Admissions Blog

Last Friday my friends and I spent the evening downtown. As we were heading out of the city, my friend excitedly suggested we get hot chocolate. As it was a cold night, I too thought this was a lovely idea. What I didn’t know was that she wanted a hot chocolate from Little Italy. My friend and I agreed that a cannoli would be a great dessert to accompany our hot chocolate. We quickly found parking not too far from Little Italy and walked to the Italian bakery.

The Little Italy neighborhood stands out from the surrounding area thanks to the multi colored lights strung across the main street that is filled with authentic Italian restaurants. When we reached Vaccaro’s, we crowded into the long line for a sweet treat. The seated section was already filled with people enjoying meals, pastries and gelato.

After the chilly walk, I decided to indulge in a hot chocolate as well as a mini cannoli. This hot chocolate was the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Besides being creamy, each sip burst with smooth chocolate followed by a nutty richness. The cannoli also balanced delicate flavors and is among the best I’ve tasted.

If you’re looking for a quaint neighborhood within Baltimore to live, I highly recommend Little Italy. And if you are simply looking for a sweet treat or someplace to celebrate finishing a project, finals or results from a research study, enjoy the delicacies of Vaccaro’s.

Honestly, I never turn down ice cream, but especially on a beautiful or hot day. On one of the first warm days of spring, my friends decided it was time to try the Charmery, a local, family-run ice cream store in Hampden that recently opened a second location in Towson. Both neighborhoods are about 20 minutes from the Bloomberg School.

The Charmery is known for some quirky flavors and vegan options. Flavors like Old Bay Caramel, Lemon Stick and Maryland Mud are a few that are based on local cuisine. While I tasted the Caramel Old Bay, its increasingly spicy aftertaste was not for me. Instead of my usual chocolate or mint go-to selections, I discovered Malty Vanilla Chip. For a bit of fun, I added gummy bears and then was charmed (get it?) when the spoon was a thermo color changing spoon.

Jealous of my dinner, I mean dessert yet? Be sure to check out this lovely, local favorite, especially on July 15 in celebration of National Ice Cream Day.

Transportation to and from campus is an important consideration when choosing where to live in Baltimore. Students who do not wish to bring a car to campus may use shuttle services provided by Johns Hopkins or use the Maryland Transit Association (MTA). MTA services include the Light RailLink, Local Bus Service and Metro SubwayLink which connects students throughout the Baltimore metro area to the East Baltimore Campus, where the School is located. Student parking is also available for those who choose to park near the East Baltimore Campus.

Shuttles
The Homewood-Peabody-JHMI Shuttle, fondly called the JHMI (pronounced Jimmy) shuttle, is a free shuttle for students, faculty and staff. For those who live in Charles Village and Mount Vernon, or commuters traveling to and from DC via Penn Station, find the JHMI a great option. The online map shows all the stops, as well as a time table.

For students wishing to live in Patterson Park or Butcher Hill neighborhoods, the Route #3 Shuttle travels from JHSPH to the northwest corner of Patterson Park. This shuttle has limited hours, running Monday – Friday from 6:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. However, there is also an After Hours Shuttle (Route #7) that runs from 6:00 p.m. – 12:45 a.m. throughout the East Baltimore area, including the western and northern edge of Paterson Park. It will take students wherever they need to go within the highlighted areas on the map.

Parking
Students may also park at a discounted rate in the Church Home Garage between Broadway and Caroline Streets or the Ashland Garage on the corner of Ashland Avenue and N. Washington Street. To receive the discounted rate, students should come to the Student Affairs Suite, E1002 in the Wolfe Street building, to purchase parking passes. Parking registration can also be completed during New Student Orientation.

On Friday, the Admissions Services office set out for out Day of Service at the Commodore John Rogers Elementary School, which is five blocks from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

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Our group of nine split into two groups of two and two groups of three for a variety of projects. When it came to the artistic project, Raili and I eagerly volunteered. We quickly developed a plan for the mural.

Two and a half hours later, the entrance to the community food pantry was transformed.

While Raili and I were painting, some others in the group put their muscles to use and faced the leaf and twig covered amphitheater.

Trees mean shade, but they also mean debris!

At the end of the day, the amphitheater was ready for audience members.

When we finished the projects, we were still smiling!

For much of the east coast, spring has been more of an extension of winter. However, the last week and a half has been a bit more encouraging. And those of us in the Baltimore area have decided that no matter the weather, we’re going to celebrate with our festivals!

Baltimore hosts many types of festivals throughout the year, but I think the neighborhood festivals are my favorite. Not only do you get to explore the vendors, you also get a sense of the hosting neighborhood. This week was the Towson Festival. Six blocks were shut down from traffic and filled with different vendors, community organizations and food trucks. I saw several chiropractors and community health organizations using the family friendly opportunity to spread health awareness and public health opportunities.

At the center of the festival was a large beer garden outside the Baltimore County Historic Court House that also had live music. At the point I took the picture to the right, the 80’s band was on stage and there were some 80’s enthusiast dancing right in front of the band. Not far from the beer garden was a second stage that had several different local performers, including the Ridgely Middle School Steel Drum ensembles

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