Here is what I was planning on doing today, Saturday evening:
My friend Brian works at a restaurant close to Faneuil Hall in Boston, and he told me that whenever his friends visit him he gives them free ice cream. So I planned on visiting him, getting free ice cream, and then strolling to a section of the Boston harborwalk that I've been planning to visit because it offers a view of the city I've been dying to see. I was going to go with my friend Annie.
None of that happened.
First, I didn't end up going with just Annie; I somehow managed to drag my friend Vinnie along too.
We hopped on the T (subway) like we intended, but two stops after Harvard, at Kendall/MIT, an announcement came on that the train was to be out of service and we would have to leave.
What?
So we left, and after a few minutes standing around stumped on what to do next, we found out that we had to leave the station and take a shuttle to the Park St stop. Except that's not where we needed to go; we needed to go to Downtown Crossing, which was the stop after. Not really having any plans, we left the shuttle at Park St.
We didn't feel like paying again to go back down, so we ended up at Boston Common, a nice park. We strolled around wondering what to do before eventually deciding that my original plan wasn't going to happen.
We didn't really have a destination. Annie and I were overjoyed from being outside the Harvard Bubble, seeing a bit of the real world for once.
Eventually, we left the bustling downtown and ended up by the Charles River, directly across Cambridge. We had the intent of going back to Harvard but were well aware of how far it was. We wondered what to do, since the red line was undergoing renovations and we weren't sure where we could get back in the subway. We didn't even know where along the river we could find a bridge to cross. We just kept walking along it, Cambridge and the Charles on our left, darkness and a pond on our right, towards the cars we saw zooming by far ahead of us.
When we did find a bridge, it didn't even go across the river but took us back across the pond to the station Charles/MGH. At first it was a relief, but it turned out the station was closed. So we wandered a bit further wondering what to do, when we saw shuttles heading towards Kendall/MIT. We found what we thought was the makeshift stop where they would pick up stranded T passengers, but the shuttle that stopped had Park St as its destination.
It turned out that technically, it wasn't supposed to stop there, but it would indeed take us to Kendall/MIT. Okay.
We went down into the station. It was immensely crowded.
When we were finaaaally back at Harvard, we decided to go treat ourselves to ice cream and lament about how nothing went to plan.
But hey. Even if I didn't accomplish what I had originally set out to do, being thrilled with abrupt change and learning how to adapt to it is part of being a true traveler, and I was really glad to experience this much deviation this afternoon with great friends.
Looking forward to the next adventurous outing!
(like New York in two weeks? hmmm I think yes)
My friend Brian works at a restaurant close to Faneuil Hall in Boston, and he told me that whenever his friends visit him he gives them free ice cream. So I planned on visiting him, getting free ice cream, and then strolling to a section of the Boston harborwalk that I've been planning to visit because it offers a view of the city I've been dying to see. I was going to go with my friend Annie.
None of that happened.
First, I didn't end up going with just Annie; I somehow managed to drag my friend Vinnie along too.
We hopped on the T (subway) like we intended, but two stops after Harvard, at Kendall/MIT, an announcement came on that the train was to be out of service and we would have to leave.
What?
So we left, and after a few minutes standing around stumped on what to do next, we found out that we had to leave the station and take a shuttle to the Park St stop. Except that's not where we needed to go; we needed to go to Downtown Crossing, which was the stop after. Not really having any plans, we left the shuttle at Park St.
We didn't feel like paying again to go back down, so we ended up at Boston Common, a nice park. We strolled around wondering what to do before eventually deciding that my original plan wasn't going to happen.
After leaving the park, we just took a long, long walk around the city. It was very lovely; all the lights, people, and noise made for an exciting impromptu adventure.
Eventually, we left the bustling downtown and ended up by the Charles River, directly across Cambridge. We had the intent of going back to Harvard but were well aware of how far it was. We wondered what to do, since the red line was undergoing renovations and we weren't sure where we could get back in the subway. We didn't even know where along the river we could find a bridge to cross. We just kept walking along it, Cambridge and the Charles on our left, darkness and a pond on our right, towards the cars we saw zooming by far ahead of us.
When we did find a bridge, it didn't even go across the river but took us back across the pond to the station Charles/MGH. At first it was a relief, but it turned out the station was closed. So we wandered a bit further wondering what to do, when we saw shuttles heading towards Kendall/MIT. We found what we thought was the makeshift stop where they would pick up stranded T passengers, but the shuttle that stopped had Park St as its destination.
It turned out that technically, it wasn't supposed to stop there, but it would indeed take us to Kendall/MIT. Okay.
 |
| Annie and me rather exasperated |
We were getting quite frustrated with this T construction business. Apparently, it's some long-term project, and the red line on the weekends is going to be compromised.
Wow. Just wow.
I'm quite irritated, because I like to use the weekends to leave Harvard, and the one line that would take me to the heart of the city just has to have some issues then. Oh the irony. Considering Annie also likes leaving the bubble to clear her head and remind herself that another world exists, she shared the same sentiments I did.
But hey. Even if I didn't accomplish what I had originally set out to do, being thrilled with abrupt change and learning how to adapt to it is part of being a true traveler, and I was really glad to experience this much deviation this afternoon with great friends.
Looking forward to the next adventurous outing!
(like New York in two weeks? hmmm I think yes)
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