Our first weekend!
Door: Linda Damhuis
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Linda
03 April 2017 | Verenigde Staten, Philadelphia
Sunday April 2nd 2017
I didn’t sleep very well from Friday to Saturday night, the fridge was making noise and we had put a sheet in front of the window, since there are no curtains. But it was a white sheet and there is s street light right outside the room, so it wasn’t all that dark at night either. So we were up early again too.
Caroline went for a run this morning!! It wasn’t raining, wasn’t too warm either, but we can dress ourselves for that. She went to a little park here in the neighborhood, which you can’t really call a park, because it doesn’t have a lot of trees in it, but it is nice and even ground to walk on. All the sidewalks here have large tiles, most of which are uneven and cracked down the middle.
By the time she got back I had already showered and dressed and when she was done with that, we sat down for breakfast.
Around 11 am we left the house to take the trolley downtown. There is a stop about 5 minutes from here, so that is nice. It’s kind of funny, because it is a trolley like the ones we have in Amsterdam, but then halfway through the ride, the trolley goes underground like a subway!! Kind of strange, because we thought we would be able to see something of the city. We wanted to ride the trolley all the way to the end, which is on 13th street, but for some reason it didn’t go further as 15th street, so that’s where we got off too. We ended up at City Hall, which has a statue of William Penn on top of its dome. For a long time buildings would not be build higher than this statue, but that has long since been gotten over, because now you get a pain in the neck from looking up at all of the tall buildings!!
It was really cold outside by the way!! It wasn’t raining, but that wind was freezing!! There was actually still some ice on the ground near City Hall, unbelievable!!
We walked over to Reading Terminal Market, which is a huge market hall. But we kind of forgot that it was a Saturday, so when we went inside, we almost immediately wanted to leave, because it was sooo busy!!!!
There were lots of food stalls, there were seats in the middle for people to sit down and eat, like a food court. There were people standing in line to have a seat at a bar. And the food was funny, we saw a lot of popcorn in flavors you can’t even imagine!!
Lots of Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch people doing to cooking and selling their food. Was a little surprised, didn’t think you would find them in a big city like this. It was an assault to your ears, nose and eyes really, we were outside pretty fast!!! Note to self, go back there on a weekday!!
At the nearest Septa station we bought some more tokens for the bus and trolley. This was a larger station where a lot of homeless people made their home. Of course it was warmer for them then outside, but it gave it all a bit of a creepy feeling.
Once we were outside we tried to find the Mütter Museum, which is a collection of the very weird and scientific stuff this doctor collection while he was alive. We had to go back to 22nd street and we were in 13th street, but for some reason we walked back to 11th street…not sure what happened, but we managed to find our way back toward 22nd street! AS cold as it was out there, we still saw people walking around on flipflops and one person was even walking around barefoot!!
About halfway to the museum we found a little place that sold bagels, so we stopped and got ourselves one, they were really good!!
After that the museum wasn’t too far off and it was easily found.
And again this might not have been a good idea to do on a Saturday, because it was really busy, we had to queue up when we got in. There was actually a sign by the door saying this was the busiest day, that it would be better to come back on Sunday mornings or a weekday. But we were there already so we just stood in line.
It was kind of busy inside as well, as it wasn’t a really large museum, but we just started where there were less people. The main exhibition was Dr. Mütter’s collection, but there were some smaller exhibitions as well, these we took a look at first.
Dr. Mütters collection had among it some skeletons, there was a case that showed a skeleton of a giant, a dwarf and a “normal” person, to show the difference. Funny thing was that the “giant” mainly had longer legs, wasn’t so much tall because he had a larger spine. There was also a case with skeletons of women, one that had worn a corset all of her life and the other one that didn’t. You could definitely see the difference in their ribcage, wow, those organs were in trouble!! No wonder they had trouble breathing and their hearts must have had trouble as well. Thank god we don’t have to wear them anymore!! Just too bizarre to think about!
But the most bizarre things on display were the specimens that were kept in jars on alcohol…babies that had died prematurely with the most extreme abnormalities, sections of brains and lungs, amputated hands that were black because gangrene had set in, pictures and wax images of the most disgusting diseased they had in those days and more than I care to write down really!!
O right, I do have to tell you about another strange thing we saw, a Mega Colon, which Caroline told me was the actual scientific name for it. It was a colon of a man that had difficulties with his stool since he was a baby. At one point he couldn’t go to the bathroom for over a month!! Of course this guy didn’t live very long, but they took pictures of him with this thing still inside of him, it looked like he was pregnant!!! Really amazing!!
Before we came to Philly I had already read on the website of the museum that people with a weak stomach should take care not to have lunch before coming here. Of course we had lunch right before coming here, but I have to say it didn’t really bother me. Of course I have seen some really disgusting things, but it was not worth losing my bagel over!!! Haha
Actually when you think of it, all of these things were used to teach physicians and for most of the things on display here, people have found cures, so that is really amazing!!
