Philadelphia- the City of Brotherly Love

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The Chinatown bus dropped me off in (you guessed it)-- Chinatown, so we took advantage and my mom & sister Madeline and I went to a Chinese Restarant. The woman was making dumplings, which she filled tray after tray very quickly. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, as I was exhausted after NY!

The next few days were spent relaxing and preparing for my PhD celebration party at my mom's house (cleaning, menu planning, playing with the doggies, etc). On Friday morning, my mother & I went shopping in the Italian markets in south Philly, a true foodie shopping experience. As you push by all of the other busy shoppers laden with shopping bags, you are acosted by the sights, sounds and smells of meat, cheese, vegetables (some rotten, some not), burning paper from the trash stuffed into oil drums in the streets, and lots of loud stall owners shouting about their various wares. The stalls are all stacked with fruits and vegetables, and the shops have animal carcasses in the windows. You do have to be vigilent as you buy your produce- they like to sneak in a few bad apples into the bag if you aren't looking.

On Friday evening, Amanda and her mom came into town, and we went to the BYO restaurant, La Locanda del Ghiottone (130 N 3rd St). Afterwards, we walked them to their hotel, going down Elfreth's Alley, "the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in America" (or so the website says).

Saturday meant cook, cook, cook, as my mom & sister helped me prepare for the crowds. The dogs were not exactly sure what to make of all the activity, but were very happy to gobble up the scraps from the food preparations. Guests started to arrive for the party at about 1pm, and fun started. My close girlfriends from the University of Michigan (Ann, Lisa, Jenna, Amanda, Marcela, Ann & Carrie), and friends from Princeton (Jane, Dwyer & Kysa) all came from the east coast & further west to celebrate the end of my PhD. It was awesome to have lots of quality time to spend with everyone, since I don't get to the USA more than once or twice a year. It was great to see the babies (Noah & Rachel), and to hear all of the latest news & gossip.

The next day we had a great brunch my mom made, and then Bebe came over for some wedding song rehearsal with Dwyer & Kysa (they were awesome by the way). And then everyone was gone- way too quickly for me! I was sad to see them leave, but sooooo happy and appreciate that everyone made the big journey down. I love you guys! And a HUGE thanks to Madeline & my mom for helping out, and to everyone who brought booze, you'll have to come back at Christmas to help me drink it all!

On Monday, Madeline had off work, so we went around South Street in our neighbourhood. It was quite a bizarre experience in which random things happened and everyone was way too friendly. First we saw a bizarre accident in which a truck had crashed into a police car & gotten stuck (see photos). Then we went into a pawn shop (Society Hill Loan, 645 South St) to look at their wares, and we had a very informative chat with the guys who work there about how the pawn shops work. When I asked if I could take a photo of them, they asked if I wanted them to pose with their gun (which of course I did, who could resist such an offer?) Anyway, not many people pull out their semi-automatic rifle for you in the middle of Philly! We went into a cafe, and when we were looking at the pix we had just taken, Hubert the bartender wanted his photo taken also, so we obliged. On the way home I snapped some other photos of the street.

And then Wednesday, my flying visit to Philly was over! Way too soon really, but it was so great to see Madeline & my mom, and relax.

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