日志

哈佛桥

热度 16已有 621 次阅读2019-3-30 21:58 |个人分类:点点滴滴

2019-3-30

两年前带小不点儿去波士顿玩，回来后小不点儿写过一篇文章，其中的两段，专门提到哈佛桥的故事：

I love MIT because it’s awesome to be a MIT student! When I visited MIT, I crossed the Harvard Bridge over the Charles River. I heard some student’s name was called Smoot. That was a weird name. The bridge was measured by MIT students. They invented a unit using this student’s name. The bridge was measured 364.4 smoots long, plus and minus one ear. This is interesting, and I had a great adventure.

MIT is my dream school. I will try my best to get there. What if I don’t? I will not give up. I can still get into Harvard because my sister says I am a Harvard kid. I can cross the Harvard Bridge, to visit MIT, and to have fun there.

小不点儿写的第一段，基本上没有什么大错。可是第二段的最后一句，就有了一点方位上的问题。因为MIT和哈佛大学，在查尔斯河的同一个方向，都在剑桥这同一座城市内。哈佛桥不是联结哈佛和MIT这两所大学的，而是连接波士顿的后湾和剑桥这两座城市的。从哈佛广场到MIT校园步行，由西向东经过马萨诸塞大道，或者沿查尔斯河岸由北向南走不到两迈的距离即是。等看见哈佛桥就已经走过了。从MIT到哈佛大学，由东向西或由南向北，也不经过哈佛桥。走哈佛桥就去了相反的方向，到波士顿的后湾区去了。

之所以叫哈佛桥而不叫MIT桥，是因为哈佛桥的历史，比MIT的历史更为悠久，虽然中间也曾经有过这样的动议。可不管怎么说，哈佛桥离MIT比离哈佛大学更近是一个无可否认的客观事实。而且是因为MIT的存在，才把这哈佛桥的故事，演绎得如泣如诉，精彩万分。

The Harvard Bridge is quite unique. Whether it's because of the Smoot measurements, the wide sidewalks (a major plus over the Longfellow's smaller, harder to maneuver mini-sidewalks), or its view of Cambridge, Boston proper, or Allston/Brighton, it's got it all. The sidewalks in particular make the walk across an enjoying experience, as there's less of the watching out for runners, though the larger sidewalks do bring out more bikes on the sidewalk itself. Finally, it gets you to two separate bustling areas: Back Bay and MIT, and with a good bit of exercise to boot.

There is nothing more spectacular than views of the Boston skyline from the Harvard Bridge. Nothing. It's beautiful when it's rainy, even when the water and skyline are grey. It's beautiful when the Charles is a sheet of ice. It's beautiful in the fall, when tops red and orange and yellow trees can be seen, it's beautiful in the spring, and it's even more gorgeous in the summer, when there are boats and kayaks. It's also the best place to view the 4th of July fireworks. It's not fun to be on the #1 bus on a Friday afternoon when crossing the bridge; otherwise, it's the top place I recommend for tourists and visiting friends to see/get good pictures of the city.

When I used to teach, I would ALWAYS tell my students (international students) to walk across the bridge from Hynes station when they wanted to see MIT, instead of going to Kendall. Even though there are bike lanes, bikers still bike on the sidewalk. They're not as CRAZY as Golden Gate Bridge bikers, though. That being said, there's lots of bike/people traffic on the bridge, so if you are going to stop and take pictures, please look behind you before you stop shoot...

I loooooooove the Harvard Bridge! You get the best panoramic views here. It's the only spot where you can see the Zakim bridge, Beacon Hill, the Citco Sign...really the whole Boston skyline, MIT, and Harvard grounds all at the same time. When I do jogs around the Charles River, I often use this bridge to do wind sprints back and fourth for an awesome workout, as it's a little over 720 yards long...works the endurance big time when sprinting! ...I had a crazy friend who used to do lunges all across it...I haven't done that, but damn, that would definitely work your ass! (I mean glutes). Check it out at night, too. A whole different experience with the city lights. Beautiful.

小不点儿之所以产生这个方位上的困惑，大概是基于妹妹的一个高中同学曾经说过的一句玩笑话。妹妹的同学说他可以从哈佛大学经查尔斯河一路游泳到MIT去。可是看看地图，这个所谓的一路游泳，是从查尔斯河漂流而下，而决不是沧海横渡的意思。