My travel partner Ben and I got off the small yellow Peddie School bus at City Hall. I felt a mist of rain on my face so I pulled up my large hood to keep me dry. I immediately took out my camera to document the start of our journey by taking a snapshot of City Hall. Ben and I commenced our walking, made a left then a right and strolled to the Reading Terminal Market. As soon as we stepped inside, I was overcome by the size of the indoor market, the smell of fresh baked goods and fish, and the hustle and bustle of sales being made. There was everything from ice cream, Philly Cheesesteaks, and jewelry, to King Crab legs the size of my own. My stomach was rumbling at the sight of all the food as I had not eaten breakfast so I bought a large blueberry scone at the nearest bakery. Ben pointed out an empty section of the market and told me that the Amish usually manned that area, but they were absent considering it was Sunday, the day of rest. After roaming the market, we stepped back outside into the misting rain now with the remains of my blueberry scone in hand.
We began to walk over to the Old City and the Independence Mall but were stopped by the Friendship Gates, the entrance to China Town. The ornate, three story high gates drew us inside and we walked up the long street. I was walking right on the curb by a large puddle when a car drove by and splashed me with the dirty water. My pants were soaked! I had seen the same thing happen to people on TV and in movies time and time again, but it had never happened to me. I did not make a big deal out of it since my pants were already a little wet from the rain, but I felt like I was one of those unfortunate characters in the movies and just started to laugh. Ben started laughing too. We then went into a small shop filled with the bright colors of Oriental clothing. I started to examine small jade figurines of horses and tigers as Ben examined some wooden pipes. Ben picked up one wooden pipe in the shape of a phallic symbol and we both started to laugh.
We walked back out of the Friendship gates and continued on our way to the Old City and the Independence Mall. We first went into the Constitution Center where Barack Obama had recently given a speech. Near the entrance there was patriotic colored bulletin board entitled “What You Look For in a President” with pale yellow posted notes written out by visitors. One said “Last name isn’t Bush;” another said “Ovaries;” and my favorite said “Chuck Norris.” Next we went to the Second National Bank and from there we went to the Liberty Lights Center where I had read that there was a hologram of Ben Franklin. I was really excited, but when we got there, I was quite frankly disappointed. I thought it would be a 3D, full body hologram and you could ask him any question you wanted. Instead, a man in a 1700’s costume directed us to a 2D image of his upper body and a computer in the shape of an old fashioned book with only preset verbs and nouns you could click on to ask him. My friend Alex had told me that Ben Franklin was rumored to have had Syphilis and I should ask him about it, but unfortunately “Syphilis” was not one of the preset nouns.
After the big disappointment, Ben and I went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers in Washington Square. In the square, which was a peaceful little park, I zoned out for a second as I was taking a picture and all the sudden I hear a man scream “Beep!” as he almost hits me with his bike. He was just messing with me but I thought I was about to have a heart attack. I turned to Ben and he was just laughing at me. After my heart stopped racing, Ben and I sat down on a cold stone bench next to the tomb where a continuous flame burned and we jotted down some notes of the days previous activities. Once we had finished writing, we head over to Fabric Row, the fashion district of Philly. Right outside of Washington Square, a large lost lady asked us for directions. We told her that we are not from the City and did not know the place she needed to find. She said thanks anyway and we both went on down our separate paths. Since she had asked for directions, we must have appeared to her as locals; we blended in. Soon after, a man who seemed to be on crack came up to us and asked,
“You seen a Wawa?”
“No we haven’t,” Ben and I both replied.
“I need some change,” he blurted out with an unnatural twitch.
“No we haven’t,” Ben and I both replied.
“I need some change,” he blurted out with an unnatural twitch.
Ben gave the crazy man four quarters and he tried to give Ben a dollar bill back but Ben made him keep it and the crazy man quickly walked away. We went a little further and came to an ancient graveyard. The grass was lush and overgrown and the faded gravestones seemed as though they might topple over. Out of nowhere comes our teacher, Mr. Clements, on his bike. He said hello to us, stopped for a quick chat, took a picture, and he was off again.
