Early in the morning we take the metro (which as I imagined is not empty despite the time) and return from the parts of the Vessel, in the place of the RATS, to wait for the bus.
This time we do not find people to converse with but the trip to Philadelphia will still be quite short (2h).
We arrive in Philadelphia where the bus leaves us in the tourist center; so we leave immediately for the Visitor Center to get maps and information.
The gift shop is indicated by a huge Rocky Balboa in a rather chic suit.
Philadelphia and independence Hall
At the Desk they give us all the information we need to visit the Independence Hall complex, just to stay on the subject of “American history”, as we did when we went to Washington.
The tour starts shortly so we cross the large lawn framed by the various historic buildings and enter the main one.
We are welcomed by a ranger with a particularly rapid speech; makes a brief historical introduction to the ratification of the Declaration of Independence that we had seen in Washington D.C. (I understand that it is the political center of the USA but they could also leave it in Philadelphia since this is where it was signed).
Unfortunately, or fortunately, the interior of the building is not bare, but very little is left of original, apart from the palace of course; I remember that the ceiling and the chair with the sun on the backrest are not replicas.
The two guides we listened to spoke so fast that I remember practically nothing of what they said.
I grasped that in July, when they signed the constitution, it was a hellish heat in those halls and all the representatives of the 13 colonies locked themselves there for a long time to write and approve all the articles, in short, it must not have been pleasant.
Also here George Washington was chosen, on June 14, 1775, to command in that turbulent period and for the subsequent British occupation.
History Tips: Independence Hall was built between 1732 and 1753. It was renamed the Pennsylvania State House (as Philadelphia was the capital of the state of Pennsylvania).
The architectural style of this building is georgian, ranging from 1720 to 1840 (so called because in those years there were four English monarchs called George).
Brief historical engraved
- June 14, 1775: Continental Congress delegates appoint George Washington commander of the army in the Assembly Hall.
Why do you need a commander of the army of the colonies?
To try to be brief; the settlers had reached a level of independence that no longer accepted the heavy taxes coming from the motherland.
At school they make us study the Boston Tea Party (when in 1773 the settlers threw the load of tea of the English ships overboard) but already in 1770 there had been the Boston Massacre.
Since the British were responding to the protests with a heavy fist, an American army was needed and therefore a leader of the same. - June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes to the Continental Congress the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.
- July 4, 1776: after being corrected, the final version is drafted and signed.
- September 1777: Philadelphia is occupied by the British (who are not very happy with the Declaration of Independence and hope that, occupying the city, the revolt will slowly die out).
- July 2, 1778: Congress returns to Philadelphia after the British abandon it in an attempt to save their control over New York.
- September 3, 1783: the Treaty of Paris is signed and the British renounce their colonies (they could have continued to fight but the economic effects of the war on the English population risked bringing down the British government itself!)
- September 17, 1787: the 13 states need a few more rules because they do not get along with each other, so they complete and sign the Constitution of the United States of America (they sign all but Rhode Island, and the jokes about the name are wasted!)
- May 15, 1800: after passing through Trenton, New Jersey and New York (provisional seat of government in 1785 in the Federal Hall building, where Washington is elected first president) finally Washington D.C becomes the new and definitive capital of the United States of America (forerunner of the time: John Adams).
The Liberty Bell
We then pass by the ruins of the House of Washington and the Liberty Bell, which has become the undisputed symbol of the city.
This bell came from London in 1752 but rang for the first time only in 1774 to announce the opening of the first continental congress.
He played again in 1775 after the Battle of Lexington and Concord; finally it fully assumed its meaning as a symbol of the
freedom when he played on July 8, 1776 to gather the citizens for the reading of the Declaration.
The engraving shows a chapter of Leviticus:
Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof Lev. Xxv. v X.
By Order of the ASSEMBLY of the Province of PENSYLVANIA for the State House in Philad. MDCCLIII
She played for the last time in 1846, on the occasion of George Washington’s birthday and then, after cracking for the second time, they sent her into retirement.
You may have already seen this famous bell in an episode of the famous American TV series “How I Met your Mother”, during which the protagonists bet on the success of the mission: “Go and lick the Liberty Bell!”
Back in time at Elfreth’s Alley
After our morning walk in the cradle of the American state we moved to a small very famous alley, Elfreth’s Alley. This street has remained unchanged since they began to build the pretty colonial houses, from 1720 to 1830, and this makes it the oldest residential street in all of America.
