Pim's trip to Philadelphia

Prior to the trip, I had a rough plan to mainly go to the Reading terminal market, Chinatown, Liberty Bell and other historic sites around there. I did not have an exact plan because I decided that I would stop wherever I want, and hopefully I would find some interesting places along the way. Also, I wanted to walk all through the trip, because walking would make it easier to see the local’s life and stop by whenever I want.

On my trip to Philadelphia, I started off walking from City Hall to the Reading Terminal Market. It was raining and the map got wet. I finally arrived at the market to find that some of the shops were closed on Sunday. However, there were still lots of people and many shops selling everything from Chocolate to flowers. After walking around for a while, however those chocolate were tempting, I decided to try Nutella Strawberry Banana Crepe at Profi’s Creperie. Watching the crepe being made was fun, and the crepe was pretty good, hot, crispy and sweet. At the shop, I talked to the lady sitting next to me. She was from Connecticut and was on an art trip to art museums and conferences in the city. After I finished the crepe, I headed over to Chinatown.
At Chinatown there were numerous Chinese restaurants, bakeries that sold bubble tea, my favorite dessert, and several Thai restaurants. Unfortunately, I was too full to eat more noodles or Peking Duck, although they smelled really good and authentic. There were also souvenir shops, with the owner who only speaks Chinese, selling different Chinese stuffs such as the traditional dress, bamboo fans, red lanterns, and jade jewelry. The markets there sold vegetables, fruits and ingredients I am familiar of in Thailand.
From the Chinatown, after several wrong turns, I arrived safely at the liberty bell. The line in front of the museum was pretty long, but what’s inside was worth waiting. I walked through the exhibit of the bell’s history to the Liberty Bell itself at the end of the exhibit hall. Although I expected the Bell to be larger than it actually was, it was not the size of the bell, but the story and people behind it that made this bell so special and inspiring.
Afterwards, I wanted to see the Washington square I researched on the internet. According to the website, there will be people, families and friends hanging around at the square, so I thought would be a good idea to go there to see the locals’ lives. Unfortunately, maybe because it was Sunday, or because it was chilly and windy outside, me and my partner were the only people at the square that afternoon. However, Washington’s statue, the fire in front of him, and the trees with flowers of different shades were also great sights to see.
After the long walk on quiet streets and being disappointed by the Washington square, I wanted to see people, crowded shops and real stuffs going on at South Street. I walked past many lovely neighborhoods with red-bricks houses and beautiful gardens before arriving at the lively South Street. There were all kinds of shops on the street ranging from seafood restaurants, shopping places, again Thai restaurants, hair salons or tattoo shops. Then on the right side of the road I spotted a weird-looking building with mirrors, colored tiles, bottles, wheels, dishes, and other different items glued on the wall. I crossed the street to take a closer look at those strange walls and realized that it was the Philadelphia’s Magic Garden, containing mosaic art works. This was what I was looking for on the trip, something unexpected that showed up as I just wandering around the city. With no hesitation, I paid 3 dollars for the so-called donation and went inside the building. I was lucky enough to meet the artist Isaiah Zagar himself and talk with him about his work and inspiration. I walked around the maze of this mosaic work and felt that it was very creative and unique. I came out of the gallery, knowing what I want to write for my article.My last destination is the Independence Seaport Museum on the river bank. The ticket was 10 dollars for a tour inside the Becuna submarine and the Olympia ship. Life of the navy at war was unimaginable for me until I went inside those ships and see for myself. Because the guns, torpedoes, kitchens, toilets, beds or operation rooms on the ships were still well preserved, I could get the sense of the stress, harshness, and inconvenience that the officers might felt during their operations.