In a room near the hall there was a movie screen, which played short movies of a curator showing pieces of the museum and explaining what it was. And there was also a little show called “Guess what’s on the curators desk” where the curator would show an item and people had to guess what it was. You could leave an answer on social media and then the next show the curator would explain what it was, to guess what it was, we had to “think outside the jar”, really funny.
Around 4pm we had pretty mush seen it all and we left the museum. Outside the wind was blowing harder than it did in the morning, which made it a lot colder. At Trader Joe’s we wanted to get some groceries. But only once we were inside did I remember why I don’t like this store!! Loud music, expensive as hell and off course it being a Saturday it was super busy!!!
We both got really annoyed by this, so we grabbed what we needed to get out of there fast….only the end of the line for the register was really all the way in to the back of the store!! Fortunately there were a lot of registers, so we were done quickly.
Then we had to find out where to take the trolley back to the house. There were no schedules with times or stops, so we asked some people and this lady was new to the city, so she also wasn’t sure. But I figured we were standing on the right platform with all trolleys going Westbound, meaning out of the center city.
It was a nice lady, she was a chaplain at a local hospital, lots of different things she does and people she meets!
We had bought pizza for dinner, thinking the microwave was also an oven, but no, this was just a microwave. So the first pizza got heated, but was really soggy. Fortunately for us there is also a toaster oven in this kitchen, which saved that first pizza!!
After dinner we just sat on the bed and read our books, lights out early again!
And this morning we took it easy, it being a Sunday. So we had breakfast before we got dressed and listened to some classical music.
Around 10:30am we left the house, we had planned to go to a mall, the King of Prussia mall. Which is not too far and you could get there by public transportation.
The weather was really nice today, lots of sun and almost no wind!
We took the trolley to 22nd street, where we took a bus to the mall. The bus was not a large one, so we couldn’t both sit down. The website said it was going to be a 40 minute drive, but it being a nice, sunny Sunday, we were not the only ones who had this plan of going to the mall!!! We were there around noon, where I had to sit down first, because my legs were killing me!!
There was a Court and a Plaza part, with mostly expensive stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Ralph Lauren. But they also had an H&M and a Primark, which I did not expect to be there. The concept of this store was totally different from ours!! It was huge, the music was loud and there were movie screens with these annoying flashing images on them!! The only thing they did have in common with stores in the Netherlands, is the fact that here also people find it hard to put the stuff back if they are not going to buy it, amazing the mess they make!!
Caroline managed to find some clothes, but I just wanted to get out of there!!
There was a food court with a Dunkin Donuts where we wanted to get a cup of coffee and a donut. The guy that was helping us got interrupted by someone who’s order wasn’t right. No offence to immigrants, but these were people from India, who of course held their conversation in their language…..we got a little annoyed with this, so half way through we started to order. Which was too much for the old man, so he had to ask a 100 questions and repeat everything…and they still managed to screw up our order, because we asked for sugared donuts and got jelly donuts!!
They made my tea before they made the coffee, so when I got my cup I wanted to take out the teabag really fast, before it would turn into coffee as well…but the cup was soo full, half of it fell out when I took off the lid…this was not a good afternoon really!!
We went to Hallmark to get some postcards, went to H&M to find me some pants (but no luck) and we basically just looked around. We also saw a prom dress store, really nice dresses.
Before we went in there, there was this grumpy guy who asked us about our state of the kitchen, which we told him wouldn’t become a sale, because we’re not from around here. Then he said they were in at least 13 states, but he only got the point and backed off when we said that we were from out of the country…and the beauty of this was, that when we left the store, he asked us again!!!! Idiot!! If you have someone like that working for you, you can make sure that there is not a lot of profit to be made!!!
WE got some burrito’s to take home with us, found a bus, on which we both had to stand this time. Fortunately half way through the ride most people got off the bus, so we did get a seat for the last couple of miles. We sat next to a woman on a three bench seat and she was soo large that I only had half a seat, she took up the other half of my seat. Luckily Caroline and I are not that big, or else there would not have been enough space. But this lady was solid, I mean when the bus made a turn, she didn’t even move!!!
We got back to 22nd street, where we had to wait a long time for our trolley to come…almost wondered if it would come at all!
We were glad we had bought those burrito’s, we were really hungry and didn’t feel like cooking! All we had to do was put them in the toaster oven for a while and we were set!! Hurray for the toaster oven!
After dinner we just sat on the bed and watched Netflix and around 10pm it was lights out again.
But this was the time that one of our neighbors thought it would be a good idea to start cooking dinner….not very nice when the kitchen is right next to the room though!!