To get to Elfreth’s Alley we passed by the cemetery where benjamin Franklin’s grave is located; just nearby is a fire station with a giant mural and a half-length of the American inventor par excellence.
Born in Boston on January 17, 1706, he was a scientist as well as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America.
He invented a lot of things including:
– the lightning rod
– the bifocal
lenses
– the glass harmonica- a particular model of stove-fireplace
The monument is located near these fire stations because it was he who founded it.
He also contributed to the creation of the country’s first public library!
“The most gifted American of his era and the one who most influenced the kind of society that the United States would become.”
says about him Walter Isaacson
If you continue your walk, in this area of the city you will also find the Betsy Ross House Museum.
According to legend, she was the seamstress who created the first American flag (commissioned by George Washington himself); outside the cottage you can see an old flag with still only 13 stars put in a circle, European Union style.
A curiosity that we had already noticed in New York, but which then reappeared here too, were the planters and the small flower beds around the trees on the roadside.
While we in Italy build small meadows, with some low flowers, here they put very bright purple cabbage.
I think it may be a choice related to the particularly harsh winters that would kill any flower, but it’s just my theory.
Looking for the Ready Terminal Market!
After a nice meeting with a little dog and a rather bizarre shop window, with stuffed animals in positions of hardened alcoholics (with a clear dubious taste), we went in search of the Ready Terminal Market.
Our goal is to find the famous Philly Cheesesteak, a meat and cheese sandwich typical of the city.
The central street is busy, as is to be expected; however, it is quieter than any street in the big apple with more than two lanes.
There are many shops including the Hard Rock, which stands out as it shows off a giant rotating guitar right outside the entrance.
We’ve seen a worker washing the windows of a skyscraper, I’ve always seen them in movies, and seeing one live is very cool.
A little further on we see “intriguing” tail (who knows maybe there is a Hollywood star somewhere); we ask what it is for and they tell us that it is for Candytopia, a modern attraction composed of various rooms all focused on the theme of candy and playground.
Oh mom it would have been mine!!!
Unfortunately, in addition to the mileage line, the cost of the ticket is not at all affordable, alas I have to give up being a child for today.
We enter the Hard Rock (as you know by now) and this is not bad, the Norwegian caiman leather armchairs are a spectacle!
Philly Cheesesteak you are mioooooooo
The Ready Terminal Market is an immense, truly immense shed full of stalls; just like a wholesale market but with all the food you could want.
There are huge stalls of fruit and vegetables, live fish (obviously a lot of “pizzicottine” that if you wanted they would have cooked you on the spot), donuts and various fried foods; but also pizzas and other dishes from all over the world.
But this is not our mission!
Our sacred food mission is to find the busiest place that sells Cheesesteak!
I do not think it is possible to miss the mecca of paninari; there is an inhuman tail and even a guard who controls the line!
The place is Spataro’s!
I take the number and patiently queue while Matteo goes hunting for a seat in the large space of tables not far away.
What was the sandwich like?
From the photo I do not think there is any doubt.
Exquisite, all full of cheese and thin thin red meat, a calorie bomb, but how good!
This wonderful sandwich was invented by Italian-Americans Pat and Harry Oliver in the twenties.
According to some, the two brothers owned a hot dog stand and decided to prepare a new sandwich that contained chopped beef and grilled onions.
While Pat was eating this new invention of his, a taxi driver passed by; he asked to eat an identical one and was so impressed that he told him to stop with hot dogs!
A long walk through Philadelphia
With a beautiful full belly we go to the Town Hall and then get to the statue of Rocky, the real one this time.
The town hall is very beautiful, an immense parallelepiped with a courtyard inside in which we find some Christmas stalls and a bell tower of 168m.
Think that this tower was the tallest in the world until 1993!
The building is in full Napoleon III style, on the other hand we are in America and if they do not copy the French of the Napoleonic era or the Italy of the Renaissance they are not happy. (joking of course!)
Outside the Town Hall there is a beautiful Christmas tree and an extremely old Ferris wheel, it gave me the impression of the wheels of the playgrounds of horror movies; those that always break and everything ends badly.
However, apart from the disturbing wheel, the square in front is very pretty; it has a large open space where monumental sculptures by different artists alternate and is framed by palaces of many different architectural styles.
