Undercover Tourist: The Mapparium

If you have never heard of The Mapparium, don't feel bad, because either had I. Mykah had taken a trip there with some friends from home and told me it was a must see.

Yeah, I wasn't going to fall for that. What Mykah "Learning is Fun" Murphy passes for a good time isn't always rootin-tootin, and considering that the Mapparium is basically just a big map I wasn't entirely sold. Turns out, I was wrong, learning can be fun.

It isn't an expensive trip, or a lengthy one, but The Mapparium was certainly worth a look. It's located in the Mary Baker Eddy Library, a big repository for all of Eddy's work, and is literally a three story tall glass globe that you walk into. The best part is you need to walk through the Hall of Ideas, yes, the Hall of Ideas, to get there. Then you just answer a secret riddle and ride a unicorn to get through the Doors of Wonder.

The Mapparium is not a modern map, but rather the same map from from the year it was made, 1935. Apparently, at some point, there were plans to scrap all of the old stained glass in there and update the information, but due mainly to budget reasons it never happened. Now the exhibit stands as a very large and incredibly breakable historic document, as well as a testament to being a cheap bastard.

                                                             Source: Wikipedia

Now, as you can expect, standing in the center of a giant glass sphere also has some cool acoustics. After a short presentation of the map and all of its map-like features, the guide encourages you to try out the different tricks you can do with your voice. That means either standing on the edges and whispering all the way to the other side or standing in the middle and hearing your voice bounce around like the voices in your heard that tell you to burn things.

So go. I wouldn't say go out of your way to see it, but if you are even in the area you should totally swing by. Its like, 5 bucks, and if for nothing else it's kind of like being Professor X and controlling Cerebro in X-Men.

Only, you know, not entirely freaking awesome.

Undercover Tourist: Boston Duck Tour

So I've done it, the one thing in Boston I always said I wouldn't do: a Duck Tour. After two years of forbidding my parents to take one, some serious eye-rolling, and seething bitter hatred, I finally swallowed my pride and welcomed the Duck into my life.

It was Mykah's idea to take the tour. This weekend two more of her friends from Super Smart Kid Math Camp for Winners came up to visit Boston. She really wanted to show them around town the quickest way possible, and what better way to do that than to strap yourself into a five-ton piece of iron and float down the Charles River? So due to my new living-life-to-the-fullest , or whatever, attitude I bought a ticket to the most touristy thing to do in all of New England.

And you know what, it wasn't half bad.

For those who don't know what a Duck Boat Tour is, let me tell you. It's a tour company that fills old WWII land and sea vehicles with tourists and squeezes  through the narrow streets of Boston, giving history facts along the way while also having a complete disregard for traffic safety. Seriously, I'm probably going to die by getting run over by one of these contraptions. My last dying breath will be accompanied by midwestern families quacking at my limp body. Because they make the riders quack. Really. I'm not kidding.

Anyway, as Mykah informed me at the start of our trip, all of the tour guides (or conducktors...) have a schtick that they play off during the 80 minute romp over Boston. Our guide was apparently an alligator hunter from the bayou. Don't ask me why. However, for a middle aged man who carried around a stuffed gator he knew a lot about Boston.

In fact, he knows a LOT about Boston. Throughout the tour I kept thinking to myself, "hmm, I didn't know that.", or "wow, really?". For as much as a resisted going on this tour, I certainly learned a lot about the place I've been living in for the last two years. And even though he did take us through places I frequent almost every day, he still ventured into parts of the city that I've never even seen. The further along the trip we got the more I began to really like this tour. It's totally a solid tour, even if they are slightly ridiculous.

What I really wish is that I had gone on a Duck Tour earlier. Not even just a Duck Tour, but a tour of Boston in general. I should have taken one prior to moving into the city, but I was way too cool for that, wasn't I? Even though I still think this is a city best viewed on foot, it would have been nice to get a taste of what the city has to offer before stumbling through it blindfolded. It probably would have taken me less time to figure my way around and would have made me more comfortable to explore farther around the city. Alas, I learned my lesson a bit too late.

What's also cool about this particular tour is that, due to the vehicles' land and water capabilities, you get to scoot around the charles river for about 20 minutes. It isn't overly informative, but you do get a pretty view of the Back Bay from your window. Plus, volunteers get to go up and steer the Duck Boat. A little girl almost crashed us into the bridge, if you were wondering.

It's a fun hour and a half, and certainly something worth checking out. Now, that being said, if there hadn't been people fresh to Boston in town I probably would never have taken this tour, but I'm glad I did. It's nice to be reminded just how beautiful and history-rich the city of Boston is. It's my home and I'm glad that I've started taking advantage of that. If a Duck Tour can surprise me, I wonder what else this city has up her sleeve.