Seeing Philly through fresh eyes

I've had many friends visit me on weekend trips since I've moved here, which we've packed with activities matched to the visitor. For one friend, it was a walk to the Italian Market and a drive out to the Morris Arboretum; for another, shopping and barhopping; for all, meetings my friends and going to my favorite gelato place. But my most recent visitor came during the week, in the thick of my teaching and reading schedule, and just wanted to get a feel for what my life here is like.

Which, of course, included gelato and meeting friends. But it also included hanging out in the grad student center, lugging my library books to campus, and wandering around Center City. I was going about my usual routine, but pointing out the little things along the way: the market where I buy produce, the spot in Rittenhouse Square where little kids always play, the prettiest block of Delancey Street, the cute house I love just off Fitler Square. It was a reminder to me of all of the things I like best in the city and in my daily routine.

I was often surprised at the places my friend stopped to take pictures. His pictures choices made me look twice at familiar places; why had I never noticed that beautiful building? Was that the cutest side street to take a picture of?--I knew an even better one. Through his eyes I saw the beauty I had often passed by in hurried walks to campus or to run errands, beauty in the small details we forget to notice. If in travel "one’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things,” I think the guide to the traveler reaps the same benefit.

Rittenhouse Square Surprises

I spend a lot of time in Rittenhouse Square, and I'm constantly amazed at the strange things that pop up there. It's unlike any other urban space I've ever been to; the closest approximation I've seen is DC's Dupont Circle. In both places there are musicians, chess players, break dancers, and sunbathers. But Morris dancers? Mummers? Star Wars characters?

The Star Wars characters showed up months ago, part of some sort of promotion for the Franklin Institute's exhibition on the movies. I was rather surprised to come across Darth Vader on my way to pick up lunch.

This photo from the group's website shows a wedding party in the same spot I saw them perform. They apparently don't wear their fish masks for these events, but they do in the parade.

A few weeks ago, the mummers appeared. Mummers are a Philadelphia institution, parading through the city on New Year's Day since 1901. Apparently they also perform the rest of the year at special events. The costumes are elaborate--the group of mummers I saw leading a wedding party into Rittenhouse Square were dressed as fish, with flounces of scales in bright colors covering them from head to toe. They appear to have been the string band (which is Mummer terminology for brass band) Aqua. Aqua started in 1920 and has never missed a year in the parade.

I'd heard of mummers before, but the Morris dancers I saw this weekend were new to me. This folk dance actually started in England soon after mumming (which really just means performing in disguise) in the 15th century. The dancers combine rhythmic stepping with wielding sticks that they cross like swords or tap on the ground to the tune of music. The outfits look more like what I'd imagine Austrian or Swiss folk dancers might wear. Several local groups gathered at Rittenhouse Square to perform for the afternoon to start off their summer tours and a ring of onlookers gathered. Here's a video of what the dancing looks like.

As the weather finally gets warmer, I'm looking forward to seeing who else shows up in the square this summer!

Exploring Center City

Today I decided to explore the city a bit by walking east through Center City (I live at the west edge of the neighborhood). As an end point for my walk, I planned to go to the Curtis Center to see a mosaic recreation of a Maxfield Parrish design that I'd been wanting to see for years. Parrish, trained here in Philadelphia in the early twentieth century, has been one of my favorite artists for years. But more about Parrish later.

I began my walk in Rittenhouse Square, which was designated as a park in William Penn's plan for the city in 1682. The square was full of people and dogs, as were all of the cafes surrounding it. I crossed the city on Sansom and Walnut streets, which run parallel to each other, to try to get a sense of things. At first, I was passing fancy boutiques and cafes, but as I got closer to Broad Street, it became a little run down with a smattering of cool places starting to open.

The neighborhood went through two quick shifts before I got to the Curtis Center--first through the glbt neighborhood (which I really only realized because the street signs had a rainbow border on the bottom), and then through the campus of a medical school. When I reached the Curtis Center, I was surprised to find that it was an office building. I had some trouble finding even a sign for the mosaic, but finally I saw an arrow pointing towards the "Tiffany mosaic." I hadn't realized that this had been a collaboration between Parrish and Louis Comfort Tiffany.Titled "Dream Garden," Parrish and Tiffany's work is a dreamy landscape spanning nearly 50 feet in one of Center's lobbies. All of the usual elements of Parrish's landscapes are here--grand, orange and mauve mountains, a vivid blue sky, spindly trees, and overflowing flowers (painted from those in his own garden). Tiffany used different textures of glass for the flowers, as you can see in this photo (click on it to zoom in).I realized as I left the building that I was right across from Independence Hall, so I'd walked most of the way across the city in not much time. I took a different route back so that I could get water ice on the way home (I'd looked up the location online, I can't help the ice cream obsession). There were blocks that were charming, and others so surrounded in tall buildings and dinginess that I felt as if I were in New York City. At one corner, I passed a mural called Philadelphia Muses--I discovered the title through the Mural Arts Program's online database, which lets you search the city's many murals by location.This is a city where the mood seems to change every few blocks, some streets are as narrow as sidewalks, and early 19th century buildings abound. Nothing like DC--which means I have a lot more to learn and explore.