Harvard

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Cambridge, MA for a one week summer institute at Harvard University.  While most of my time was occupied in classes and seminars, I did manage a few early morning runs and a bike ride (more on that later) before each day got busy. 
Saturday:  Unfortunately, due to plane delays, my arrival didn't occur until about 10:30 at night on Friday (Note: I won't fly with Delta again if I can help it).  Saturday morning, I awoke early and headed out to explore the area around Harvard.  I brought my phone along to take some pictures, but I've also taken the liberty of "borrowing" a few shots from Google Images (thanks to everyone that is a better photographer than I am).  There was some type of problem between my phone's GPS and Strava so after standing around for a few minutes with no ability to locate a signal, I scrapped the application, and just started running (I also tried using it on my second run with no success).  My original plan was to run for about 30-45 minutes, but the total time out wound up being closer to 65-80 minutes due to the fact that I eventually became completely lost.  It took a bit of time to get my bearings again, but eventually I managed to find a familiar looking area, and found my way back to the hotel.  Apart from getting turned around, the run itself was magnificent.   

Looks like a guy with a funny hat!

Tower: Really, really tall

 I started near Harvard square and within the first ten minutes I ran by a cemetery with tombstones dating from the 1700's, and an historical house that George Washington had used as his headquarters (Oh yeah, some guy named Longfellow also lived there).  Not a typical running route by any means.

This Cemetery included the graves of Slaves, Revolutionary War Soldiers, and many others

Nice digs: GW's house while staying in town for the Revolutionary War

 Monday: I went for a shorter run on Monday morning of only about 30 minutes.  I didn't see quite as many historical sites as I did on Saturday morning, but my run took me more into some of the neighborhoods around Cambridge.  Just before I turned around, I came across a large park that had a nice track located inside.  I stopped to get a quick shot.

Tuesday: Early on Tuesday, my colleague and I rented bikes using the Hubway, the bike sharing system for the greater Boston area.  These were just cruiser bikes so there wasn't really any hard core riding going on.  Still it was great to be able to cover more ground in a short amount of time.

We found a path that followed the St. Charles River and rode alongside it for a few miles before returning on the other side of the river.   There were several rowing teams out on the water as well as a few folks that looked like they were getting a lesson.   Wish there had been more time to try that out!

Lots of practice on the St. Charles

 Since I finished my class, I can now tell folks that not only did I attend Harvard, but I was able to do it in only a week!  It just goes to show you, how smart I are.

The Harvard Library, a good place for Book Learnin'