Later,
Linda and Caroline
I didn’t sleep very well from Friday to Saturday night, the fridge was making noise and we had put a sheet in front of the window, since there are no curtains. But it was a white sheet and there is s street light right outside the room, so it wasn’t all that dark at night either. So we were up early again too.
Caroline went for a run this morning!! It wasn’t raining, wasn’t too warm either, but we can dress ourselves for that. She went to a little park here in the neighborhood, which you can’t really call a park, because it doesn’t have a lot of trees in it, but it is nice and even ground to walk on. All the sidewalks here have large tiles, most of which are uneven and cracked down the middle.
By the time she got back I had already showered and dressed and when she was done with that, we sat down for breakfast.
Around 11 am we left the house to take the trolley downtown. There is a stop about 5 minutes from here, so that is nice. It’s kind of funny, because it is a trolley like the ones we have in Amsterdam, but then halfway through the ride, the trolley goes underground like a subway!! Kind of strange, because we thought we would be able to see something of the city. We wanted to ride the trolley all the way to the end, which is on 13th street, but for some reason it didn’t go further as 15th street, so that’s where we got off too. We ended up at City Hall, which has a statue of William Penn on top of its dome. For a long time buildings would not be build higher than this statue, but that has long since been gotten over, because now you get a pain in the neck from looking up at all of the tall buildings!!
It was really cold outside by the way!! It wasn’t raining, but that wind was freezing!! There was actually still some ice on the ground near City Hall, unbelievable!!
We walked over to Reading Terminal Market, which is a huge market hall. But we kind of forgot that it was a Saturday, so when we went inside, we almost immediately wanted to leave, because it was sooo busy!!!!
There were lots of food stalls, there were seats in the middle for people to sit down and eat, like a food court. There were people standing in line to have a seat at a bar. And the food was funny, we saw a lot of popcorn in flavors you can’t even imagine!!
Lots of Amish, Pennsylvania Dutch people doing to cooking and selling their food. Was a little surprised, didn’t think you would find them in a big city like this. It was an assault to your ears, nose and eyes really, we were outside pretty fast!!! Note to self, go back there on a weekday!!
At the nearest Septa station we bought some more tokens for the bus and trolley. This was a larger station where a lot of homeless people made their home. Of course it was warmer for them then outside, but it gave it all a bit of a creepy feeling.
Once we were outside we tried to find the Mütter Museum, which is a collection of the very weird and scientific stuff this doctor collection while he was alive. We had to go back to 22nd street and we were in 13th street, but for some reason we walked back to 11th street…not sure what happened, but we managed to find our way back toward 22nd street! AS cold as it was out there, we still saw people walking around on flipflops and one person was even walking around barefoot!!
About halfway to the museum we found a little place that sold bagels, so we stopped and got ourselves one, they were really good!!
After that the museum wasn’t too far off and it was easily found.
And again this might not have been a good idea to do on a Saturday, because it was really busy, we had to queue up when we got in. There was actually a sign by the door saying this was the busiest day, that it would be better to come back on Sunday mornings or a weekday. But we were there already so we just stood in line.
It was kind of busy inside as well, as it wasn’t a really large museum, but we just started where there were less people. The main exhibition was Dr. Mütter’s collection, but there were some smaller exhibitions as well, these we took a look at first.
Dr. Mütters collection had among it some skeletons, there was a case that showed a skeleton of a giant, a dwarf and a “normal” person, to show the difference. Funny thing was that the “giant” mainly had longer legs, wasn’t so much tall because he had a larger spine. There was also a case with skeletons of women, one that had worn a corset all of her life and the other one that didn’t. You could definitely see the difference in their ribcage, wow, those organs were in trouble!! No wonder they had trouble breathing and their hearts must have had trouble as well. Thank god we don’t have to wear them anymore!! Just too bizarre to think about!
But the most bizarre things on display were the specimens that were kept in jars on alcohol…babies that had died prematurely with the most extreme abnormalities, sections of brains and lungs, amputated hands that were black because gangrene had set in, pictures and wax images of the most disgusting diseased they had in those days and more than I care to write down really!!
O right, I do have to tell you about another strange thing we saw, a Mega Colon, which Caroline told me was the actual scientific name for it. It was a colon of a man that had difficulties with his stool since he was a baby. At one point he couldn’t go to the bathroom for over a month!! Of course this guy didn’t live very long, but they took pictures of him with this thing still inside of him, it looked like he was pregnant!!! Really amazing!!
Before we came to Philly I had already read on the website of the museum that people with a weak stomach should take care not to have lunch before coming here. Of course we had lunch right before coming here, but I have to say it didn’t really bother me. Of course I have seen some really disgusting things, but it was not worth losing my bagel over!!! Haha
Actually when you think of it, all of these things were used to teach physicians and for most of the things on display here, people have found cures, so that is really amazing!!