Honestly the Love Park did not tell me much and the line of people ready to photograph themselves under the sculpture of Robert Indiana told me even less (then I will be ready to queue for the photo with the statue of Rocky, but do you want to compare? It’s Rocky!)
During the Christmas period it is in this square that the city concentrates to the maximum all the Christmas it can.
We give a quick glance at the Christmas Village but I do not find anything that strikes me particularly; we continue our walk via Benjamin Franklin Parkway towards Museum of Art.
At the information center we were told that it was far away so it would be convenient to take public transport; what a fool!
They do not know that we are step grinders when it comes to vacation so it is obvious that we did it on foot.
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
All along the way are arranged the flags of many nations, which makes it picturesque.
I had to do a photo shoot at this guy because the scene was in a way bizarre.
Imagine this huge street, surrounded by skyscrapers and historic buildings; add a traffic that does not seem intense (but maybe it is a game of perspective, the road is so big that you do not understand how many cars there are because they are small!) and
a stretch these guys pass by cackling and wheeling the bikes; I don’t know, I enjoyed the moment.
After the Easy Bikers of Philadelphia, let’s take a few steps and what do we find?
The entrance to the Academy of Sciences; so far nothing strange.
Too bad that at the entrance there are two FANTASTIC mechanical dinosaurs in winter clothing that move and “tubano”!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, lately scholars tell us that dinosaurs did not roar but rather emitted verses with their mouths closed like pigeons.
These new discoveries that tell us about feathered dinosaurs tubing like pigeons are interesting but destroy my childhood imagination!
They sadden me!
In 2017 there were 5700 homeless people in Philadelphia, but it had only 4000 beds to accommodate them.
The whole area is full of museums but we don’t have time so we pull straight.
Photos with Rocky (in the end there is not the queue I expected, better!) and then the staircase of the Museum, but calmly; no jog in the style of the film, something instead done by people of dubious physical prowess who tear me more than a laugh.
On the way back we pass by the Rodin Museum that welcomes you the statue of the Thinker, obviously we could not help but think of the scene of A Night at the Museum (“Let me think … let me think…)
And after honking myself from a truck because I had stopped in the middle of the street to photograph a strange robot painted on the strips, we return to the center.
Along the way we see a very long expanse of homeless tents, as I wrote above it is a serious problem.
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens
Our last stop of the day.
These “gardens” are located in the southern part of downtown Philadelphia.
History Tips: this neighborhood, of which the Magic Gardens are corner, is called Bella Vista.
The first Italian immigrants arrived in the middle of the colonial era, in the eighteenth century.
The main attraction is precisely the Italian market that is located in the area around 9th Street.
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens was born from the mind of Isaiah Zagar.
They are really beautiful, all a maze of narrow streets and rooms full of small statuettes and various objects, as well as glass and ceramics set in the walls and floors.
In addition, there is not only the main garden but the artist himself has created facades and alleys with the same style, difficult to describe, reminds me in some way of my friend Antonio Barberi.
Isaiah started in the 60s to tile, he started with some alleys and facades of houses to get to leave an imprint along all South Street.
Together with a group of artists and entrepreneurs he rented the windows of abandoned shops and gave them a new life.
Can you find all the (more than 100) mosaics?
The gardens that you can now walk, as we did, are still standing almost miraculously.
Isaiah had begun to build them on abandoned land that was not his; in 2004 the owner came alive with the intention of selling it.
But by now it had become this wonderful work of art!
Fortunately, thanks to a big protest, the non-profit organization “Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens” was formed, which since then has been responsible for preserving this wonder.
Leaving the gardens it fell in the evening and calmly we return to the stop where we take the bus to New York; delayed kind of an hour and passes, damn!
The good thing is that we started chatting with two guys who live in New York but with their parents in Philadelphia: Shant and Simona.
We spent time without getting bored; talking about food and Russia and Armenia and other things.
I remember the conversation about typically American food; after looking for something that could be called “American” and not imported from another culture, we came to a verdict.
The BARBEQUE is undoubtedly their ninety piece and the buffalo wings right after.
He advises us to go and taste some really good meat at Dinosaur BBQ in Brooklyn, we will do it!
Arrived in New York we take the subway and in a heartbeat we are in bed, tired but happy with the day, ah after a bit of noodles in soup as usual!
If you do not know where we started and where we will end, click below!
