The first building that caught my attention (the statue standing on top of the tower was cropped out---I just thought the building looked elegant and unique), while walking towards the hotel (the
Westin
) where my friend & I would be staying the 1st evening in
Philadelphia
. Through the kindness of my friend who invited me to join him in this trip, this was the first time that I actually got to walk long enough in the city to ponder on its beauty, as my previous trips to
Philly 
were always in-transit as if we're almost always rushing to get out of the city after doing a thing or two. My friend & I didn't take the usual historic tour most visitors would do in Philly---my friend thought it's "for children." He's saying it from the perspective of someone who has studied in
Haverford College, a suburb in Philadelphia - and I trusted his judgment & agreed with him on that....
A meditation on a portion of the circular walkway in a Park; I'm sure it's somewhere in
Rittenhouse Square where I noted how attractive pathways at that time of the day, towards late sunset on a hot summer day!
On a weekend, I noted how a painter leisurely works on his drawing based on his impression of the park; my good friend's figure was caught, likewise, in the background. I've to say, I recall seeing this park looking so serene & peaceful that day even with people milling around!
A scene outside the elegantly casual
Rouge where we had an early dinner that night -
Rittenhouse
is across where we're seated. People who were dining out that time must have been mostly locals---I knew I was among the visitors as I certainly felt I looked different from the way everybody else looked that night....
The main entrance door of one of the old houses somewhere in Rittenhouse Square.
One of the front windows of the same house cited earlier. Note the fine grill work.
Another delightful view of a front window in another house in the same area.
Something about red doors makes me think of fables I read back in grade school.
Philly's
got alleys in between streets --- a reminder of a period when people would be commuting via coaches with horses, or something similar. Note the grand design of the building in the background.
Interesting gabled house; I read somewhere (
must be Wallace & Burrows' "Gotham") New York City used to have lots of this type of housing
On the street somewhere in Philly's old neighborhoods--must be in Rittenhouse Square
Another alleyway, which looked more interesting with the old houses standing next to a few recently built edifices (must be for housing, too!)
Inside the
Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, where I heard the mass that Sunday at 11am. Seated in front of me was a family with one member who's a grown-up special child---he would look and stare long at everyone in the church except at me.
A view of the organ from somewhere in the middle of the Church.
A most welcome sight----a baptism that was happening after the Mass
I found myself getting invited to come inside
St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox Church when a lady observed how keen I was in taking pictures on the details of the church outside. This is a much tinier but hard-to-ignore church located a block or two away from the Cathedral Basilica, as if trying to see the contrast & a reminder about the presence of the influential and persecuted prevalent in most societies. Yes, the stained glass windows are lovely to behold from the inside---they're not as pretty, though, outside, as they looked like basic concrete walls with colored rocks embedded into them.
The view of the Orthodox Church inside---it was originally an
Episcopalian Church
that was bought by the Albanians, who then transformed the upper portion into another level which they now use for gatherings including those after the Mass. I felt awed and honored to have been invited inside, and get to have a free wheeling chat---though I felt anxious at start---with the Rector (Fr. Matthew Searfoorce) who like most priests in the Orthodox tradition are married (they have the chance to do so before ordination). I can only wish and pray fervently the
Roman Catholic Church
will recognize the wisdom behind allowing priests to get married---even
St Peter
himself was married, remember?---which would make members of the community appreciate the lives that priests lead as they will then have so much in common, i.e. having and building their own families. And the chat got me into thinking as to the division the Church suffers up to now---I wonder when the
Eastern Orthodox Tradition,
the Roman Catholic Branch (where I grew up), and all other Christian Churches will come united again---maybe in God's most perfect timing. But with same-sex marriages and ordination of women priests now happening more fervently, it may long long waiting time again. And I continue, with God's love supposed to be in the midst of us all, I dare ask the cheesy question "
What's Love Got To Do With It?
"
The view from our window in the
Sheraton
, overlooking the circle leading to important buildings found in Philly, with the dome of the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Other than the Mass, I didn't venture out anymore---it was terribly hot and humid outside that Sunday! Whew!
Another view of the very first picture shown above, with a Church-like edifice next to it---I wonder what building that was.....
A most ubiquitous sight common to most big cities in the USA---
Philly's Chinatown
section---this was where I arrived when I came two days earlier, and this was where I journeyed back home to
Staten Island
, which was just less than 3 hours away by car. Come to think of it, Philly's closer even to New York City (
read my article on what to do in NYC here), than going to certain parts of
Long Island
which is in
New York state
as well.
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