Hello, have we met? I’m Betsy Devine. I grew up in NH, but now I live in Cambridge. Some people think my new neighborhood is noisy. Maybe so–but when I hear the trolley go rattling by, I think, “Woo hoo! I am living in a city!”
If you’re coming to BloggerCon— I hope you are–here are some non-blog things I recommend.
- At Au Bon Pain (1360 Mass Ave), you can play chess with a master. Better yet, sit on the terrace with your latte and let someone else play chess–while you watch the world’s diversity walking by.
- Hop on the Red Line subway–get off anywhere. If you head “Inbound” from Harvard, enjoy a surprise vista out over the Charles River. If you head “Outbound”, go all the way out to Alewife and have a meal at Jasper’s Summer Shack. (Bring plenty of money or plenty of self-restraint.)
- Before there were blogs, there were books and libraries–if you are like me, and revel in such delights, buy Library: An Unquiet History. I just went to a book signing, the author is awesome.
- Visit the Harvard Bookstore, 1256 Mass. Ave–it’s a real bookstore. No, not the Coop (pronounced in Cambridge as if it were housing for chickens.)
- Public toilets in Harvard Square? The Coop, but only if you’re desperate–gross. Look for “The Garage,” which has decent, cheap food, not to mention Newbury Comics. Clean toilets are in the basement.
- Just walk on by the well-fed panhandlers who make a good living by embarassing tourists. (If you see someone in actual need of your help, that’s totally different.)
If you see two blonde crones on Day #2, say hi! That will be Kalilily (in tight jeans or pirate garb) and me (expect to see me, like Stendhal, in red and black.)
I hope you’ll love it here as much as I do.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Steve Kirks // Sep 20, 2003 at 8:35 am
Besty: Thanks for the shortlist. My wife is coming with me for BloggerCon and we are both first-time vistors to Boston. The toilet report is very appreciated.
2 Betsy Devine // Sep 20, 2003 at 11:21 am
Thanks, Steve–you inspired me to another comment:
Watch out for our local drivers! A yellow traffic light is treated like a green light. When the light turns red, traffic stops but…with some delay. Pedestrians are almost as aggressive–it’s amazing we haven’t wiped each other out!
3 Lisa Williams // Sep 20, 2003 at 4:45 pm
Skip the Pain and go around the corner to Cafe Pamplona, where it is rumored the watercolor sketch in the corner is a Goya diseno for a larger piece that was never finished. Oh, and have a medianoche. Coffee’s better too.
Traffic stuff is true. We here in the cradle of liberty take a skeptical attitude towards things like lane markings…
4 Betsy Devine // Sep 22, 2003 at 2:20 pm
Thanks, Lisa–I will definitely try Cafe Pamplona (12 Bow St., “classier than ABP, cheaper than Toscanini” says last year’s Harvard Unofficial guide). The best thing about ABP isn’t their coffee, it’s the huuuuuge sidewalk-watching patio.
5 Lisa Williams // Sep 23, 2003 at 7:48 pm
Oh, yeah, I know. It is a nice public sculpture to sit in. Airy, yet you don’t feel like you’re sitting in the road.