Philly

 Philly to me is synoymous with Will Smith and the Liberty Bell. Apart from a coffee in the former's district, I did not see lots of West Philly, but I certainly got to see the Liberty Bell and other aspects of this lovely city.  My host was a friend I made in the Czech Republic and he was a kind and solicitous host from the outset, from meeting me at a rather bleak downtown location under a bridge to getting me back there three days later before I turned into a fish - some expression of lightening Ben Franklin's re guests only have a three day sell by date.  

The best thing about Philly was his place, up on the 18th floor this flat, which was originally part of a social housing system. It was so central and I loved that the desk at the bottom always said hi if one was passing and that everyone chatted to each other on the stairs or in the lift.  There was even the garage man to tip and chat to each time we ventured in or out.  

Day one was really being a tourist, being shown the sights, or not as it happens,  he was keen to show a view, but that turned out to be closed, and introduce me to the best pizza in town, in a downtown Irish bar, but that also turned out to be a dude, but it was fun winding the streets and in the end we dashed home for great pasta.  Staying with a man who had his own restaurant has its pluses.  Next morning he provided a great breakfast too, in fact each day something  unique, from pancakes, to omlettes, to various types of sausage, was presented.  

Although everything was nearby, at 80 and with a bad back, probably not helped by the fact that my host was sleeping on the couch, to give me a bed, we went most places by car.  Although JV has lived in Philly a long while, indeed his family goes back to early Dutch settlers,  it was a while since he had visited key locations, so we went through the process of going through security, only to discover we had to go to another building to get the tickets, but it was fine, that gave us the chance to see the LIberty Bell close up (it previously had a different name) and then go to the Independence Hall, which also previously had a different name. 

Once again the National Parks Service helped bring the location - the room where it happened - to life.    I followed this up with a visit to Primark and the fabulous Reading Market where to my delight I got some bissap as a gift for my host, before rushing back to rest and then get ready to go to the Opera.    The opera took place in one of the oldest buildings in town, but the Opera was one of the newest in the repetoire - The Listeners.  The composer is a local lass and this was its local debut so the company had gone to town to ensure the place was full, my $300 seat only cost about $11, and I was next to one of the patrons who, unlike the people in the row behind, coped with the swearing and stayed to the end! I enjoyed it and it was lovely afterwards to spot two of the musicians in the bus queue after who had only had a fortnight to memorize an entirely new score.  

It was hard to top that but the following day JV had arranged a tour of the local library archeological department, which was a talk by their head just to the two of us of some of their material. They have loads of original Dickens but also pictures by Dore and Egyptian scrolls! and we got to see them first hand.  I also got to the whispering Civil War memorial and some of the local parks, but the highlight of Thurday was meltingly soft brisket and mac and cheese and pots, in the company of 4 other lively older folk who had just come back from a holiday in Italy.  A chance to be with lots of Americans from all walks of life.  (two Italian originally).  

Hidden behind the cupboards in J's flat was a washing maching and dryer, so it was nice just to sit and chat, catch up with the Hurricane Helene news and election news and not hurtle out, on my final day but once that was out of the way we dropped into another of the many free musuems in town, this one on Chemistry and potted around Ben Franklin's old home before I got onto the Greyhound bound for Baltimore and another adventure.