City Commentary

A brief summary of my thoughts during our trip to Pennsylvania

Philadelphia (Friday through Tuesday)

• Damn, they love their Dunkin' Donuts here.
• Let's hear it for rowhouses!
  
• Doesn't anybody in this city wear a bike helmet? And since when is it wise to ride down the middle of the street, without a helmet, in the downtown area of a major metropolis?
• Big city energy = fantastic
• Look! There are lots of veggie choices on the menu!
• If only I was rich (or at least upper middle class), so that I could live on Elwreth's Alley, the nation's oldest residential street.

• So this is what it's like to have close friends within 500 miles . . . .
• After watching "John Adams" and developing a new kind of patriotism, I'm seriously stoked to be in the birthplace of our country.

Outside Independence Hall right before a storm

The place where it all happened (or at least where a lot of it happened)

• Perhaps the headline below sums it up best.

Pittsburgh (Wednesday through Saturday)

• Damn, they love their Dunkin' Donuts here, too.
• Unlike Philly, they apparently also love their cigarettes.
  
• IKEA! (There's one in Philly, also, but the one in Pittsburgh happens to be less than a mile from our hotel.) I must immediately move into the "our home" section of the store. I go there twice in four days.
• I quite enjoy my Pittsburgh treats, including chocolate and caramel popcorn (deelish) and a mocha from a cozy little coffee/tea shop on 21st street.

• As someone with a grandmother from the SW Pennsylvania area, there's something comforting and familiar about "Yunz gonna warsh yer hands."
• We go to a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called the Zenith. Actually, it's a restaurant/antique store combination. The food was good, and I must admit that I have never seen a restaurant quite like this.

• While at the Zenith, seated a few tables away is a guy that I swear is Anthony Rapp (of "Rent" fame). I say to myself, "It can't be him. What the hell would Anthony Rapp be doing in Pittsburgh?" Later that night, I open up the local paper. Turns out that Anthony Rapp is in town doing a one-man show.
• We go to the nearby theater to see "Burn After Reading." We sit down on the green pleather seats, and I look for the familiar place on the armrest for my newly purchased beverage. There are no cupholders in the entire movie theater. What the fuck?
• As to Pittsburgh housing, I have to agree with my friend Lena who said, "The 70s called and they want their houses back."
  
• You have to admit, it's a pretty view.

The verdict? Philly all the way, baby. Love the rowhouses, love the energy, love the history, love the fact that it's near some of our friends and family. We're leaving as soon as one of us can secure a job. I've already found a place where we can get veggie cheesesteaks.