36 Hours Cambridge, Mass

• Published in: The New York times
• Main Author: Bhatia, Pooja
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y New York Times Company 08.10.2004
• Edition: Late Edition (East Coast)
• Subjects: Bookstores; Colleges & universities; Restaurants; Tourism; Cambridge Massachusetts
• ISSN: 0362-4331

11:30 a.m.5) Tailgates and TacklesHarvard may have banned kegs at tailgate parties, but that's done little to quell the pregame bash at Harvard Stadium, just across the Charles River in Boston (65 North Harvard Street, 617-495-2211). Stop by before kickoff (usually 12:30 p.m.) and join the crowd grilling burgers and sausage and drinking beer. This weekend the Crimson take on Cornell at home, but the highlight of the season is always the Harvard-Yale game (a Harvard home game this year on Nov. 20 ), for which tickets are double the usual $15 for adults. Be sure to pick up a $7 Harvard seat cushion to counter the unforgiving cement bleachers. Or, if the weather's too cold, catch the game back in Cambridge from the confines of Charlie's Kitchen (10 Eliot Street, 617-492-9646), perhaps the quintessential dive, with good burgers to boot. The indulgent serving staff is likely to allow you to tune one of the half-dozen TV's to the game -- as long as the Red Sox aren't on. 5 p.m.6) The World in a SquareTwo Starbucks, two drugstores and several chain restaurants may call Harvard Square home, but so do quirky street performers, plotting chess masters, teenage Goths and, especially, independent bookstores. The Harvard Book Store (1256 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-661-1515), above, has an outstanding selection of general-interest books and criticism and a solid used-book section. A half-block away, the Grolier Poetry Book Shop (6 Plympton Street, 617-547-4648) is a destination for poets and scholars worldwide. For travel buffs, the Globe Corner Bookstore (28 Church Street, 617-497-6277) sells maps, guides, travel literature and coffee-table books; and if you're looking for Camus or Cervantes in the original language, head to Schoenhof's Foreign Books (76A Mount Auburn Street, 617-547-8855). The three guest rooms at A Bed & Breakfast in Cambridge (1657 Cambridge Street, 617-868-7082) share a bath, but the proprietors serve a mean breakfast (Belgian waffles and crepes) and afternoon tea. The bed-and-breakfast donates 5 percent of its profit to a group that aids the homeless in Cambridge. Fall rates for a double are $95 to $160.