|
Boston, Massachusetts, USA July 27 to July 30, 2006 (Revised January 25, 2007) |
|
|
|
Boston, Massachusetts, USA July 27 to July 30, 2006 (Revised January 25, 2007) |
|
Copies of documents:
|
Boston Information[ Weather | Tipping | Planned Excursions | Additional Trips | Sightseeing On Your Own ]Weather
Weather in New England is notoriously variable: "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes!" You can expect temperatures during the day of 85 degrees or so (30 Celsius), and 60 degrees at night (15 C). There is always the possibility of rain, but it tends to be in the form of brief thunderstorms at the end of July. Tipping
Planned ExcursionsTuesday, July 25: Bits and Pieces ReceptionBits and Pieces will host a reception at the home of Alan Segal on Tuesday afternoon and evening for those who arrive early to IPP26. The reception will include casual buffet foods and cocktails. We will tour Alan's house and see his extensive puzzle collection. There is a beautiful heated pool at Alan's house, so feel free to bring your swimwear! Buses will take you to and from the Hilton hotel, leaving at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, July 25th.
Travel time: 30 minutes each way.
Thursday, July 27: Boston Museum of Science and City Tour
Over 1.6 million people visit this state-of-the-art science museum each year to see the more than 400 interactive exhibits, including the two-story, 2-1/2 million-volt Van de Graaff generator (the original!) and the Omni theater, which uses state-of-the-art film technology to project larger-than-life images onto a five-story high, domed screen, creating a "you are there" experience for viewers. The Museum's excellent, well-stocked gift shop offers many puzzle- and game-related items. The Museum has remained on the cutting edge of science education by developing innovative and interactive exhibits and programs that both entertain and educate. From the Museum of Science, you have the option of taking a Duck Tour: a tour of Boston by land and sea. ("... by land and river" is more accurate but less poetic.) You have the option of returning to the hotel by bus with the group, or else exploring Boston and Cambridge on your own. If you choose the latter option, you can either return to the hotel or meet us at the World Trade Center pier for the cruise (see next). Travel time: 30 minutes each way. Thursday evening, July 27: Founder's Reception Sunset Harbor Cruise
Spirit of Boston cruise ship We will have a special Founders' Reception cruise in Boston Harbor on the Spirit of Boston complete with dinner, on Thursday evening, July 27. Travel time: 30 minutes each way. Friday, July 28: Old Sturbridge Village
Sturbridge Village Located one hour west of Boston, Old Sturbridge Village is an historic recreation of an 1830s rural New England town, set on more than 200 acres of historical landscape, and encompassing a center village, mills area, and countryside. Staff members play the roles of the people who lived in the village, and demonstrate techniques of farming and blacksmithing. They also sell merchandise in the historically accurate shops. Travel time: 75 minutes each way. Saturday, July 29: The Newport, Rhode Island mansions
"The Breakers" mansion in Newport Located just one and a half hours from Boston, the unforgettable Newport mansions, ten in all, reveal the wealth, power and influence of the men and women who made Newport a center of grand society in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House, and Rosecliff are just some of the famous mansions open to the public. The Breakers, shown here, was built in the late nineteenth century by Cornelius Vanderbilt II. Travel time: 90 minutes each way. Sunday, July 30: Peabody-Essex Museum Trip and walking Tour of Salem, Mass.
Peabody-Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. 
19th Century Chinese Puzzle box at the Peabody-Essex Museum On Sunday morning, July 30, we will travel by bus to the newly-expanded Peabody-Essex Museum in historic Salem, Massachusetts, just thirty minutes north of Boston. We will view their extensive art collection, particularly strong in Asian art, and featuring a complete Chinese mansion transported piece by piece from China and reassembled in the museum. The Peabody also features several antique puzzles that will be on display for us. In the afternoon, we will have a walking tour of Salem, famous for its history of witchcraft and its early American architecture. The House of the Seven Gables, made famous in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same name, is located in Salem and open to the public. Travel time: 30 minutes each way. Monday, July 31: Trip to Davis Mega Maze corn maze
Davis's Mega Maze in 2004 Weather and corn crop permitting, we will visit Davis's Mega Maze in Sterling, Massachusetts, about an hour away from Boston. This "maize maze" was designed by Adrian Fisher, and will be enhanced with a story theme (such as finding the pirate gold or becoming a new super-hero) that encourages you to explore every corner of the maze, looking for clues, stamps, and of course the exit. The maze has several one- and two-story bridges that give you great—though not very helpful—views of the maze. We will have special access to the maze, shortly before it is scheduled to open to the public. The cost will be $13 per person, plus transportation and food. Travel time: 75 minutes each way. Possible Additional TripsBefore, during, and after IPP26, we are also considering trips to the following locations. We will decide which trips to plan based on your preliminary registrations. Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts features over 450,000 works of art, including its justly famous Asian art collection, unrivaled in the Western world. From gilded icons of the Italian Renaissance to one of the largest collections of Monets outside of Paris, the MFA has artwork by some of the most celebrated artists in the history of art—Titian, Dürer, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Gauguin, and Renoir. You will also see one of the finest collections of mummies outside of Egypt, as well as ancient Greek pottery and portraits of America's founding fathers. The Museum of Fine Arts is also easy to get to on your own, via the Green Line T (subway). Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Gardner, just a few steps away from the Museum of Fine Arts, is a beautiful jewel of a museum, housed in a 15th-century Venetian-style palace with three stories of galleries surrounding a sun- and flower-filled courtyard. The museum contains more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books, and decorative arts, including works by some of the most recognized artists in the world, including Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler, and Sargent. The Gardner is also easy to get to on your own, via the Green Line T (subway). Sightseeing On Your Own in Boston
Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay General Guides to Boston
Of course your co-hosts, as long-time residents of the area, will offer as much advice and information as we can! Here are just some of the many highlights:
| |||||||
| |
||||||||
|
email the IPP26 organizers or the Webmaster |
|
||||||
