Another week in the big city!!

Hey Guys!!
Hope all is well! We have had another fabulous week in Philly! Here are more pictures of the fun we've had so far!!

We went up into the CIty Hall tower which was designed to be the tallest building in the city, which it was until the building ban was lifted in the 1980's. It is agorgeous building and is one of the oldest in the city. The elevator ride to the top was a little scary. The elevator only held 5 people, and you had to stand VERY close to all of the other people in it in order to all fit. Then, it made creaky noises all the way to the top, while the operator talked about how the mechanics had to always be there in case something happened to the elevator. It was not very encouraging. However, the view from the top was incredible!!! It was a gorgeous day and it seemed as though you could see forever! Here are some of the pictures we took!





More pics from the top of the tower. The bridge in the middle pic is the Ben Franklin Bridge that crosses over into Jersey.


More pics at the top of the tower!! As you can see it was an amazing day!!!!

I loved this spot. I never noticed as we walked by at ground level that there are statues of game pieces everywhere. It was really neat to see from that far up. There are dominoes, chess pieces, and bingo chips. The last pic is a close up of Broad street from above. Broad street runs pretty much through the center of Philadelphia

Yet more pictures of the view. It really was pretty cool to see. The last picture is of the Ben Franklin Parkway which leads to the Art Museum.

This is the art museum which most people know as the home of the "Rocky Steps". The next picture is a close up at ground level of Ben Franklin Parkway. The road is lined with flags from different countries. It is really cool to see all the flags lining the street as you walk up it.

This is the statue outside of the Art Museum with a building at the side. The building is so cool to look at and so we wanted a pic of it! The next sculpture is the Revolutionary War Memorial which is along the Ben Franklin Parkway. There are so many sculptures and memorials in the city. It really is incredible. Next is the view from the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Here they are! THE ROCKY STEPS!!!!!! Of course we had to go there and see them for ourselves! For those of you who are unaware, these are THE STEPS that Rocky ran up in his movie. Amazing sin't it? AND if you happen to forget while you are here, you WILL be reminded. OR if you are like me and are clueless about Rocky, you WILL get a very quick education with EVERYONE offering you their version of both the story AND the movie!! While we were at the statue (which was moved off the steps and onto the ground because it was cracking the steps), a man began to sing the themesong to us from Rocky. Of course, then he came up to us asking for money! I guess the Rocky singing hasnt worked out very well for him!

These are pictures of the Mummers Parade. This is a parade that is held annually every New Years Day and is an all day event. THis year it was postponed until the next weekend because of the rain. These people go all out for this thing. It starts at about 8 in the morning and runs until about 9-10 at night. Everybody lines the streets and whoops and hollars at all of the people performing. the people performing are referred to as Mummers. What exactly is a Mummer? I have no idea!!! From what i have gathered from the 15 different definitions i have heard. It is people from different service clubs in the city who primarily exist for this parade. They practice all year for this parade and spend over 10,000 dollars in each costume. The costumes really are beautiful and very elaborate. THere are 4 different categories and each group puts on a "skit" at each of the judging stands. THe winning club from each category wins 250,000 dollars. These people go all out. it was pretty cool and impressive to see. It is really a big deal to most Philadelphians even though most of them can not explain what exactly a Mummer is. There is even a Mummer museum in the city with past parade things in it. The parade is a tradition that has lasted over 120 years.



I thought this window was funny advertising the chocolate laxative. Not quite what you expect to bepainted in a window of a clothing store! Buffalo billards is a place downtown that we went to hang out and play pool. we really had a good time and for the record, i beat Shane 2 times out of 3 games!

Here is a pic of me beating Shane and Shane trying to beat me (which did not work out so well for him!). The last pic is of Amy. She went with us and everyone else was at work while we had fun!

This was a candy store we found called Shane's candies! Couldnt pass the opportunity to take a pic of my Shane under the sign!! The next pic is of our first cabride in the city!! THe driver was very nice, although he could not understand us very well and we could not understand him! Shane and Amy were worried to death that I would try to take a picture of him, which I did not! But, I did get a pic of the car when we go out at our apartment!

For those of you who do not know, the Philadelphia Eagles played the NY Giants on Sunday in the playoffs. Let me just say that you have never watched a football game until you have watched it in Philadelphia, two blocks from the stadium with Eagles fans!! If nothing else, we will all know how to spell E-A-G-L-E-S by the time we leave and know the chant by heart! If they win again on saturday, we may even know the fight song! In case you are wondering, the Eagles kicked a field-goal with 2 seconds left to win the game. It was very dramatic! People went crazy!! We just sat there and laughed at people. Many were flying around the restaraunt flapping their arms like eagles. It was a sight to see!!! The first pic is the place where we watched it. The second is of Amy and Ted (the really smart research guy). The last pic is of me, Merideth (another traveler), and Amy. We had aloot of fun and gained a whole new appreciation for football fans!

There you go, there is more of our week!!! Keep watching, there will be more fun to come. And for those of you who have askedm there are no pictures of the ghetto that we wandered into on Sunday looking for the church! I was tooo afraid to take out my camera and take pictures. People were staring at us because we obviously DID NOT belong there! If i get lost again, I will try to take some pictures if possible. HOwever, that was not the day or the place to do it!!!:) I was just praying we would get out of there!