The thing about beaches for me, is that, I missed it subconsciously and I never realized just how much it was stuck there until today. That is, when we took a road trip to Atlantic City, I found myself singing to the music and just ecstatic at the fact of going to the beach! Casinos, salt water taffy and all are fine, but the beach is always something to be happy about. Of course, I will prance about the sand and let the wind mess up my hair while wading into the waters.
In short. It was fun. Must do it again.
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Philly cheesesteaks. I’m a vegetarian, so I’m never going to find out what this tastes like. But,hey, there’s also the Philly soft pretzel with cream cheese. So, that’s one off the checklist. Eating something local. It tasted quite good (and is also pretty cheap considering the por grad student syndrome I have) but as a regular meal, nope. Of course, not.
I should still check out the food trucks that are scattered about here.
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A couple of friends and I decided to walk around Center City area of Philadelphia. And I saw the infamous “LOVE Park”, but sadly, the fountain was switched off.
Walking a little further, we went to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. In a word, this place is beautiful. There wasn’t a mass in progress when we went, so it was just beautiful and calming to sit in the rows, and reflect. Although I have no idea of art style, there was a whole set of beautiful stain-glass windows, sculptures and paintings. It seemed like a really serene place to pray. The image below doesn’t even begin to capture the beauty of this place.
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Bad decisions make for great stories.
While using the subway to get to Center City, I noticed a host of people wearing versions of the American flag print. And, I didn’t think much of it, until I saw a giant mass of people in similar clothes. Patriotism?
Well, eventually, we found out it was for the Made in America concert. Like all bad decisions, this involved a mad moment of insanity and going to the concert. It was a whole load of fun and more. What’s not to love about yelling out some awesome songs and letting the loud music take over?!
One more checklist thing ticked off. Attended a concert.
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Life here is different. We all expect it, but it;s the little things that you actually notices as big things to adapt to.
I, for one, find yellow light bulbs too depressing for daily activity. It’s probably good to create a romantic ambience, but seriously guys, I want white light bulbs.
Buying things in bulk is cheaper and the prices don’t increase linearly.
Free soda refills. And it’s not just limited to coke,sprite, fanta, pepsi. The soda dispenser has probably 10-15 different kinds and you can just about fill whatever you want. This is such a strange new concept; and I just keep wondering how they prevent abuse of such a system.
Everything here is huge. Right from chipmunks (yes, they’re cute) to portion sizes at restaurants. Although, the latter is useful to reduce costs.
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One day, I’m going to write about the campus at Penn. It’s the sort of place you can walk around, get lost (especially if one owns a semi-smart phone like me ) and just hang around. It’s pretty amazing.
One thing though, is that I haven’t really explored Philly. There’s this sub-conscious voice that keeps telling me I have two years to go and that’s kind of made me lazy. I put things off with the thought that there’ll be another weekend for it. I do realize once actual classes begin, the workload is going to be crazy, but try telling that to the voice in my head. But I am open to suggestions and all the non-touristy places I could visit while here.
P.S. You might have guessed that I wrote this post over a couple of weeks, with snippets whenever I felt like. Somehow, Philly’s brought on this inability to write much.
Jumping Gene 