridge, MA. I love it. There are so many old houses and buildings and lots of red brick--it's just so pretty and old.

On Monday, I had a lazy morning trying to take care of stuff for Europe (like calling my bank and telling them not to freeze my cards when I start spending money in Dublin), and then met up with my friend Patrick for lunch in Harvard Square.

We went to a sandwich place called Darwin's. (I took a nice picture of myself standing in front of it which I would post if I had access to a computer with an SD card slot.) We both had portobello mushroom, mozzarella, basil sandwiches (so good) and ate them in a little grassy area along Mt. Auburn Ave (Or was it Mt. Auburn Street? I don't know actually). After that, we visited the Mt. Auburn Cemetery where I took pictures of EVERYTHING. Lots of headstone and flower pictures--pictures that no one but me will ever want to look at. Again, I'd post them for you but I don't have a camera USB cord or a computer with an SD card slot.

We spent about two hours wandering around the cemetery. Apparently, it's the first landscaped cemetery in the United States. It was beautiful--peaceful and quiet. There are a lot of famous people buried there, most of whom I'd never heard of. But we did look at the graves of some people whose names I recognized: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary Baker Eddy (founder of Christian Science), and Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes Booth and one of the most famous Shakespearean actors in 1860s America).

In the middle of the cemetery is a tower that you can climb and see an awesome view of Cambridge and Boston.

After our cemetery-ing, Patrick showed me around Harvard campus and we headed back to Harvard Square where we got dark hot chocolate at Barlick's (YUM) and looked around the Harvard Coop--Harvard's university bookstore that is run by Barnes & Noble (I know, right).

Later, we met up with Patrick's bible study friends, Tom and Courtney, for dinner at a place called India Castle. It was delicious.

Today was rainy and overcast, so we didn't actually go to Walden Pond or Orchard House (that will happen tomorrow!). But Sarah and I did do a session at the Boston Temple (which was really pretty). We also ate at Chipotle (shout out to Gina & Rebecca!), ran errands at Target, and went to J. P. Lick's, an ice cream place in Harvard Square. I had chocolate pretzel ice cream. Again, yum. (I love food.)

Sarah dropped me off at the Harvard Coop where I read poetry while waiting to meet up with my friend Natalie. I came across this amazing poem that I think I'm going to make copies of and pass out to students who ask me if they missed anything important when they were absent from my class.

Natalie and I went to a concert by Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo, who I guess were in America for the Japan-U.S. Cherry Blossom Centennial. It was a beautiful concert that took place in beautiful concert hall on campus. The concert hall was in the same building where the Harvard freshman dining hall is located. BYU's Cannon Center has a lot of room for improvement.

After the concert, Natalie and I grabbed dinner at a cool little place on Harvard Square. I can't remember what it was called, but we had hummus and red lentil soup. So good.

And now I'm seriously considering moving to Cambridge.