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Q&A Bolourchi 2Photo by Meena
Contents 2. Q&A 6. Back Bay 8. Harvard Square 10. The Art of Eating 11. Chinatown 12. Teele Square 14. Simply Delicious 16. Hugged a Sasquatch Today? 18. Boston Harbor Islands 20. FOCUS
Tufts Traveler staff Brianna Beehler Lauren Lee Nancy Wang Samuel Lee Sarah Hayes Emily de Armas Brianna Beehler Adam Roy Ed Fan
Letter from the Editors
...And we’re back. We admit, we were not exactly excited to return to Somer-ford after a semester of sipping cappuccinos in Florence or exploring the nightmarkets of Taipei. Yet as senior year dawned on us, we began to realize that in the three and a half years we’ve been here, we had yet to fully experience everything this city has to offer. Our idea of Boston had been limited to the same old locations that surely every Jumbo has been to -- Quincy Market, Boston Commons, the Prudential Center, just to name a few. So since we believe that traveling is seeing and experiencing something new, we decided to see and experience the college-kid mecca in our own backyard. Hopefully this issue will inspire you to seek out everything that Boston has to offer; and maybe you will discover what we’ve discovered -- that Boston is truly one of the best cities in which to travel!
editors-in-chief • marianna bender • samuel lee • production manager • robbie gottlieb • managing editors • brianna beehler • emily de armas • anna simon • nancy wang • editor • catherine scott • staff writers • adam roy • contributing writers • sarah hayes • lauren lee • contributing photographers • brianna beehler • emily de armas • amy feduska • meena bolourchi • ed fan • samuel lee • adam roy • anna simon • nancy wang 3
Q&A How does the Zipcar work? If you walk around the city (and even on campus), you will occasionally see a car with a green ‘z’ sticker stuck on its sides. This is the zipcar, which has revolutionized the concept of renting and even owning a car. Founded in 1999 right in Cambridge, MA, Zipcar offers a car-sharing service for its members by conveniently placing cars in various locations around all major cities in the United States and Canada – there is even a Zipcar location right on campus across from Stratton Hall. For either an annual or monthly membership fee, members are able to make reservations online or through phone on the type of car, the location of the car, and the period in which they will use the cars. Zipcar offers a myriad of different cars from the Mini to hybrids to pickup trucks to even BMWs. Following the reservation, a Zipcard is sent to the member, who then can use it to open the Zipcar at the specified location. The cars can also be reserved for as little as an hour to as long as four days, after which the car is simply returned to where the member had originally picked up the car. Members are simply charged for the period for which they’ve used the car. And amazingly, gas and insurance are covered in the package! For more information regarding prices, fees, regulations and policies, please check out the Zipcar website at www.zipcar.com.
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Klein Q&A 2Photo by Meredith
So what is the deal with the Chinatown buses, are they as ‘sketchy’ as people say they are? Surely everyone has heard those horror stories about the Chinatown bus exploding in the middle of nowhere, stranding its passengers in the rain for hours. Well, unfortunately, some of those stories are indeed true. Both Lucky Star and Fung Wah buses have had safety issues in the past; and a quick search online will yield a long list of accidents, including fires, lost of back wheels, collisions with highway concrete barriers, and buses rolling over. In fact, between the months of March and August of 2005, both Lucky Star and Fung Wah operated a bus that had burst into flame between New York and Boston. And while, there have been no fatalities and very minimal injuries, such a track record is frightening nonetheless. However, before you completely reject the Chinatown buses, here are a few things you may want to consider: Boston to New York trips can be tiring; and sitting in the small seats for several hours in a crowded bus can be an absolute nightmare. While the Greyhound / Peter Pan buses offer the standard times depending on the time of day it is, both Fung Wah and Lucky Star buses have gotten to New York in record times. Although it is frequently the speeding that had caused many of the accidents, going from Boston to New York in under three hours and thirty minutes is a welcome relief for those who have busy schedules or those who dread the small space and horrible air. Also, the Chinatown buses both charge a cool $15 at their counters; and with over 20 buses a day, it is easy to be extremely flexible with your schedule. You don’t pay until you board and you don’t need to worry about the hassle of online ticket purchases and ticket printing. Furthermore, Lucky Star is now offering deals online, with tickets to New York for a $1; thus redefining the notion of budget traveling. This offers those who constantly change plans, live life spontaneously, or make plans last minute a convenient and cheap way to travel to the Big Apple and back. However, if you are still convinced that the Chinatown buses are still ‘sketchy,’ there are still various bus options open for you. Apart from the typical Greyhound and Peter Pan buses, you may also want to consider Bolt Bus or Limo Bus. Firstly, Bolt Bus offers the unique combination of budget traveling with comfort. The buses are not only new, but are also equipped with free wi-fi and outlets for every seat. And while, the seat sizes are the same as the Chinatown buses, Bolt Bus provides more leg room. Perhaps most surprising of all, however, is the price of the trip. Typically, the prices vary, but the further in advance you purchase your tickets, the cheaper they will be. Tickets are bought online, seats are assigned, and the bus schedules are fixed, yet these minor differences are surely made up with the many conveniences and comfort that Bolt Bus offers. For those who want to ride in first class, there is the LimoLiner Bus, which at a $89 for a oneway trip price tag, provides one of the most luxurious and comfortable ways to travel to New York. The bus leaves from the Hilton Back Bay and arrives at the Hilton NYC in under four hours and features not only wi-fi and outlets, but also large leather seats and a food service with snack sandwiches.
