How Smart are You – going to Harvard for Free?

With the Boston Marathon right around the corner, we had to share with you an ABSOLUTE gem we uncovered on a recent trip. In Cambridge, which is a 20 minute ride from downtown Boston, visit the Fogg Museum at Harvard. It has priceless works of art and it costs NOTHING to go there. I mean, how smart are you – going to Harvard for free?

How we found it

For the first time since 2015, we went to Boston FOR FUN. That’s right, NO RUNNING. (Like at all!) But here’s the thing, we were going to Boston in mid-March. The odds of the weather being warm enough to walk the Freedom trail with relative comfort were not good. So, we needed to find some things we hadn’t done before that were indoors – which ruled out Irish bars.

Thank you Pinterest!

Where else should you look to find the Top 15 Things to Do in Harvard Square? For some reason, I just felt we had to start there. First up…rub the foot of John Harvard for luck. Of course this is supposed to be for tests, but I thought I’d give it a go in case it translates to other areas of your life.

Off to the Fogg

When I read about the Fogg on line, I was interested because it looked to be a smaller museum, they mentioned they had Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso, AND it was free. I mean, if you want to while away an hour before lunch, this seemed as good a place as any. We had NO idea how wonderful this place would be!

The Collection

The Masters

So when they said they had Renoir, Degas, Picasso and Van Gogh…we thought they’d have one of each and that they would most likely be sketches, things that are preludes to the master works you see at other museums. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Ancient Art

Not only that, they have a wonderful collection of items from Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. I think I was most impressed because in all my years, I’ve not been able to keep one dish set in tact, yet they have vases from 450 BCE.

So good…It changed the weekend!

The plan was:

• an hour at the Fogg (if we were lucky)
• lunch
• check in to the hotel
• live music at the Sam Adams Taproom
• And the next day, paid tickets to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts – one of the largest art museums in the USA.

We had to drag ourselves out after nearly two hours in the galleries and decided to forego the BFA all together because we were afraid it would be a bit of a let down.

So take it from us, have a stroll through Havahd and get your art on for free! You can use the money you saved for a pint at Grendel’s Den!

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