Killadelphia

It is the most dangerous large-city in America, with 30 homicides per 100,000 people in the last census year. This is where the Fresh Prince was born and raised, although he spent most of his days on the playground. It is the birthplace of this nation. And yesterday Philadelphia became the 6th destination on my Big Bad Adventure of 2009.

I have taken Philly pretty easily, after 3 weeks on the road I felt like I needed a rest. I have done all the historic sites that I wanted to see here, but I have far from a full picture of what Philadelphia is really like. I havn't even taken obligatory skyline photos. My hostel is in Old City, which is a bit south of downtown, but a district rich with sites of historical significance and a popular nightlife area.

I arrived yesterday afternoon. It ended up taking 4 trains from New York City but was suprisingly easy. Before yesterday I wasn't certain of my ability to even pinpoint Philadelphia on a map of the US, so arriving at the hostel 3 hours after I set out for it without any dramas was quite exciting. At the hostel I enjoyed playing pool and some free beer. Met a fellow traveller from Germany and we headed out to see some galleries (which have friday-night openings) and take in some of the nightlife. It was a good evening all up. There are definately some interesting clubs in Old City.

This morning checked out the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and Congress Hall. Liberty Bell is a very old bell, which tolled at the first reading of the Declaration of Independence right here in Philadelphia. But it was already about 80 years old at that time.. It is so old now that it rings no more but sits and is probably the most photographed bell of all time. Even the Dalai Lama has a photo taken in front of it. Independence Hall is the former Colonial Capitol of sorts of Pennsylvania which ended up housing meetings of the Continental Congress, which ultimately led to the revolution and the declaration of independence. Congress hall housed the first congress of the United States, while Washington DC was under construction from 1790-1800. It really was cool to see the very chairs that Benjamin Franklin and George Washington had sat in so many years ago.

Liberty Bell

This is the room where the United States began, where the Declaration of Independence was drafted, ratified and signed, by people who thought they may be hanged for doing it.

Independence Hall

I am currently sitting in the HI Hostel in Philadelphia enjoying a spoken word/acoustic guitar performance. I have been reading a photography book entitled America 24/7 which presented a snapshot of American life at the beginning of the new millenium. A collaborative project it included photographs submitted by amateur photographers and background information. From this book tonight I have learned of the 78th Texas state Legislature... In the 2o03 session of the Texas legislature, the republicans who controlled the state House of Representatives tried to pass a law redistricting the state which would have been undemocratically beneficial to the republican party. Without wanting to give a political science lesson in my blog (and not really being in a scholarly position to do so), this means manipulating one of the kinks of an FPP elecotral system. It is possible to redraw electorate boundaries to favor one side over another. In protest, and realizing what they would lose should the law pass (all future elections) 51 democrats fled the House of Representatives thereby preventing quorum from being attained and blocking the passage of the new law. Even though they would have voted 'no', by them being there in the minority the law would have passed. In their absense it could not pass. The speaker of the house ordered State Troopers to arrest their asses, but all 51 of them had taken up residence in an Oklahoma motel - outside the reach of the Texan lawmen. When they returned to the state 4 days later, they were victorious with the Republicans backing down. I just thought that was a cool story.

Mmmmkay, its off to Washington tomorrow.. So I'll talk to you from there.

Last day in New York

Yesterday I spent the day with Tina and Joe. Tina I met at the pubcrawl the other night and Joe I met on a train between Chicago and Denver and he has since arrived in New York. We had a fun filled day, starting with a visit to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

Ellis Island is really intresting. It is the place where almost all immigrants to the US from Europe and the Carribean between 1894 and 1924 ended up being processed before being allowed entry. There is a museum there now. The museum was unexpectedly huge and we ended up spending a good portion of the afternoon there seeing it.

Once back on Manhattan we went to the East Village to pay a visit to McSorley's Old Ale House. Open since 1854 there are old photographs and newspapers on the wall from various world events that have occured since that time. There is sawdust on the floor, and the barmen, who are old irishmen, are carry like 10 beers in each hand at once, so they make a big display of bringing your drinks to you. There is no drinks list. You order a beer and get 'a light and a dark', one ale and one porter, the both of them for $4.50.