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Boston
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BOSTON Klein Photo by Meredith 4
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Back Bay Espresso Royale Café 286 Newbury St.
Popular with Northeastern students, a branch can also be found on Newbury Street. Always bustling, it’s easy to find and with student coupons there’s a special every day. Be sure to try the raspberry white mocha!
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brianna beehler
The Other Side Café 407 Newbury St.
The Other side Café is an affordable, grungy local hangout off of Newbury Street where hungry shoppers can find a variety of vegetarian, vegan and meat-friendly options. A friendly, tattooed wait staff blends well with the colorful surroundings and alternative music, and is more than happy to serve customers something from the large drink selection. Swing by on Tuesday nights for the Back to School film series featuring such favorites as The Breakfast Club.
Taking it’s name from a location in Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Parish Café features sandwiches all created by famous Boston chefs, each of which is named after the chef and respective restaurant. Open until 1:00 AM daily, the café hosts an assortment of vegetarian and meat entrees, including the intriguing “Elephant Walking on Eggs,” by Gerard Lopez, chef/ owner of The Elephant Walk in Cambridge -- highly recommended by fellow Jumbos!
The Parish Café
361 Boylston St.
For a Diagon Alley experience, be sure to hit Bodega. A hidden, pricey men’s shoe store, with a limited women’s selection, Bodega is at first glance a sketchy convenience store front, with faded magazines and laundry detergent in the windows. There’s no sign marking the entrance, but curious first-timers will know they’re there when they hear “Bodega” mentioned on the lips of nearly every passerby. Upon entering, adventurous shoppers are greeted with buzzing flies and five auspicious men hunched over a table consuming Chinese food. Newcomers stand, embarrassed and confused, until experienced visitors push past them and walk towards the Snapple machine, which suddenly slides to the side, revealing a brightly lit, chic and colorful room with loud music playing and employees patrolling the crowd of excited consumers. For those not interested in shoes, apparel and vibrant graffiti art books also line the walls. Check out the YouTube video under the search, “Bodega Story,” for a glimpse of the full experience.
Bodega
6 Clearway Street
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Boston Tea Shop
Harvard Square lauren lee
54 JFK Street Remember when you were a kid and used watermelon seeds as ammunition? Well what the Boston Tea Stop serves up is infinitely better as ammunition, and on the plus side you don’t need to use your mouth as the weapon. Known as bubble milk tea, pearl milk tea, or boba tea, these slightly gelatinous tapioca spheres are somewhat of an acquired taste. Served in milky beverages (usually some form of tea, flavored options available) they provide an interesting textural contrast between the silken liquid tea and the slightly chewy, syrupy “bubbles” themselves. For boba shooting, load up your super sized straw with a few bobas (make sure there’s no liquid in the straw), pucker up, and puff hard into the straw. Voila! Instant projectile that will adhere to nearly any surface known to mankind. Here’s an extra tip: don’t miss out on the 80s 90s style Streetfighter video game booth in the corner. And in even more of a throwback to childhood, pull out Connect 4, Clue, and Mr. Potato Head from the Sterilite containers by the flat screen. Snack time, kids?
