Harvard Square Has it All; Street music, a Chess Master, Museums,
Restaurants and a National Park Site
By Fran Folsom
 One of the coolest, hippest places in Cambridge is Harvard
Square. The square sprung up when Harvard College was founded in 1636; it’s been
the place to see and be seen in since then.
Leave the car in one of the parking garages and set out on
foot, it’s the only way to really absorb everything that is Harvard Square.
The square’s street scene is alive with musicians playing
everything from Bach to Latin American folk songs and artists hawking their
wares. For $2.00 you can challenge the “chess master” to a match at his table
outside the Au Bon Pain café on Massachusetts Avenue.
A $9.00 combination ticket gets you admission to three of
Harvard’s art museums; the Fogg with exhibits of Western art dating back to the
Middle Ages, and a significant
collection of Picasso art; the Busch-Reisinger is home to a
stellar collection of modern art from Germany and Austria; and the Sackler which
has what is considered to be the best collection of Asian art in the United
States. Not to be missed is the Museum of Natural History with its world famous
glass flowers collection.
America’s favorite poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was
born in Portland, but, he spent his entire adult life in Cambridge where he was
a professor or modern languages at Harvard. Longfellow’s home, now the
Longfellow National Historic Site at 105 Brattle Street, is a ten minute walk
from the square. National Park Rangers give tours of the house ($3.00)
Wednesdays – Sundays July to October.
 Shops run the gamut from chic and elegant designs for home
and fashion, to funky treads, tattoos and body piercing.
Cambridge has almost three hundred restaurants; many of
them located in and near Harvard Square. Blow your budget at Craigie Street
Bistrot and Upstairs on the Square, both are worth it. John Harvard’s Brew House
and Redline offer moderately priced entrees. Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage has
been serving great burgers since before Al Gore was a student at Harvard. A must
stop is Burdick’s Chocolates; the desserts are to die for.
Surrounding the square are several top-notch hotels and bed
& breakfasts; the Sheraton Commander Hotel (www.sheraton.com/commander),
the Charles Hotel (www.charleshotel.com,
Harding House B&B (www.cambridgeinns.com),
and the Mary Prentiss Inn (www.maryprentissinn.com). |
