Monday, Apr. 26, 2010

7. Harvard Yard

The streets of Harvard Square are overrun with Au Bon Pains and Gaps, and nary an independent bookstore remains, but once you walk inside the gates of the country's most storied university, it's easy to tune out all the noise and forget everything but your own bitterness at not getting accepted. Walk it off with a stroll around the campus, pop into Memorial Church for some perspective on the school's history, or visit one of the small, excellent museums, such as the Peabody Museum of archaeology or the Sackler art museum, then be thankful that nothing you saw will be on a test. (Click here for an interactive campus map.)

Back outside the gates, there are any number of options for cheap, mediocre food, but for a reliable and reasonably priced lunch, try Cambridge 1 for thin crust pizza and good salads. If you'd like something more expensive, Harvest is a popular place for students to take visiting parents.