Philadelphia Dreaming

That's my favorite shot of the whole trip.

I wasn't sure about Philly when I was dropped off near Reading Terminal Market and walked down Market Street to my hostel. The street was supposed to be the pre-eminent street (turns out that its best days are behind it) but was lined with mom and pops and discount stores.

But by the time I took that photo around 5.30 pm that day, having spent the past 4 hours walking through the various neighborhoods, the city had won me over. The grid system makes it easy to navigate, the city (what you want to see of it, in any case) is pretty compact and walkable, and I love the little lanes that cut through the blocks, some with cobblestone surfaces and not big enough for cars to drive through. The brick houses with wrought-iron balconies, set back from leafy streets (what I like to call the standard 'East Cost townhouse' style, which you can see variations of in Washington DC, Philly, New York and probably - because I haven't been there yet and so don't know for sure - Boston). Oh, I also think its really clever how they don't have pedestrian traffic lights for most smaller road crossings. Just zebra stripes, and you watch the main traffic light and take your cue from there. I always do that anywhere I go (except maybe Saigon where even main traffic lights were non-existent) so it was nice to see a city where you actually had to do it.

The $2 I spent on the walk (organized by the hostel) was a great investment. I got to see a lot of what I wanted, from Society Hill to South Street (with the beautiful mosaic wonder known as the Magic Garden - see it in my facebook album) to the Italian Market in South Philly, home to the famous competing cheesesteak joints. In a decidedly un-Simon move, I then proceeded to walk to Chinatown and across half the length of the Ben Franklin bridge (where I took that gorgeous photo above) with 2 of the leftovers from the walking tour, some dude from Austria and a German girl doing an internship with a small criminal law firm in New Jersey (which is just across the water from Philly) who looked eerily similar to Scar Jo circa Lost In Translation. If the law thing doesn't work out she'll have a great career as an impersonator really.

Speaking of doing things that don't come naturally to me - I actually stayed in a hostel! Yes it was only for a night, and yes I did it purely for financial reasons, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. By the time I got back, the lights in the dorm were long gone and I had to use the light from my phone to find whatever I needed to settle in for the night, and then sat down in the corridor outside talking to Jin (which must have made people think me crazy). Would definitely do it again. In fact I am staying in a hostel in Chicago too, and this one looks pretty great so fingers crossed I'll enjoy it as much as I did the one in Philly.

So at night I part ways with my Teutonic friends and make my way to Rittenhouse Square, which is this upscale part of town surrounded by hotels, cafes, shops etc. and from there I walk a little more to catch 'Never the Sinner', which is a recreation of the infamous Loeb and Leopold case that rocked Chicago early in the 20th century. 2 young and rich youth who subscribe to Nietzsche's theory of the 'superman' set out to prove that they are above the laws of man and human conceptions of tradition and morality, and they kidnap and kill a young boy as a 'philosophical experiment'. They were defended by the great civil liberties champion Clarence Darrow, and much of the play recreates the transcript of the court case. There's also a homosexual theme running through the play - in exchange for satiating Leopold's sexual desires, Loeb expects the former to acquiesce in his heinous plan to commit murder. Some parts are rather chilling, and I was disturbed that I found myself rooting for the remorseless murders to escape the gallows, although they were deliberately portrayed in a sympathetic light. I also realized that we've all been guilty, at one point or another, of thinking ourselves invincible superman, apart from the masses and being able to do anything we please. I am, anyway. Scary what that can lead to.

Contemplation was followed by a stroll through Philly at night, which was fine although I was in the homicide capital of the country, because most of that goes on outside the city center. This was when the skies decided to open on me and I was hit by torrents of rain, to the point of being soaking wet, and I eventually dried myself and waited under the awning of what looked to be a closed restaurant, waiting for the rain to abate. And waiting. And waiting. And feeling cold and miserable. Until a kind lady from inside offered me a broken (but still usable) umbrella, which I gladly accepted. I do believe in 'what goes around comes around', and I couldn't help but think that was my good fortune for having helped a couple of women carry their heavy suitcases up the stairs of the hostel earlier in the day.

Day 2 was spent walking around the various neighborhoods, soaking in the city and its people. Then I came across this street which had a rainbow symbol attached to it (the street sign). I hadn't found the gayborhood. It had found me. Yes, Philly actually has an official gayborhood, and I came across many great places to sit down and watch the world go by (aka cruise, and be cruised). Would have patronized one of them myself if I wasn't... by myself. Yes, traveling alone can be a lonely experience, but better than no traveling at all I suppose.

In the evening, I got back to the hostel, got my bag and took the metro down to the Wachovia Center, for the main purpose of my trip to Philly, Britney in the Circus Tour! It's funny, there was a baseball match going on in the field nearby, and that provided a distinct contrast between the target audience for both events on the subway. It was an amazing feeling to walk to the arena from the station, look in front and behind, and witness a stream of people making their way there.

The concert was great. I took a video of the opening scene, and the reason its shaky at some points was because my hands and legs were shaking with excitement and anticipation. She didn't interact much with the crowd, apart from 2 shout-outs to Philly, but at least she got the city right this time. It was really a concert for the hardcore fans though, because many of the songs were album tracks from In The Zone and Blackout (and yeah only a hardcore fan would have purchased the latter). This sweet remix of Baby One More Time was probably the most well-received track, which provides an interesting study in the general public's penchant for nostalgia and the good ol' days.

Ok I'm really sleepy (which is not great for my plans to do some reading before I leave tomorrow afternoon) so I'll just wrap up here. Philly has a great train station, up there with Grand Central and Union. Massive, impressive, ornate. Look at the pictures on fb la (and leave some comments in the album). Ciao.

Bottom-line : I like Philly. Not love like NY. But like good enough.