新英格兰三州两日游
Ourenglish Correspondent 05/31-06/1/2014
May 31 Saturday, 2014, we started the two-day tour from here: Sheraton Hotel Flushing, Queens, NYC
Flushing is crowded with all kinds of buildings
US flag, NYS flag and Sheraton flag
First stop, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, one and half hour drive
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Mystic Aquarium is an aquarium and oceanography institute in Mystic, Connecticut. The Aquarium is one of four U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions and it has one of the largest outdoor Beluga whale exhibits in the United States.
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Address: 55 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT 06355
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Hours:
Open today · 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
| Monday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Tuesday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Wednesday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Thursday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Friday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Saturday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
| Sunday |
10:00 am – 4:00 pm |
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Notable animals: Naluark (since 2011), Juno (since 2010), Charlotte (since 2008), Kela (since 1981), Naku (since 1981)
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Exhibits: Ray Touch Pool, African Penguins, Fluorescent Corals,
After the aquarium in Mystic, CT, we visited the Breakers, the best mansion in Rhode Island. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), the original owner's grandfather, established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. The Commodore's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885, and purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport during that same year. In 1893, he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace the earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire the previous year. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures, Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed relief sculpture, and Boston architect Ogden Codman decorated the family quarters.
The Vanderbilts had seven children. Their youngest daughter, Gladys, who married Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, inherited the house on her mother's death in 1934. An ardent supporter of The Preservation Society of Newport County, she opened The Breakers in 1948 to raise funds for the Society. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.
Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the United States, Providence is the state capital. Rhode Island is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, but the second most densely populated of the 50 US states behind New Jersey. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east, and it shares a water boundary with New York's Long Island to the southwest. It also has the longest official name of all the states. Rhode Island was the first of the original Thirteen Colonies to declare independence from British rule, declaring itself independent on May 4, 1776, two months before any other colony. The State was also the last of the thirteen original colonies to ratify the United States Constitution.
From the Breakers in Rhode Island, we traveled north to Bostom and visited part of Harvard campus.
Harvard's 363rd Commencement was held here in front of the Widener Library two days before on Thursday, May 29, 2014.
The Widener Library
 
The statue of Mr. John Harvard was said to be modeled after the most handsome student Sherman Hoar. Here is the full story on the famous statue: The John Harvard statue is a mainstay of Harvard Yard. Every day, students rub his toe on their way to class, hoping that it will give them luck on their next hard exam. As tours pass through the Yard, people stop to get a picture with one of the best-known landmarks on campus. But the statue is not all that it seems. It’s actually nicknamed the “statue of three lies” because of all the inaccuracies inscribed on it. Here we reveal the truth behind the statue. 1. That isn’t John Harvard. Even though the name “John Harvard” is written in stone on the statue’s base, the likeness is not, actually, that of John Harvard. In fact, there are no living representations of John Harvard. In 1884, Daniel Chester French created the famous statue, and Sherman Hoar sat as a model for the head of John Harvard. Hoar later went on to serve as a member of Congress and a US district attorney. 2. John Harvard wasn’t the founder of Harvard University. What? Yes, that’s right. The engraving on the statue states “founder,” but this is also not true. Actually, Harvard didn’t even attend the College. He was the first major benefactor to the University. He donated half of his estate and his library, which consisted of over 400 books. Harvard University was officially founded by a vote by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 3. Harvard wasn’t founded in 1638. Close, but no cigar. Harvard University was founded in 1636. This gives Harvard the honor of being the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. (The oldest university in the world is Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Khozettan, Iran, which was founded around 200 BC). Harvard was originally called the New College. And its mission was to train clergy. According to Harvard historian Samuel Morrison, to train clergy was the immediate goal, but to advance learning in the arts, literature, and sciences was the purpose of the college. The clergy had to go through a 3-year liberal arts program before it could move on to advanced studies in theology. Harvard received its official famous name on March 13, 1639, named for the renowned benefactor seated in “lies.” The statue has most celebrities beat when it comes to the amount of photos taken with him every day.
