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Mar. 30th, 2011 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
michannaToday I spent $5.30 on dinner and then $5.90 on ice cream. Whoops?
The day started early. I got off the train at South Station and walked up Charles to the Longfellow bridge and over to MIT. The walk was interesting and took about an hour all told to get to the MIT Museum. They had some interesting stuff in there about the history of MIT and some of the most significant discoveries made by researchers. The only thing I was a little annoyed about was that their 'current research' section was talking about stuff from 2007-2009 and their robotics section had nothing about what's been done more recently than 2003. The art machines were super cool though.
After that I walked to Harvard Square. The walk was kind of boring but Harvard green was pretty. I was going to go to Harvard Square for lunch and then head to the Natural History Museum but it was nearly 2 and they closed at 5 so instead I pulled out my granola bar and headed to the Museum.
It's a mini version of a decent natural history museum. The largest collection is a taxidermy collection of animals from around the world. The Africa one was fun ('saw you, didn't see you, you're bigger up close'). But the most interesting part was when I got to the main room and was examining the giraffe when I noticed a lot of cracks and repairs in the hide. I went to find a sign. The sign said the collection was opened in 1890 and significantly extended in 1920. I looked around the room then went up to one of the volunteers. 'is this collection a continuous process or are the specimens in here all 100 years old?' 'oh, pretty much everything in this museum is that old. Some show more wear and tear than the others. The giraffe is about 130.' O_O
In other interesting conversations, there's a fossil skeleton on display there that's one of the most significant archeological find in Australian history. I asked why Australia didn't have possession of it. Apparently a Harvard professor on an unrelated research project found it and asked the Australian government if they could excavate it. At the time, the Australian preservation budget was miniscule so they traded it for 3 landrovers. Good job guys, good job.
There was a speaker free at the museum on urban planning around heavily urban watersheds happening so I decided to stick around. I grabbed some Vietnamese spring rolls for dinner at Harvard Square. When looking for a coffee shop to hang out in for a bit, I stumbled into on called Licks that also produces their own ice cream. Reminded me of Australia for some reason. I was going to get a mocha but I couldn't resist the ice cream. They didn't have Afagatos or thick shakes made from their ice cream, which were my other thoughts, so I ended up getting a grasshopper sunday. Super tasty.
Wandered back to the lecture, which was really good but I won't bore you with the details. It went long which gave me an excuse to take the subway back.
My feet are sore and now it's bed time. Tomorrow, MJ!!!!!
The day started early. I got off the train at South Station and walked up Charles to the Longfellow bridge and over to MIT. The walk was interesting and took about an hour all told to get to the MIT Museum. They had some interesting stuff in there about the history of MIT and some of the most significant discoveries made by researchers. The only thing I was a little annoyed about was that their 'current research' section was talking about stuff from 2007-2009 and their robotics section had nothing about what's been done more recently than 2003. The art machines were super cool though.
After that I walked to Harvard Square. The walk was kind of boring but Harvard green was pretty. I was going to go to Harvard Square for lunch and then head to the Natural History Museum but it was nearly 2 and they closed at 5 so instead I pulled out my granola bar and headed to the Museum.
It's a mini version of a decent natural history museum. The largest collection is a taxidermy collection of animals from around the world. The Africa one was fun ('saw you, didn't see you, you're bigger up close'). But the most interesting part was when I got to the main room and was examining the giraffe when I noticed a lot of cracks and repairs in the hide. I went to find a sign. The sign said the collection was opened in 1890 and significantly extended in 1920. I looked around the room then went up to one of the volunteers. 'is this collection a continuous process or are the specimens in here all 100 years old?' 'oh, pretty much everything in this museum is that old. Some show more wear and tear than the others. The giraffe is about 130.' O_O
In other interesting conversations, there's a fossil skeleton on display there that's one of the most significant archeological find in Australian history. I asked why Australia didn't have possession of it. Apparently a Harvard professor on an unrelated research project found it and asked the Australian government if they could excavate it. At the time, the Australian preservation budget was miniscule so they traded it for 3 landrovers. Good job guys, good job.
There was a speaker free at the museum on urban planning around heavily urban watersheds happening so I decided to stick around. I grabbed some Vietnamese spring rolls for dinner at Harvard Square. When looking for a coffee shop to hang out in for a bit, I stumbled into on called Licks that also produces their own ice cream. Reminded me of Australia for some reason. I was going to get a mocha but I couldn't resist the ice cream. They didn't have Afagatos or thick shakes made from their ice cream, which were my other thoughts, so I ended up getting a grasshopper sunday. Super tasty.
Wandered back to the lecture, which was really good but I won't bore you with the details. It went long which gave me an excuse to take the subway back.
My feet are sore and now it's bed time. Tomorrow, MJ!!!!!
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-31 02:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-31 05:50 am (UTC)Also, Teri, remind me to introduce you to Lydia, she works in environmental resource related stuff iirc and might be interesting for you to chat non-fannishly to, too!
And omg Australia. For three landrovers. That is SO AMAZINGLY AUSSIE.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-31 09:28 am (UTC)