Philadelphia Day 3

 Breakfast today was a very Philly experience. I walked a few blocks north to a spot that claimed to be open. Popped open the door and immediately an old man in a chair pointed for me to leave and just said “window”. Foolish of me to assume that just because they sold breakfast and I saw people walking out of the door with food that I should also go in the door. I walked up to the window which was just the window of a house complete with iron bars. Someone had cut out a chunk of the bar at some point to allow money and food to be passed around. A man slid the window open and asked me what I wanted, I asked for a menu and he seemed annoyed. The breakfast sandwich he made me was fantastic. Eggs, hot cheese, peppers, and ketchup on the sort of Italian long roll that you just don’t get out west.

I scarfed it down on Broad Street and walked to a coffee shop for a cuppa tea and to work on a visa. Today is a planning day, I’d like to go to Uzbekistan but first I need permission. The time to work on that is now, can’t get my flight out of the EU booked without it. Finishing that process on mobile was probably the hardest thing I’ve done on my life. 

I grabbed my book and headed for Rittenhouse square, a lovely park in the city where I figured I could read without being disturbed. That lasted about thirty seconds before a homeless man asked me if I was Elijah. When I said no his disappointment turned to anger and he informed me that I had just declined “a zillion billion gogobajillionawaawoooo dollars.” Luckily he had birds he needed to scream at and left me alone (go, birds).

I gave up on my book and took the bus to a bookstore in Queen Village. Brenee Brown is a great writer and I’ve been enjoying what she had to say but this thin paperback feels about twice as long as it needs to be. It is now sitting in the donation bin at Mostly Books, a chaotic used bookshop packed to the gills with shelves that look like they are about to fall on you. The new read is an autobiography from a woman who grew up in Manzanar, an interment camp built by the US in California during WWII to keep Japanese people out of the population. Scary stuff.

Structurally Sound

After that Sadie and I met up at Gran Cafe L’Aquila (go birds) to discuss our travel plans. Coincidentally she bought a ticket to Paris and our dates have some overlap. We snacked and booked our lodging. After that was finished we started talking to the gentleman sitting to our right, he’s a local local and lives across the street from the cafe. He’s a regular and speaks to the bartenders in Italian. We talked about traveling and as it turns out he’s going to be in Rome for Thanksgiving. He was gracious enough to invite me and I’m going to try to make it. Grazie.

Sadie and I walked off to our next appointment, a birthday dinner for our friend Jenna. She was craving mussels and so that meant a trip to Monk’s cafe. Monk’s specializes in mussels and Belgian beers. Needless to say, their fries are incredible.

After dinner we walked to a cocktail bar and had a round (we had two). Apparently this place has had a run of bad luck and suffered a fire and flood all since the last time I was in town a couple months ago. Sonny’s is fantastic and putting a couple bucks in their register is an easy choice. 

HBD!