After that we had pizza, and then went to some deli which apparently does the best chessecake in NYC. We had desert there, but you should have seen the sandwiches they made. We are talking sandwiches which stand up off the plate, more than I ever imagined was possible. The walls of this place were full of signed photographs of celebrities who had visited, dropped by in their limos for the most famous sandwiches and cheesecake in New York.

Once darkness fell we went down to Times Square, one last time. We sat there watching the people and the signs for like 2 hours.

An ad for Mama Mia on Times Square.

There is plenty left to do in New York. I gave up trying to do everything a few days ago because I was getting demoralized. You could spend years exploring this city and probably still not see everything it has to offer. I had a great time here but I ended up with a long list of things to do here on my next visit.

Today I'm catching 3 connecting suburban commuter trains to Philadelphia. It is an unconventional way of getting there, but much cheaper than Amtrak. It will cost me less than $15 but will take around 3 hours. Amtrak would only take a bit over an hour.

More from New York

A little light on photos today I'm afraid, I have been a bit slack about taking my camera out with me the last couple of days.

On Tuesday I went to Coney Island, an old neighborhood on the south coast of Brooklyn consisting of semi-abandoned amusement parks and a large beach. It appears in my favorite playstation game GTA 4 so I had to go see it. There were more hawkers than people for them to sell to, and only a couple of the rides still work, but amusement park equipment dating back to the early 20th century dot the landscape.



Tuesday night I went on a pub crawl around the hostel with about 30 other travellers. Met some interesting people from all over the world. Only went to 4 bars which isn't really a pubcrawl as I remember it from my Vic days. Through the pubcrawl I finally met someone who wanted to go to a Broadway show with me, which became the traffic for yesterdays stage...

The TKTS box office on Times Square which offers discount tickets to the shows opened at 3pm. We (myself and Tina from Germany) had to line up for about an hour. We managed to get tickets to the Phantom of the Opera 8pm show at the Majestic theater. With the tickets secured we did some more exploring of the city, Chinatown, the MoMA, the Paley Center for Media, and the Staten Island Ferry (again, this time in the daylight).

The show was absolutely amazing. One of the premiere experiences of my life. I remembered my days growing up at the Hutt City Musical Theater and how Broadway was looked towards as a kind of mecca of that kind of entertainment. As the curtains went up it was hard to believe I was finally there and getting to see a show. The Phantom is the longest running show in Broadway history, it has been going for 21 years. Last night was a sell-out, and after all those years they still got a standing ovation.

Not quite sure whats on the agenda today. I'm meeting Joe and Tina at the hostel at 10.30 and we will go from there. Possibly will be the Ellis Island immigration museum first up. Theres also something on the the Paley Center for Media I want to go back and see later in the day, and I still must get to the old ale house Mike and Raych recommended. I need to do all of that and anything else I can fit in today because tomorrow I'm making my way to Philadelphia.

I'll be sure to take my camera with me today so the next blog post will be better I promise.

Gotham

Today's highlight was the 'Top of the Rock', the 70th floor observation deck of the Rockerfeller Center. While not the tallest building in NYC, it is cheaper than the Empire State Building and still offers a spectacular view. I could have stayed up there all day, there was so much to look at below.

Yesterday I strolled through Harlem, New York's blackest neighborhood. Pictured is the famous Apollo Theater, the music hall where Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey and the Jackson Five got their start, to name but a few. Simpsons viewers will remember the Apollo as the location of Krusty the Clown's horrifically named 'Krusty's Komedy Klassic' (KKK). They have amateur nights on Wednesdays so I might go back for that... not to perform, just to watch the show!

Times Square. It looks so much better at night but I don't have any photos of that yet..

Japan Day in Central Park

...and elsewhere in Central Park, peace and tranquility.

The Dakota apartment building. At the bottom left of this photo is the enterence where John Lennon was gunned down.

I took today at a slower pace then usual, only visiting one museum, ambling through Central Park, and going to the Top of the Rock. Joe, the guy I met on the Amtrak train to Chicago arrives in NYC tonight, so it will be good to have someone to hang out with. I haven't met that many people in New York so far and people at this hostel seem a bit anti-social, sitting around with their laptops and that kind of thing. Like what I'm doing now. Ok better go.