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Berryline 3 Arrow Street For those die-hard Californians and New Yorkers missing their lowfat fix of fro-yo, Berryline might just be what the doctor prescribed for a healthy(ish) sweet treat. With a trillion possible combinations of toppings ranging from fruit to popular crushed up candies and other miscellaneous food items (Oreos, honey, granola), Berryline yogurt is a serious no-brainer. Clocking in at a mere 125 calories per 5 oz., Berryline is a veritable health food in comparison to the other frozen treat establishments in town. Tangy in flavor (think Greek yogurt tangy, but infinitely more palatable) and refreshing in taste, Berryline is a dessert both you and your waistline can actually feel good about. Popular with hipsters, youngsters, and oldsters alike, take your yogurt to go and just imagine all the calories (and potential guilt exercise) you’re saving yourself as you window shop through Harvard Square.
If childishness isn’t your thing and you would prefer to think of yourself as a cultured, 40 Brattle Street sophisticated, and intellectual individual, then you ought to haul your pretentious behind to Algiers Café. That’s not to say that Algiers is pretentious or hoity-toity at all, but your potentially snotty self would find its Middle Eastern décor, balcony seating, and high vaulted ceiling absolutely charming and appealing. Instead of childish games and play, political discussions and literary commentary are heard from neighboring tables. And to further satiate your appreciation of different cultural aesthetics, the art scattered throughout is delightfully eccentric, and the coffee arrives in adorably special single serving pots. Their chocolate cake is excellent as well with an admirably ideal ratio of fudgy frosting to actual cake. In all seriousness though, Algiers Café is a lovely gem in the heart of Harvard and is what all cafés should aspire to be. It is the perfect combination of coziness, unique décor, and tasty sustenance coupled with a plethora of caffeinated options for every hardworking student or intellectual.
Algiers Cafe
L.A. Burdick 52D Brattle Street Come here if you have money burning a hole through your pocket, because there are certainly plenty of places to spend it here. Yes, the chocolates are somewhat extravagantly priced, but they are so inspirationally good that I am compelled to sing their praises. For cute connoisseurs Burdick’s offers chocolates molded into shapes of delectably endearing penguins and mice (with silk string tails!). And if you can’t afford to buy a box of chocolates (probably literally) worth their weight in gold, do try and step in on a wintry day for their exceptional hot chocolate. The more mature palate should opt for the dark chocolate, those fond of milder flavors should try the milk chocolate, and those with an insatiable sweet tooth should ask for half milk chocolate, half white chocolate. The hot chocolate here is anything but the dinky diluted chocolate flavored water from Swiss Miss packets. I am convinced that it is straight up melted chocolate served to you in a cup, and very high quality chocolate at that. If you wait long enough for it to cool, the top layer will start to set and solidify, so drink up me hearties!
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The Art of Eating at a Chinese Restaurant nancy wang When we think about French cuisine, the words fancy, multicourse, and formal come to mind. In contrast, Chinese food can be one of the most casual dining experiences. Having gone to Chinese restaurants with my American friends, I have noticed that many of them have been satisfied with just ordering one or two main dishes such as general chicken or broccoli beef. I am not saying that is the wrong way to eat Chinese food; however, if you want a complete experience of Chinese cuisine, here are a few guidelines: The first thing you should think about before ordering your food is tea. Tea plays a very important role in Chinese culture, and theoretically, we should have tea during every meal. From Oolong to Dragon Well, Chrysanthemum to Jasmine, there is always a type of tea to satisfy everyone, and you can choose
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whatever kind of tea you want in a Chinese restaurant. So if you don’t want to be treated as an outsider, go straight up to the waiter and ask him or her what kinds of tea they have. Also, in southern China, every household has soup before dinner everyday. Unlike western restaurants where you order your own soup, Chinese soup comes in a big pot, and everyone shares it. Soup is essential in Chinese cuisine. A good pot of soup can sometimes take up to 5 hours to cook. Soup is considered nutritious and medicative. A pot of soup with carrots and water chestnuts is always a classic. Sugarcane adds a hint of sweetness to complement the salty and this clear, brothlike soup is perfect for people who have coughs or sore throats. During the summer, a pot of white gourd soup can always cool down the heat in your body. What more could you ask for when you have both tastiness and health in one pot? If you don’t know what soup
to choose, you can never go wrong with the soup of the day. For dessert, I am not talking about fortune cookies. Seriously, there are no such things in China. Fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco. Coconut sago, which are small, transparent tapioca balls in hot creamy coconut milk, on the other hand, is my favorite. I also recommend sweet black sesame paste. Real Chinese desserts do not taste like plain, hard crackers, I promise. What I have mentioned generally applies to most Chinese restaurants in the States, which tend to be Cantonese-styled. However, the Chinese food culture is so profound, and different places have their own specialties. For example, Beijing cuisine always starts with more than 10 different appetizers, and Sichuan cuisine is most famous for its spicy food, especially the addictive spicy hot pot. So when you go to a Chinese restaurant, if you take your time and try something new, you will surely enjoy it even more.