After our brief encounter with Mr. Clements, we started walking again. Soon I was struck by a chic and trendy wave. Fabric shops with different cloths of all the colors of the rainbow lined the streets. We had reached Fabric Row. We did a walk through the area, observing the surroundings and the window displays which was all I could get Ben to agree to. Once we finished our walk through of Fabric Row, Ben and I were both hungry and wanted some authentic Philly Cheesesteaks. Apparently, there are two main restaurants, rivals if you will, where you get your Philly Cheesesteak, Pat’s and Geno’s. According to Ben who had been to Philly numerous times, Pat’s was the place to go. When we finally got there, I discovered that Pat’s and Geno’s were right across the street from each other, both with endless lines of hungry people. Ben waited on the endless line while I staked out the table. Ben came back with two Philly Cheesesteaks and some fries. Mine had peppers and some cheese whiz. When I took a bite, the cheese whiz came running down my hand and on the sleeve of my Calvin Klein raincoat. Although messy, it was quite satisfying.
After we finished our sandwiches, we made our way to the Italian Market. Little by little, the pizzerias multiplied. We knew we where there when we saw the name “Bruno Brothers” everywhere we turned. We went into a Bruno Brothers shop and as soon as I stepped inside I was taken aback by the intense aroma of cheese and olives. Every type of olive was displayed in crates and there were mounds of Provolone cheese hanging from the ceiling that were twice as big as my head. Behind the counter, there was a thin man with huge brown hair, almost an fro, and a bushy mustache. Once we had our fill of cheese and olives, we left the shop and I instantly spotted a chocolate shop and had to go inside. There was every kind of truffle you could imagine, various kinds of chocolate covered pretzels, and much more. I am a bit of a chocoholic so the sight of all that chocolate was just about too beautiful to handle. Ben and I left with a bag of truffles and sat down to eat them at a near by outdoor café. I took out the first truffle, small in my hand, and my favorite flavor, dark chocolate raspberry. I took a bite. The fruity coco mixture was absolutely heavenly. I savored every little bite. After a couple more truffles, I went into the café and got some chocolate hazelnut gelato which was equally heavenly. A chocolate lover’s paradise.
Once all the chocolate was gone, we started walking to Society Hill. On the way, a guy with dreads came up to ask us if he could borrow a pen. As I observed his unsanitary locks, he used Ben’s pen to write something down a on scrap of paper and was on his way. A little while latter, we passed by a sketchy man in a torn up jacket sitting on a stoop. He called out, “What’s up gurl?” and I tried not to turn around. Oh the cost of being a girl. When we were almost there, I saw a prom dress shop and had to go in. Ben refused to go in and stayed outside. The sign above the door read, Liatali; the most unique collection of women wear. There were gorgeous gowns of all different sizes, styles, and colors. There was only one person in the store, a middle aged man with gray hair and a slick goatee named Eli Aroshas behind a desk. One floor length white dress with clear crystal beading caught my eye and I went over to get a closer look. Next to the white dress was an ice blue silk dress. As I eyed the dress, Eli told me that that the dress was the same style as the dress Rose wore in the Titanic. Eli then went to the back and turned on some seductive Latin music. He came back and asked me in a rather sexual tone if I would like to try anything on. At this point, I was kind of creeped out and told him that I had to go. He gave me his card and then I swiftly left and met Ben outside.
After that creepy encounter, we walked up to Society Hill. The Hill was lined with adorable old houses, cobbled streets and flowering trees. It was like a glimpse into the old world of Philadelphia. It was beautiful. There were a few houses for sale and Ben and I both said that we wanted to buy them so we could live in such a beautiful place. Just as we got lost in admiring the picturesque rows of houses, I get a call from Mr. Clements who tells me that everyone is on the bus waiting for us. Ben and I hurried over to the Vietnam Memorial and found the small yellow Peddie School bus packed and ready to go. We hopped on the bus and head back to Peddie with the sights, the sounds, and the smells of Philadelphia still fresh in my mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment