Is the Brattle Bookshop the one that has the large open air area? I was talking to Grace about it but couldn't remember any of the details.... like the name or location. :P Someone told me it is the most well known bookstore in Boston.

f your going to go to Harvard Square the Harvard art museums like the Fogg are right there. You can see the glass flowers and all the other wild stuff they collected. They are also really short money.
The 'Harvard' bookstore is also right there. Unlike how its name sounds, it is not owned by Harvard. Their bookstore, the COOP, is now just a Barnes and Noble with weird architecture. Too bad, because it used to be really neat.
This is a grand time to be coming to Boston. Enjoy the visit

How a bout a day pass at the Boston Athenaeum. #10 Beacon St.  Boston.  A treasure of a place !!

at Fan Pier in the new South Boston waterfront district is also worth a trip.

The collection isn't too large, you can see everything in just a few hours, but the quality is generally very good.

The venue is delightful, right on the waterfront; and the neighborhood is full of nice restaurants and shops.

Completely agree - the Gardner is the one you want to visit if you have to choose only one.  Consider the back story.  Wild woman marries wealth Boston brahmin (i.e. WASP), then spends her life in Europe collecting not only art but architecture (all the windows in the old section come from different locales) and then provides in her will that if anyone dares rearrange the furniture, Harvard gets the whole place (and believe me Harvard keeps a close eye.)  My kind of girl!