Pho Hoa
C-mart
Coffee House
Suishaya
Pho Hoa is a Vietnamese restaurant found all across North America. While the dishes are fairly cheap, the portions are massive. You may want to try the pho (noodle soup), that include various types of meats. And for the adventurous, try number 44, which is the noodle soup that contains all of the different types of meat. You won’t regret it.
This is the biggest Chinatown supermarket, offering everything from basic vegetables to Chinese delicacies, such as the thousand years old egg. The interior may seem overcrowded and occasionally dirty, but the selection of different sauces, for example, is worth it. Definitely try the Lee Kum Kee sauces.
A small and simple bakery, Coffee House offers delicious Cantonese-flavored pastries. Everything is very cheap and generally delicious. The sesame balls with red bean paste, the butterfly cookies, and the egg tarts are a must! This is also the perfect place to engage in conversations with older Chinese Americans who frequent the bakery.
While Suishaya is mainly a Korean restaurant, they offer Japanese dishes as well. It’s on the more expensive side in terms of Chinatown restaurants, but the Korean dishes are definitely one of the best in Boston. A lot of their entrees are kimchi-based, which means that most of their plates are very spicy and hot, but the food is extremely flavorful.
Taiwan Café
Taiwan Café is a small and very casual restaurant that offers many traditional Taiwanese dishes as well as the more generic Americanized Chinese selections. The food here is very inexpensive and the portions are relatively large. While the service is only decent, the food arrives with record speed. Also, while a lot of the entrees are good, you should try ordering several appetizers instead. Try the Taiwanese fried tempuras (fish cakes), the dumplings, and the fried scallop cakes.
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Beyond the Dining Hall: A Taste Bud’s Tour of Teele Square sarah hayes
I only discovered the wonders of Teele Square this year, partially because it is thirty seconds from my house on Packard Ave. But I’m here to prevent readers out there from making the same mistake I did by waiting to discover this area near Tufts. Recently my friend Dave and I launched on a culinary exploration of this little intersection, so let me to take you on a tour. Driving around is scary (and obnoxious, since the unique traffic laws forbid you from doing normal things, like turning left) but as a destination for your taste
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buds, it’s pretty great. Let’s start with breakfast, because everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Allow me to introduce Magnificent Muffin (and Bagel, but the alliteration works better if you just leave it at muffins). This is a cute little joint that opens at an ungodly hour in the morning and closes promptly at noon, so get your eats during the technical breakfast time (you can do it!). True to their name, they make a variety of tasty muffins as well as bagels, which can then
be topped by an assortment of cream cheeses or transformed into a classier bacon, egg and cheese sandwich than what you would pick up at McDonalds. Not only are they speedy and friendly, you can get breakfast for less than five dollars. For lunch, check out Soleil Café, which is where Dave and I ventured after being thwarted by the House of Tibet, which is only open for dinner. Soleil Café provides a truly sunny atmosphere complete with free Internet and Italian food. They
are also open for breakfast and dinner, but we were hungry for sandwiches. After drooling over the tasty pastries at the counter, we decided to get two sandwiches that the waiter recommended to us: the eggplant parmigiana and the potatoes, peppers and eggs (descriptive names are always good). The eggplant parm was tasty. The latter was a tad dry as it really only contained potatoes, peppers, and scrambled eggs on a hunk of focacia. But Soleil Café is a good place for a nice lunch under ten dollars, if you’re hungry for a sandwich, salad, or pasta. Moving on to dinner; the one meal that I really despise cooking and most enjoy eating out. This is where the House of Tibet makes its triumphant appearance, as Dave and I mistakenly assumed it to be open for lunch (wrong: they are only open for lunch on Sundays). We were served by a really sweet Tibetan woman who recommended some great dishes for us. We got a momo combo (a.k.a. a variety pack of Tibetan dumplings), which was just as much fun to say, as it was to eat, as well as a beef and cabbage dish. It’s a little overpriced, but if you haven’t tried Tibetan food, there’s really no excuse not to because eating at the House of Tibet is a win-win situation: vegetarians are covered and people who
