Riding The (Heat) Waves – In Boston
Posted July 14, 2017 by Elizabeth Jarcy
It’s official: summer is HERE, and hotter than ever. Coming from Texas, I’m used to the humidity and heat, but not walking around in it – Texas is too big to walk so everyone drives! But here in the ‘Walking City’, I’ve had to adjust to hoofing it wherever I need to go. The MBTA is a blessing and a curse – sometimes the air conditioning is a gift, but other times when the AC is not working it can be a cruel joke. That said, summer in Boston is actually very lovely, as it not only gives me a reprieve from classwork, but lets me actually explore the city I’ve been living in for almost a year.
As a SLIS student, museums and libraries are obviously at the top of my list of things to do, and Boston is jam-packed with incredible institutions. The Boston Public Library, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Cambridge Public Library are my top three, although I do like visiting local branches and see how everyday people like me are presented with opportunities to read and learn. The Boston Public Library (BPL) and the Cambridge Public Library are vast, and have excellently diverse sections so that everyone can find their interest in one spot. They are also interesting architecturally, being mash-ups of old and new buildings – what a metaphor for life, huh?
Cambridge Public Library
The BPL and the Athenaeum both provide that unique feeling of mixed awe and inspiration – their study and reading spaces take me back to how our predecessors used to learn and discover, and inspire me to do the same. The Athenaeum requires a paid membership to use, but various types of tours are available. I’m fortunate to have an internship there, so I’ve become familiar with the ins and outs, but it never becomes less affecting.
Museum-wise, I’m sure I could go to a different museum every day until I die and still not exhaust Boston’s assemblage. My favorites by far are the Isabella Stewart Gardner (naturally) and the Science Museum. The Gardner is a Boston classic, even for non-SLIS folks, and I adore it. I’ve always loved the cluttered-but-organized Victorian aesthetic, but the gorgeous garden and the empty frames really sold me on the Gardner. I could go right to sleep in the courtyard, with its lush greenery and softly playing tapes of birds (can’t have real birds) and I feel transported to a different time with every room I step in and every hall I wander. I’m astounded every time by the empty frames where the Rembrandts used to hang, astonished by the fact that they still haven’t been recovered. I also think it’s funny, ironic, and sad that they have Rembrandt’s portrait of himself hanging across the room, staring at the places where his work used to hang for all to see.
Don’t be sad, Remy. We’ll find them.
The Science Museum is always a lot of fun. It’s ENORMOUS, packed to the brim with interactive exhibits, and constantly rolling out something fun and new. I’ve been there three times for hours on end and I still don’t think I’ve seen it all. They have lightning shows with the original Faraday cage, dinosaur bones, a bed of nails you can lay on (feels pretty good, actually!), a natural history hall, a space exploration hall, indoor butterfly garden, and awesome exhibits on rotation, such as the POPnology exhibit, which is an exhibit of technology-based pop culture icons, such as Watson, the Terminator, R2D2, and other amazing things you might not have heard of but you’ll wish you did sooner! The Museum of Science is very hands-on and interactive, which I love for myself, but I also love to see for the hundreds of kids that go each day, to see them having fun and learning and seeing how cool science and math can be!
