Philadelphia - Bells and Buggies

I forgot to mention the great taxi driver who took me from the ferry to the hotel yesterday. Once I said I was Australian, he start about how he really wants to go there, his brother went to Perth and loved it, and he loved Steve Irwin. Taxi driver loves wildlife because of Steve Irwin. But "I ain't touchin' nothin' that's got snake in its name!" And "do kangaroos box you?" He was so sweet. Said Steve Irwin was his favourite celebrity and he cried when Steve died.

Next...

Philadelphia and Amish country

Second day in a row of waking up well before the alarm(s) - I'm setting two - phone and iPad. Both mornings I think I've turned off the phone alarm and then that stupid rooster starts crowing! So annoying.

Walk up to the meeting point. The city is very different at 6:15 - quieter, guys hosing off sidewalks, fewer people, sense of the day beginning. Have to say I do love the fruit vendors on every third or fourth corner. Got a banana for breakfast.

Large group on a big tour bus and as it's going to be 35 degrees, this is good - air conditioning! There are a lot of Australians, a few Germans and a big Italian group so an Italian translator is along too. Off to Philadelphia, the City of Love. Tour guide, TG, (totally can't remember his name but he's the hold-the-umbrella-up-and-follow-me type) gave a really good and informative background of the history of the creation of the States and why Philly is important, etc, etc. Plus interesting tidbits like George Washington didn't want to be president, he preferred to go dancing.

Set off through the Lincoln Tunnel for a long drive, made longer by the truck smash taking up a few lanes, but that gave us all a chance to dose off a bit. Arrive in Philly, different architecture, lots of old brownstones. First stop was Elfreth's Alley - the oldest street in the US. Lovely old buildings that people actually live in but they have to maintain them as is - no McMansions here!

We passed the fire station and there were many people in uniform milling around. TG observed that it was September 11 and so services and such would be being held around the country. Next stop was Betsy Ross' house, the woman who sewed the first flag. I don't think this is the actual one...

Stopped for breakfast at a great mall. You pay by the weight of your food - so it's a buffet, you fill your plastic plate, they weigh it, you get your plastic cutlery and eat - such a waste of plastic but no washing up. And the weighing may have come in after the all-you-can-eat buffets started losing money coz of people piling up their plates!

We're all back at the right time, TG is counting us and someone just has to say, "If you're not here, raise your hand." Really???

Across to the Liberty Bell. They have put it into a museum and they go through your bags before you can enter. But, as TG says, in the winter, you could wear a coat stuffed with grenades and they wouldn't even know. Pretty cool to see the Liberty Bell, not much more you can say - it's a cracked bell.

The crack is on the other side, light was bad.

We went past Liberty Hall and into the Congress Hall - bags checked again and I swear they were the same two who checked them in the Bell museum - they must have run across. We sat in the congress seats and had a great information session with a park ranger who explained the beginning of the Houses of Parliament and the senate. Went upstairs to see the senate too - much nicer surroundings. Why, when young chickies realise they are walking through a door with a stack of people behind them  and their boyfriend is not right by their side do they have to stop and wait for them?? Just go out the door and wait for them outside.

Back onto the bus and off to the last stop - the Rocky steps. Actually the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Where apparently the most photographed piece of art is the statue of Sly out the front! Heard a number of calls of "Adrian!" And no, I did not run up the stairs and fist pump at the top - it was too hot and there was no music playing.

On to Lancaster, home to one of the largest Amish populations. We drove past many farms, saw a family all sitting on a large buggy dressed in their single coloured dresses with aprons and caps, and suspenders and hats for the men. Saw men with their horses pulling the ploughs. It was all just like in the movies.

Some of the Amish have realised that tourism is quite commercial for them so you can go on a buggy ride. Very cool. There were three buggies for our group and I saw a couple of girls getting into the front of one so I asked TG if I could sit up front on another one, and so I got THIS view...

How very fabulous! If you look to the left, you can see that all we need is an elephant and we can measure that corn. Our host, John, was full of information - it's all farmland, the corn and soya are grown for cow feed, the cows are milked for sale. There are fruit orchards, we passed a farm that trains racing horses, cheese farm, etc. We drove through this farm and stopped and could buy freshly made cookies and ginger beer. It was great. 

Just coz I like this photo of the rolling horse. John said if he rolled all the way over it would cost $100 for the photo - bit of a sense of humour, our John.

Here's my new mate John...

..who, like most Amish doesn't usually take photos but will for a buck.

On to our lunch stop at a place I'm sure has the most photographed sign in America...

Kitchen Kettle - a very quaint village with craft stores, couple of caves and so on. The best two were the Jam & Relish Kitchen were Amish women were making pear butter. There were samples of all sorts of delicious things and tiny crackers to try them with. I had pumpkin butter, carrot jam, sweet potato butter and cranberry & orange curd (the best one). If I wasn't travelling, I would have bought some. The other was the quilt shop - walk in the door and there was the most amazing array of beautiful quilts of all colours of the rainbow. Unfortunately both shops had signs saying no photos. This was the best I could do.

Had an apple, cheddar and walnut salad for lunch - yum!

Back on the bus for the drive back. Walked to a cute cafe around the corner from the hotel for dinner. On the way back, saw a newspaper with the headline 'Diana's Killer Found.' So that's a relief.

While on today and the Niagara buses I keep looking down into cars and seeing the person talking on the phone or reading and think, "stop doing that and pay attention" then I realise they're passengers, not driving.

And either American tyre manufacturers are crappy or the street cleaners are because I have never seen so many burst tyres lying across the roads.

I'm going to book a wake up call coz the shuttle arrives at 4:50. I'm heading back to Canada - I can say that coz I was there for an hour...