can’t stand Chinese take-out are covered. They also had great taste in music. But by far and away my favorite spot in Teele Square is Tip Top Thai. Aside from fantastic choice of names for their dishes, this a wonderful little place that “[would] love to present and let you try our famous Bangkok streets cooking style,” [sic] according to the take out menu. If you only try one thing, go for the Pad See You, my personal favorite. I think I ate it for a week straight before finally going to the grocery store. You can get anything as spicy or mild as you want, just be sure to specify because you might be unpleasantly surprised. The Thai iced tea is a good accompaniment to your meal, which usually comes out to be less than ten dollars, very easy on the student budget. So if you’re tired of dinning hall food or ordering Pizza Days at 3am, try taking a short walk down the street to some friendly neighborhood eateries. These are only four places in Teele; I’m happy to say that the adventure continues for Dave and I, with Theo’s Pizza next on the list. Moral of the story: you don’t have to take my word for it. I give you full liberty to take your life into your hands, and let your taste buds roam free.
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Simply Delicious: the best pasteries around emily de armas
love baked goods. Bread, cupcakes, croissants, muffins, cookies, brownies, brioche, cakes, scones, rolls, tarts; you name it, I love it. Throughout my time at Tufts, during par ticularly difficult moments, I have often fantasized about dropping out of school and opening my own bakery. Spending the rest of my days covered in flour and sugar is my plan B if the job-after-school thing doesn’t pan out. I spent last semester abroad in Rome and essentially ate my way across Europe, sampling the best that each country had to offer. There is simply something irresistible about the smell of food cooking in the oven and something pleasurable about spending time eating delectable treats at a café with friends. Since I’ve been back I have longed for the simple cornetto (Italian version of a croissant) and European delights I tasted for the last six months. As an avid addict of the Food Network and an enthusiastic cupcake baker and eater, I give you the gems I have found in the Boston area.
Modern Pastry and Mike’s Pastry
Finale
North End
Harvard Square
The North End is home to two baking giants, Modern Pastry and Mike’s Pastry. Located on Hanover Street, both feature traditional desserts from Italy that are not usually found in your average bakery. People are usually loyal to one or the other; in my case I prefer the atmosphere and selection at Mike’s to Modern Pastry. At Mike’s you will find marzipan in every shape imaginable (eggs, animals, fruits, meats), legendary cannolis, and macaroons. Keep away from the mediocre tiramisu and enjoy the smaller finger food desserts, which are their specialty.
If you’re looking for high end, luxurious desserts Finale is your best bet. The desserts are on the small side but make up for size with rich flavor. Finale is particularly wonderful if you would like to have some of their ultimate chocolate cake with wine or a dessert cocktail that’s as good as the cake itself. Finale is a great place to take parents when they visit or just to splurge on some really delicious food.
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Clear Flour Bakery
Kick Ass Cupcakes
Brookline
Davis Square
No bakery review would be complete without bread. You will find freshly baked bread, warm, crispy, and delicious, at Clear Flour in Brookline. Easily accessible on the Green Line, this bakery is a family-run business that has been operating for 25 years making artisan breads from Italy, France, and Germany. The croissant I tried there was the closest approximation to a genuine croissant that I’ve had since the day I left Paris. Clear Flour offers 30 different types of breads on different days of the week. Check out their website before you go to see what breads are being made that day. It’s best to go in the morning when the bread is freshest and before the sticky buns run out by noon. And just my luck, it seems like they are looking to hire a bread maker so maybe there’s hope yet for my aspirations to ditch academia and become a baker.
