i left just after work on friday and managed to avoid any too horrendous traffic as well as paying one of the tolls (sometimes you just don't have any cash). i arrived at my friend katie's house, just west of the city, just after 9. which fortunately was just in time to rush over to a happy hour at a bar downtown. the bar was right inside the city limits and on the way in we had a pretty spectacular closeup view of the ben franklin bridge all lit up. if i had been a bit more with it, i would have taken a picture since this is the only chance i'd get all weekend. at any rate, we made it to the bar where we took advantage of $2 drinks and met some friends of friends, most of them from UVA of all places. after we'd had our fill and emptied our wallets we headed back to katie's absolutely beautiful house. we stayed in the fully finished and very well-appointed basement, complete with pool table, basketball net, dartboard, and wet bar. unfortunately we did not make use of any of these, just the very comfy bed.
the next we were up early(ish..) and walked upstairs only to find a film of rain coming down the glass windows of the sun room. the forecast had called for no rain and i was a little discouraged but after lingering over breakfast we started our trip into the city. we got stuck in traffic going over one of the covered bridges (not as cute as it sounds) and eventually made it into the city around noon. we drove in through south street, which was a fun way to start the city. basically it's the little hippie/alternative mecca of the city. for lunch i was hoping for a cheesesteak but had to be content with an enormous slice of greasy, delicious pizza from lorenzo's instead. this is also where i was introduced to the term 'water ice'. this, for all of you non-philadelphians/normal people, refers to what i would called shaved ice or italian ice. also note, if you point out the apparent redundancy of the term 'water ice' to philadelphians, they get a little defensive. understandably so.anyway. we walked down south street, popping in the little boutiques with cheap plastic jewelry and fake tattoos. so colorful! from there, thanks to katie's iphone, we were able to navigate ourselves over to the city center (other cities have downtowns; philadelphia has a city center) on foot. it was a short and pleasant walk, filled with trees and historic rowhouses. eventually we made it to market street, which leads right up to the unmistakable city hall.
from there we headed over to the reading terminal market, which courtney highly recommended. it was pretty incredible; much more than a produce market. it seemed liked every food group, as well as numerous ethnic groups, were represented in the form of food stalls, small restaurants and little shops. here katie and i happily wandered before meeting my other two friends from school. they grabbed some gyros and ice cream and we continued exploring the indoor bazaar.
here, unfortunately, katie had to leave us so we said our goodbyes and were down to three. after catching a glimpse of the city hall and the grand lodge of pennsylvania, we walked back down market street towards the historic district. one great thing about the city how walkable it is. everything seems to be just a few minutes on foot. we walked on a few blocks until we hit independence mall state park, which i'm sure i'm supposed to tell you is called "America's most historic square mile." the (free) tickets for indpendence hall were unfortunately sold out for the day, and we didn't feel like waiting in line to file past the liberty bell our meanderings here were largely uneventful. aside from our sighting of the masaryk (former czech president) plaque, which john was happy to find.
we continued on, stumbling across some historic-looking alleys and self-described historic landmarks (like the second bank in america..). eventually we found christ church, which had a very pleasant interior, in spite of the windows behind the altar facing into the adjacent apartment. we walked on towards the delaware, which apparently serves as the divider between pennsylvania and new jersey (who names these things). we arrived at penn's landing where we had another view of the ben franklin bridge, a little less impressive by day. there was some sort of african/islamic music festival going on, which, while we were there, mainly consisted of a self-proclaimed rick james impersonator trying to kill time during technical difficulties. unimpressed, we walked on and arrived right back at south street where we got in the car and left the city just as the rain started up again.we spent that evening and the following morning in the charming langhorne (and the neighboring newtown which, despite the lame name, is apparently very hotsy totsy). langhorne was adorable in a very unassuming way, with a variety of stone and brick houses with character, many of which were decked out for flag day. i was very smitted with annie's house in particular, which you can find down the street with the handmade sign that reads 'country lane'. after an evening at the mchales and a sunday brunch in newtown (about a five minute drive) i said my goodbyes and headed back into the city for a little more sightseeing.
good old karen (the gps) took me right into the city where i was even able to find a free spot in the parking lot behind the art museum. i headed up the hill to the imposing edifice and entered the museum, handily free on sundays. the collection is impressively extensive and i only had a few hours left in the city. so i tried to do it justice and hit some highlights: the giant chagall in the back lobby, the french cloister, the japanese temples, and various modern pieces (duchamp's large glass is there). 
i also had to go out the front to the so-called "rocky steps" and check out the view. and no, i did not do the rocky pose. though later on my drive i did see a couple taking their wedding picture with the bronze statue of rocky down the hill.after covering the collection as best i could i wandered back down the hill, where there are
a series of gazebos and other structures that look like they belong in some sort of greek acropolis theme park. once at the bottom of the hill, though, there was a nice view of the buildings above and the river leading into the city. in spite of its weird name (and impossible spelling), the schuylkill river is really pleasant to walk/bike along and a lot of people were doing just that.
from there it was almost time to head back home but i had one last stop. i figured my trip to philly wouldn't be complete until i had at least sampled a cheesesteak. i mean, 'steak'. so i drove down where i found the two most famous steak emporia, geno's and pat's respectively. not having any allegience i had planned on going to which ever struck my fancy. this plan changed as i approached and realized how long the lines were! and while cheesesteaks are fast food they evidently are not made very fast. after waiting impatiently for a few minutes and debating between the lines i eventually decided to cut my losses and try to find a less-famous steak elsewhere. there were no shortage of places nearby and in a few minutes i had settled on a little hole in the wall where i got my steak and water ice. and even with no line at all this order took about 10 minutes to prepare. i fully enjoyed my last taste of philadelphia before heading back down south. it was a good trip but i have a feeling i just skimmed the surface of what philly has to offer.