The gate is said to be only symbolically the main entrance of the university. It opens once a year only to let in new Harvard students.
The Chinese restaurant named “燕京”at the corner of Massachusatts Ave. and Holyyoke St., crossing street from the campus we visited。There is a famous institute on Asian studies with the same name, the Harvard–Yenching Institute (simplified Chinese: 哈佛燕京学社; traditional Chinese: 哈佛燕京學社; pinyin: hāfó yànjīng xuéshè). It is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Asian culture. Its offices are located on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it is NOT part of Harvard University.
Inside the Yanching Chinese restaurant
About 6 pm we were sent to Massachusetts Institute of Technology only to take pictures at the main gate area
The sculpture is titled Alchemist and consists of mathematical symbols in the shape of a human form. It was commissioned specifically for the sesquicentennial celebration. The sculptural work by Spanish contemporary artist Jaume Plensa was installed November 2010 in the grassy area between Massachusetts Avenue and Building W20, the Stratton Student Center in celebration of the Institute’s 150th anniversary. Plensa is known for his Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park, in which digital images of Chicago residents are projected on two 50-foot towers.
MTI campus
Buildings, photo taken while the tour bus was passing by
Architecture photo taken while the tour bus passing by
"China Town" with Sun Zhongsan's well-known political ideal-slogan "The world belongs to the people"
5/31 dinner at this restaurant
06/1/2014, the second day, at the Boston Harbor area, in front of the Guincy Market
The Quincy Market
"We are taking a short cruise along the coast of Boston Harbor"
Boston Harbor
The name of the boat taking us for the cruise
Ready to go!
Waved goodbye. "We'll be back shortly."
Back to Quinc Market after the harbor cruise tour
The food court upper level,
Quincy Market
The couple riding a tricycle motor looked far over 70 each.
In the afternoon, 6/1, we visited the Yale campus. Nathan Hale's statue was our first stop over there. Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and executed. He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Hale has long been considered an American hero and, in 1985, he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.
Statue of Theodore Dwight Woolsey, Anonymous alumni gift in1896. Location: Old Campus. During his long tenure as president of Yale from 1846 to 1871, Theodore Dwight Woolsey (1801-1889; B.A. 1820, M.A. 1823) oversaw the creation of the Yale School of the Fine Arts and hired John Ferguson Weir as its first director in 1869. On its low pedestal in the middle of Old Campus, Weir’s massive bronze statue of Woolsey has a forceful presence, serving as both a memorial and a symbol of learning and wisdom. The sculptor emphasized Woolsey’s academic career as a former professor of Greek by seating him on a Greek Revival klismos chair wearing heavy classicized robes; the Greek inscription on the back of the chair reads “the most excellent, the most wise, the most just.” The enormous head conveys the “scholarly features and piercing eye” that Weir recalled vividly from their first meeting, and generations of students have rubbed the protruding foot for good luck. The art professor created the statue as a gift from alumni, and today it illustrates the joint roles of Weir and Woolsey as founders of Yale’s rich artistic tradition
The tour guide and the Yale local guide on the right who spoke in English and the tour guide translated into Chinese.
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The Women’s Table, 1993. Maya Lin (b. 1959; B.A. 1981, M.Arch. 1986, D.F.A. 1987). Location: Rose Walk, by Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University. Maya Lin’s monument-making began during her undergraduate years at Yale, with her 1981 design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Like the black wall of names cutting into the grassy Mall, the simple granite blocks of Lin’s Women’s Table organically emerge from the pavement as both a lament and a tribute. A string of figures marks the number of female students at Yale each year since its founding in 1701. These numbers grow with time as they spiral out toward the table’s edge, swelling like the rings of water that bubble from the central spring and spill over on all sides. Anonymous gift, commissioned in 1989 and installed in 1993
Inside the Commons are students' dining halls, the annual "Best Foods in the Word Day" is very popular among students.
Inside the Commons
The 2-day 3-states tour ended on Yale campus.
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