School is back in session which means we are all back on the Brandeis campus. As far as campuses go, this one is okay. A little hilly, but manageable. However, you should not spend all of your time just on campus. You should get your work done, but you should also be able to have fun. Go out and explore the community, either alone or with a group of friends. The beauty of Brandeis is that you get the campus, but you’re also close to some busy areas, like Waltham, Cambridge and Boston. So check them out!
The town of Waltham may not seem that exciting at first, but it has a lot to offer. The best parts of Waltham are the restaurants. The main street of Waltham, Moody Street, is filled with a lot of great restaurants. You can get some classic comfort food at Bistro 781, delicious Guy Fieri-approved brunch food from In a Pickle, yummy Italian food from Sweet Basil, vegetarian Indian food from Peppino’s Dosa and more. Then, when you want dessert, you can swing on over to Lizzy’s for some great ice cream. If you don’t want food, there is still a lot of excitement in Waltham. You can play video games at Game Underground, pick up some clothes at Global Thrift, check out More Than Words bookstore for some books and you can explore so many more places. Moody Street is around a half an hour walk from campus, or you can take the shuttle. It is too close for you to not go.
Brandeis also offers a shuttle that can take you out of Waltham. The first stop on this shuttle, after about 40 minutes, is Cambridge. The shuttle drops you off in Harvard Square, right in front of Harvard’s campus. It is an open campus, so you walk around for a bit there and you can pretend you are a Harvard student, or go to Harvard’s bookstore. If you don’t want to do those things, Cambridge is still a thriving city. It is filled with great restaurants and places to grab a quick treat, and you can always take a break and soak up the sound of the city as you sit in Winthrop Park.
The second stop drops you off right at Boston, and once you’re there, there is a ton to explore! In fact, Newbury Street alone has a variety of storefronts! If literature is up your alley, Trident Booksellers and Cafe has a ton of books tucked within its walls, (and food for when you get peckish), and Newbury Comics has a variety of comics alongside its walls of merchandise. Nearby lays Anime Zakka, which sells anime merchandise for shows both popular and a bit more obscure, and Burton Boston Flagship Store, a snowboard shop (pretty cool, right?)! On top of that, there are quite a few places to buy clothes (ranging from big name stores like T.J. Maxx to boutiques like Lipstick). And the cherry on top, so to speak, is just how many food options there are: Mediterranean, ramen, burgers, Italian, bubble tea, coffee, etc. If you want it, you could probably find it. And all of this is just a few of the options featured on just one street. If you took the time to explore, you could end up finding your next favorite Boston spot!
So, take the time to see what these cities have to offer! It can get a bit suffocating, with the way that Brandeis campus is closed off, and pushing yourself to leave campus allows you to have a change of scenery, and maybe even fall in love with the city.
