This weekend I moved into my new home for the next three months. I have a large rented room with private bath on the third floor of a large, single family home in Cambridge. Porter Square T stop is about 12 minutes away (walking). I arrived here mid-morning on Friday, met my landlords (a very nice married couple), and started getting settled in. Pictures of the house and my room are posted on Facebook.

After unpacking my suitcase and assessing my needs (e.g. starting a shopping list), I headed out to do a little exploring of the neighborhood. Though I intended to visit Porter Square first, I accidentally headed the wrong direction and ended up in Harvard Square instead. So, I had lunch at a cafe and wandered through the yard past Widener Library before heading back out Massachusetts Ave toward Porter Square. Since I had plenty of time, I went ahead and walked all the way to Porter Square, rather than taking the Red Line train in order to help me get my bearings. I probably won’t do that too often because it’s quite a hike, and there isn’t a whole lot to see or do; mostly just apartment buildings with a few shops and restaurants sprinkled in here and there. There is a good size shopping center at Porter Square, and since this appears to be the closest major shopping area to my house, I decided to explore it pretty thoroughly. There is a Shaw’s grocery store (similar to standard, non-gourmet Safeway or Albertson’s), a nice neighborhood hardware store, a CVS pharmacy, a Pier I Imports, and a few chain restaurants. So, not a ton of stuff, but enough to survive. At least the prices are decent.

While browsing in the hardware store, I overheard a clerk tell another customer that there is a Goodwill store within walking distance in Davis Square (he was recommending Goodwill as a source of cheap dishes), so I walked up to Davis Square to check that out. Sure enough, it was an easy walk, so I picked up some dishes and cutlery at Goodwill where the selection was a bit slim, but the prices were very reasonable. Davis Square also has a bigger selection of shops and restaurants than Porter Square, so I’ll have to go back there again later.

At this point, my bags were starting to get a bit heavy, so I headed back toward home, stopping for some groceries at Shaw’s on my way. I really need to get used to shopping without a car; by the time I finished in Shaw’s, I had way more stuff than I could comfortably carry all the way home. I made it eventually, but boy was that a long walk! I had to take breaks every couple of blocks to rest my arms. At least I got a good workout. I had intended to venture out again to pick up some dinner, but by the time I got home and got all of my purchases situated, it was getting kind of late and I was tired, so I just stayed in and had a PBJ sandwich for dinner. Saved some money there!

Saturday morning, I took it easy and headed out to catch the bus to the Somerville Target store around 10:30. Near the Shaw’s supermarket on Elm St., I picked up the #87 bus heading toward Lechmere. I spent more time waiting for the bus than I actually spent riding, but given the amount of stuff I was carrying when I got done at Target, I needed the ride, and going to Target allowed me to get most of the remaining stuff I needed at cheap prices. I made it home around 1:00 p.m. and got my purchases situated before heading into Boston for more sight-seeing and an evening watching a production of Comedy of Errors staged by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on an outdoor stage on the Boston Common. More on that later.

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