staying in Cambridge

We got lucky finding a place to stay when we went into downtown Boston for the conference. I found an apartment rental on Craigslist that was much cheaper than the hotels were. (see photo above...we were on the 3rd floor) Chris and I actually prefer to travel this way, it actually gives you a good feel of the city and what it would be like if we actually lived there. Our apartment was about a 3-4 minute walk from Harvard Square in Cambridge. Actually I didn't realize how lucky we were until Saturday night when we went int0 the square to walk around and get ice cream....Harvard's graduation was the same weekend we were there! It was so packed you could hardly walk but we enjoyed it anyways.

Boston has an energy that I have never felt in another city. Maybe it is because I know it fairly well, having visited there so much, but I don't know. The architecture is amazing...there are so many beautiful old buildings that just beg to be photographed...you can see a few at the end of this post. I also love all the dining patios...almost every place has them on Newbury street. It's demographic is pretty young, considering how many colleges and univ. are there, and it's public transportation is top notch. We took the bus to the conference center and rode the T (subway) all over town. We loved it. I could live right downtown and not even have a car...
Besides using public transportation, we did a lot of walking while we were there. I actually got blisters on our first day! We traveled down to South Boston for the SOWA Open Market. It was a very artsy area with lots of studios. The market was smaller than I expected but I did find some soap and a change purse to take home with me.Later on we went into downtown to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. It's kind of a touristy spot but I love it nonetheless. We ate lunch at a irish pub upstairs and afterwards, Chris had to have a nap by the waterfront. Here are a few pictures from our journey...I especially love the boy scout one...they were on tour with a guy dressed up as a early Bostonian...cute.