In a room near the hall there was a movie screen, which played short movies of a curator showing pieces of the museum and explaining what it was. And there was also a little show called “Guess what’s on the curators desk” where the curator would show an item and people had to guess what it was. You could leave an answer on social media and then the next show the curator would explain what it was, to guess what it was, we had to “think outside the jar”, really funny.
Around 4pm we had pretty mush seen it all and we left the museum. Outside the wind was blowing harder than it did in the morning, which made it a lot colder. At Trader Joe’s we wanted to get some groceries. But only once we were inside did I remember why I don’t like this store!! Loud music, expensive as hell and off course it being a Saturday it was super busy!!!
We both got really annoyed by this, so we grabbed what we needed to get out of there fast….only the end of the line for the register was really all the way in to the back of the store!! Fortunately there were a lot of registers, so we were done quickly.
Then we had to find out where to take the trolley back to the house. There were no schedules with times or stops, so we asked some people and this lady was new to the city, so she also wasn’t sure. But I figured we were standing on the right platform with all trolleys going Westbound, meaning out of the center city.
It was a nice lady, she was a chaplain at a local hospital, lots of different things she does and people she meets!
We had bought pizza for dinner, thinking the microwave was also an oven, but no, this was just a microwave. So the first pizza got heated, but was really soggy. Fortunately for us there is also a toaster oven in this kitchen, which saved that first pizza!!
After dinner we just sat on the bed and read our books, lights out early again!
And this morning we took it easy, it being a Sunday. So we had breakfast before we got dressed and listened to some classical music.
Around 10:30am we left the house, we had planned to go to a mall, the King of Prussia mall. Which is not too far and you could get there by public transportation.
The weather was really nice today, lots of sun and almost no wind!
We took the trolley to 22nd street, where we took a bus to the mall. The bus was not a large one, so we couldn’t both sit down. The website said it was going to be a 40 minute drive, but it being a nice, sunny Sunday, we were not the only ones who had this plan of going to the mall!!! We were there around noon, where I had to sit down first, because my legs were killing me!!
There was a Court and a Plaza part, with mostly expensive stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Ralph Lauren. But they also had an H&M and a Primark, which I did not expect to be there. The concept of this store was totally different from ours!! It was huge, the music was loud and there were movie screens with these annoying flashing images on them!! The only thing they did have in common with stores in the Netherlands, is the fact that here also people find it hard to put the stuff back if they are not going to buy it, amazing the mess they make!!
Caroline managed to find some clothes, but I just wanted to get out of there!!
There was a food court with a Dunkin Donuts where we wanted to get a cup of coffee and a donut. The guy that was helping us got interrupted by someone who’s order wasn’t right. No offence to immigrants, but these were people from India, who of course held their conversation in their language…..we got a little annoyed with this, so half way through we started to order. Which was too much for the old man, so he had to ask a 100 questions and repeat everything…and they still managed to screw up our order, because we asked for sugared donuts and got jelly donuts!!
They made my tea before they made the coffee, so when I got my cup I wanted to take out the teabag really fast, before it would turn into coffee as well…but the cup was soo full, half of it fell out when I took off the lid…this was not a good afternoon really!!
We went to Hallmark to get some postcards, went to H&M to find me some pants (but no luck) and we basically just looked around. We also saw a prom dress store, really nice dresses.
Before we went in there, there was this grumpy guy who asked us about our state of the kitchen, which we told him wouldn’t become a sale, because we’re not from around here. Then he said they were in at least 13 states, but he only got the point and backed off when we said that we were from out of the country…and the beauty of this was, that when we left the store, he asked us again!!!! Idiot!! If you have someone like that working for you, you can make sure that there is not a lot of profit to be made!!!
WE got some burrito’s to take home with us, found a bus, on which we both had to stand this time. Fortunately half way through the ride most people got off the bus, so we did get a seat for the last couple of miles. We sat next to a woman on a three bench seat and she was soo large that I only had half a seat, she took up the other half of my seat. Luckily Caroline and I are not that big, or else there would not have been enough space. But this lady was solid, I mean when the bus made a turn, she didn’t even move!!!
We got back to 22nd street, where we had to wait a long time for our trolley to come…almost wondered if it would come at all!
We were glad we had bought those burrito’s, we were really hungry and didn’t feel like cooking! All we had to do was put them in the toaster oven for a while and we were set!! Hurray for the toaster oven!
After dinner we just sat on the bed and watched Netflix and around 10pm it was lights out again.
But this was the time that one of our neighbors thought it would be a good idea to start cooking dinner….not very nice when the kitchen is right next to the room though!!
Later,
Linda and Caroline
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
