Saturday, March 13, 2010

Philadelphia Freedom



Having spent many a miserable hour studying American History in grade school, I was in no big hurry to visit Philadelphia. To be honest, Pete Townshend's guitar is more sacred to me than the liberty bell. All I really knew about Philadelphia were cheesesteaks.

My friend made fun of me as I made my shoe selections. She said, "It's not like the streets are still cobblestone". Well...



There is an awful lot of brick everywhere, which explains why all of the founding fathers were freemasons. It's not a conspiracy. They were mason masons.









The architecture is stunning







The city is into Ben Franklin in a big way



They also have a serious thing about dead policemen



True, there were lots of cheesesteaks. Or as the locals call them, just "steaks" Like this chocolate cheesesteak that I admit made me do a double-take



Now, this, I have no explanation for



I have a few tests for gauging a new city that I applied to Philly right away.

1. Do people look at you or smile as you pass?
NO

2. Do pedestrians cross on red?
YES

Just don't block the box



And then there are those weird, random things you come across in a big city





2 comments:

Caroline - Philly Tourism said...

Glad you had a nice experience of architecture in Philadelphia! Looks like you hit up Geno's steaks.

And I have to say, I find that there are lots of "hellos" and smiles as I walk around (I walk to and from work each day).

Next time, then!

-Caroline from Philly Tourism (I got your post through a google alert)

Elise Thompson said...

Thanks, Caroline. The people were friendly, it's just the difference between say NY where you're invisible and the South where strangers say Howdy.

It will be Philly for awhile, so stay tuned - and yes, geno's steaks will definitely be in the mix!