A fairly recent addition to the Davis Square scene, Kick Ass Cupcakes offers a new twist on the age-old classic. New York may have Magnolia’s, a venerable celebrity in the cupcake world but Kick Ass Cupcakes offers something different. Though the cupcakes are smaller and more expensive than their New York counterparts (ironic, no?), the menu is a departure from the traditional cupcake fare. These desserts have creative names and ingredients, such as the Mojito Cupcake (rum soaked with lime frosting) or the Lucky Cupcake (lemonvanilla and comes with a fortune) Kick Ass also offers cupcake shots, cupcake towers (an alternative to the traditional birthday cake) and pupcakes and kittycakes for your furry, four-legged friends. You can get cupcakes with an edge and a personality here every day of the week with their daily specials.
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Have You Hugged a Sasquatch Today? brianna beehler
826 Boston 3035 Washington Street 617-442-5400 826boston.org
Tufts students may consider looking into a new field of science; namely, cryptozoology. Defined as the “the study of evidence tending to substantiate the existence of, or the search for, creatures whose reported existence is unproved, such as the Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster,” a new center has just opened, guaranteeing the provision of any aspiring scientist’s
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research needs. On the corner of Washington Street in Roxbury, The Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute’s (GBBRI) futuristic facade is tucked between more commonplace, ordinary stores, and through the tall glass doors await sights even stranger still. Volunteer “cryptozoologists” run around performing research, sales clerks testify the quality of their emergency sleeping bags and
volunteers learn such skills as boulder heaving, all in a collision of the paranormal and bizarre. More than just a haven for Boston’s resident cryptozoologists, behind the GBBRI resides 826 Boston, an imaginative, hands-on writing center. The seventh chapter of 826 National, a nonprofit founded by publisher and author Dave Eggers and teacher Ninive Clements Calegari in San
Francisco, 826 Boston works with students age 6 to 18 in local schools. Run solely by volunteers, each 826 center features free one-on-one tutoring and writing workshops, including such innovative topics as the Emergency Story Kit and Food Critic for a Day. A lot has happened in the newest 826 in the past year including the publication of I Wish They Would Have Asked Me, an anthology written by students from The English High School. The book covers topics of education, immigration, violence and family, and copies can be found alongside bumper stickers quoting the GBBRI’s slogan, “We Exist Because He Exists.” At the GBBRI, the young and the young-at-heart can pick up such requisite research supplies as the jungle hygiene kit, complete with loofah, q-tip and scented rose petals in a Petri dish, ensuring that they will “look their best for the quest.” The supply store also hosts an assortment of head beacons, Sasquatch scat and compass rings for purchase, all to support the creative writing center. Inside the center, jars of suspended bugs and fossils line the walls alongside postcards from famous cryptozoologists highlighting their encounters with Bigfoot in the field. Visitors can gaze at the giant Sasquatch hand preserved in a glass case, or try on
goggles and heat-resistant gloves for size. Within drawers lining the walls reside such rare items as Bigfoot toenails and Yeti hairballs. Incredulous? Don’t worry; all purchases come with their own certificate of authenticity. For the truly intrepid scientist there is the “Simulactron.” The brave don sanitized gloves, goggles, boots and a “functional and stylish hat,” before establishing their bearings, and stepping into the “actualized expedition environment.” In the telephone booth-sized-space explorers confront black ice, lightning and flooding with the aid of a headset and television screen.The sign outside the door warns the daring that the “climatological” dangers are
real, and to call for an assistant in case of electrical fire. With just one step, however, explorers are safely returned to reality, leaving the frozen terrain and howling winds behind. Boston offers a unique resource to the GBBRI not as easily accessible to the other sites- namely, college students. Only open for a year, 826 Boston already boasts 250 volunteers, but they are still searching for new energy and expertise. If interested in joining Boston’s growing ranks of cryptozoologists, visit the website and attend a volunteer orientation. At the very least, swing by for the latest Bigfoot tracking maps, traps and literature. You never know when they may come in handy.
