Away for the holidays - Philadelphia - 2

The Philadelphia Bus Tour, what we did see

Big bus tour, Stops 1 to 8

Stop 1 was on the corner of Filbert and 5thStreets, not exactly where the map says to go, but it’s on 5^th street and you can see the busses, so it was not much of a problem.’

The problem was when we had to find our way there from the City Hall.  Having a handheld navigator, i.e. a mobile phone doesn’t necessarily make the task any easier, and I have been known to walk in the wrong direction.

At any rate, just up the way is Market street, and opposite the bus stop, is, you guessed it, a market.  Alas,, constrained for time, we didn’t get to visit it.

But...

There’s a bus waiting, and we’re on it.  New driver, different tour guide, an older person who may have a different slant on the history of the city.

It’s cold, gloomy, and not a dearth of people about, and that prolonged wait for more tourists to materialize has failed, and we’re off.

Stop 1

This is just a short hop, step, and jump from the Independence National Park where we could, if we had walked in that direction, seen the Liberty Bell, though I think the first tour guild had told us it was not the actual real bell.  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, because didn’t we come here to see the real deal?

Aside from the market, on our way along 5^th Street, and reaching Arch street, is the 5^th Street Burial Ground belonging to the Christ Church, and established in 1719, and where Benjamin Franklin was buried in 1790.

There are four other signers of the Declaration of Independence in the graveyard.

Further on there is the US Mint where free tours are available.  The original mint stood on this site from 1792 after the Coinage Act was passed, and build in Philadelphia because it was the nation's capital at the time.

I think I would have preferred to see the old building, not the new, and currently the fourth iteration of the mint.  The third had not been demolished and is now the Community College of Philadelphia.  Something to see on another day, perhaps.

Stop 2

After going around the block, and up some narrow streets, we finish up back in Arch Street, not exactly the widest of streets, and arrive at Betsy Ross house.

Of course, Betsy Ross was the maker of the first American flag, which is an interesting way to gain notoriety, and whom it seems may have been incorrectly credited because there is no archival evidence she was asked to make it.

She did, however, make flags for the Pennsylvania navy at the time of the American Revolution.

The house we get to see, albeit briefly from the bus, is purportedly where she made the flag.  The house sits several blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

Stop 4

Still in Arch street, this has both the National Constitution Centre and the Independence Visitor Centre nearby.

The National Constitution Centre has just about everything about the US Constitution within its walls, including a hall with 42 bronze statues of the founding fathers.

Stop 5

Chinatown, what more needs to be said?

Stops 6 and 7

Bookends for City Hall, and Love Park, well, it might not be actually called Love Park but the sign certainly makes a statement.

Stop 8

This is us, right here.

The thing is, if we had more time, I would have probably seen more, even visited a few of the places along the way.

Maybe next time.

Away for the holidays - Philadelphia - 1

The Philadelphia Bus Tour, what we did see


To start with, we first joined this tour at stop number 6.

We had to find it first and that meant some pedestrian navigation, which took us first to the City Hall, a rather imposing structure, which we found later had a profound effect on Philadelphia sports teams.

According to the map, stop number 6 is Reading Terminal Market, Convention Centre, on 12th street on Filbert.  This was where we bought the tickets and boarded the bus that had a rather interesting guide aboard.

His favorite says was “And we’re good to go.”

Soon we would discover that his commentary was more orientated towards a younger audience, not that it bothered us.

Given the time restraints, we had, this was always going to be about looking and learning.


Stop number 7

City hall, Love Park.

This we had seen on our walk from where we left the car at the Free Library, near the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Park, the landmark that Rebecca had remembered from her last visit to Philadelphia.  Of course, then, it was not quite so frozen.

Love park, of course, was only notable to us in that it had a sculpture in place with the word Love rather stylized.  Apart from that, you’d hardly know it as a park

The city hall, well, that was something else, and when we looked at it, before going on the tour, it was a rather magnificent stone edifice.

After, well the guide filled us in, tallest building, highest and largest monument on William Penn, you get the gist.  37 feet tall, when eclipsed, the Philly sports teams all suffered slumps of one kind or another, until the problem was rectified.  Interesting story.


Stop number 8

18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, or Logan Circle

This is the location of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.  A place where the Pope decided to give an audience and sent the city into a spin.

The same church that has very high windows for the reason in the early days there was a problem with people wanting to throw Molotov cocktails through the windows.  A bit hard when they’re so high up.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway, of course, is interesting in itself as an avenue, not only for all of the flags of many nations of those who chose to live in Philadelphia.  We found ours, the one for Australia

This was also the stop where we needed to get off once the tour was finished, and time to head to the car, and go home, but that’s another story.


Stop number 10

Is that the stature of the Thinker, made famous, at least for me, from the old Dobie Gillis episodes, of God knows how many years ago?

Or, maybe it's just the Rodin Museum on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

There's a whole story to go with that Statue and the fact it is one of many all over the world.

This one was made in France, cast in 1919 in Bronze, and is approximately 200cm x 130 cm by 140cm.


Stop number 11

Eastern State Penitentiary.  NW corner of 22nd Street and Fairmont Avenue.

This had a rather interesting story attached to it and had something to do with ghosts, but I wasn’t listening properly to the guide's monologue.

But, later research shows, the fact it was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world.  Many also think it is haunted and is a favorite for visiting paranormal visitors.

Built around 1829, it was the first prison to have separate cells for prisoners.  It held, at various times, the likes of Al Capone and Willie Sutt


Stop number 18

The Philadelphia Museum of art, where we stop for a few minutes and look at the steps which were immortalized in the movie Rocky, yes he ran god knows how far to end up on the top of these steps.

Sorry, but I’m not that fit that I would attempt walking up them.  The view is just fine from inside the bus.  Of course, they might consider cleaning the windows a little so the view was clearer, but because it’s basically Perspex and scratched so that might not be possible.


Stop number 17

Back at Logan Circle, or Square if you prefer, but on the other side, closer to the Franklin Institute.  Benjamin Franklin’s name is used a lot in this city.

After that, it’s a blur, the Academy of Music, the University of the Arts, Pennsylvania Hospital, South Street, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the USS Olympia, Penn’s Landing and past the National Liberty Museum.  I’m sure somewhere in that blur was the intention of seeing the Liberty Bell, but I think I heard that it was not on show, and only a replica could be seen.

So much for the getting as opportunity to see the real liberty bell, crack and all..

We get off and stop number 27, or Number 1, I was not quite sure.

What were we after?  The definitive Philly Cheese Steak.