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Exploring Harbor History adam roy
A young soldier serving under the alias Pvt. Edgar A. Perry was stationed at Fort Independence on Boston’s Castle Island in 1827 when he heard a strange tale. A decade before, a lieutenant named Gustavis Drane had killed a generally popular officer in a duel, earning the ire of the rest of the garrison. Soon afterward, a furious mob of enlisted men and officers exacted a particularly gruesome revenge on Drane, kidnapping him and bricking him up inside an abandoned vault in the bowels of the fort. 18
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If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because Pvt. Perry, real name Edgar Allen Poe, went on to use it as the basis for his story “The Cask of Amontillado”. It is one of the most well known stories to come of the Boston harbor islands, whose barracks, hospitals and fields have hosted everyone from authors to Confederate generals. For history buffs who have walked the Freedom Trail one too many times, the islands offer the chance to explore a seascape of lighthouses and silent granite forts without ever having to leave public transportation. While it may not be able to claim the literary heritage of Castle Island, George’s Island has seen its fair share of American history. The centerpiece of the island is Fort Warren, a massive granite fort dating back to 1847. When the fort was first built, it served primarily as a prison for Confederate captives, even holding Confederate vicepresident Alexander Stephens for a few months, before the end of the Civil War left it a mostlyempty training ground. Sixty-one years after being decommissioned, Fort Warren’s battlements and bunkers are open to the public. After setting foot on George’s Island, visitors stroll through a tunnel in the outer embankment, down a winding,
tree-lined path and over a dry moat before coming to a massive studded door set into the fort’s sheer inner walls. On the other side, the path ends at the court’s enormous inner courtyard, where soldiers garrisoned on the island drilled and prisoners assembled for roll call. Tucked away in one corner of the courtyard is Bastion C, the last original bastion left in Fort Warren. The labyrinth of woodlined chambers inside the bastion, an outcropping in the fort’s walls which allowed gunners to trap besieging enemies in a crossfire of artillery, would later function as a mess hall and bakery to provide food for Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners on the island. The well-preserved remains of the bakery’s brick oven are still visible, set into the stone wall. Taking any of the spiral staircases hidden at intervals in the inner wall leads up to the “ranger walk”, a grass-covered path stretching out across the ramparts. Besides providing visitors with an eagle-eye view of the Boston skyline, the plush layers of clover and dandelion growing over former gun emplacements and the dilapidated lookout tower, which has become a nesting-site for seabirds, speak to the years of peace that the fort has seen since
the government chose to remove it from action in 1947. Visitors looking for a more active destination can catch a ferry from George’s Island to Little Brewster Island, home of the United States’ first lighthouse, Boston Light. The light is still staffed and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, so the only way to see Little Brewster is to go on a guided tour. During the tourist season, volunteer guides walk visitors through the history of the island, leading them up the 100-foot light and demonstrating the lighthouse’s automated mechanisms. Getting to the Boston harbor islands by public transportation is very possible, and not difficult at all. From May to November, ferries to the islands depart multiple times a day from Long Wharf, by the Blue Line’s Aquarium stop; tickets are $14 for an adult roundtrip ticket and $3 for an interisland transfer. While George’s Island and Little Brewster Island are each about a twenty to thirtyminute boat ride from shore, a few closer destinations, such as Castle Island and World’s End, are accessible by car, either via causeway or bridge, and can make an excellent alternative when the ferry isn’t running.
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1. What are qualities of the Tufts campus that are ideal for photography? The red brick buildings and unique architecture paired with the well-kept flora allow for a broad range of photographic artistry. However, the Hill is by far the best attribute of the Tufts campus as it allows me to play with the sunlight and perspectives depending on the time of day. There are also a lot of secret nooks and crannies around the campus that are photographic gems to be found.
[focus] ed fan
2. How do you find your pictures? I’d like to say that I have a “photographer’s eye,” not because I take skillful photographs on occassion, but because whenever my eyes are open I seek photographic opportunities in every image that my eyes perceive. Awareness and adaptation are two very important characteristics of a photographer. Being aware of my surroundings and its characteristics (lighting, colors, spatial depth, angle, details, and the whole picture) at every single moment of composing a photograph is important. 3. Do you prefer taking pictures of people or objects? I prefer taking photographs of people because they dynamic subjects that are constantly changing either naturally or through conscious effort. Even when a model poses for a photograph, it is very difficult to get a photograph exactly the same even within the span of a split second. In order to create a beautiful story of a photograph, both the photographer and the subject must skillfully play their roles. 4. What do you usually try to take notice of when taking your pictures? Everything. You have to take note of every single detail and part of the photograph. However, to get down to the root of it, lighting is the most important thing to pay attention to in composing a photograph. As common sense as it sounds, without light, there is no photograph.
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