Philly Wit Cheese
I went to Philadelphia last week for training with work, I went alone, but it was fun anyway. After I checked into the hotel I was looking for the elevator when my girlfriend surprised me by asking in a yell down the hallway where I was going. I was so shocked I wasn't able to tell her I was lost. We only had time for a brief dinner before she had to make the drive back to NYC, but it was one of the sweetest things she has done for me, and on a work night no less!
I got out into the city one night, it was fun to get out. There was a train station a little under a half mile from the hotel, so I hopped on a train there. The trains operate much differently than I had expected. While many cities offer such systems (NYC's subway, Chicago's L, San Fran's BART), I've never been on one like this. The trains operated with only two cars, arriving at stations every 1/2 hour. Tickets were purchased on the train with cash from an employee walking the aisle, then at each stop the employee would shout out the name of the stop. Not surprisingly, the man shouting out the stop had a very scratchy voice, it was obviously not his first day on the job.
Liberty Bell
Although it was after dark and everything was closed, I was able to at least walk by a few historical sites, even if I couldn't go inside. These included the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and City Hall. I also walked around on South Street to check out what living large was all about in Philly. Apparently it has a lot to do with cheese steak. Similar to Maine's obsession with lobster, Philly seems to be obsessed with the cheese steak. I couldn't escape restaurants that were selling the famous sandwich, and I did indeed succumb to it myself. I bit into one at Jim's Steaks. The authentic way to prepare a Philly cheese steak is to use Cheese Wiz and "steak" (I use quotes because it was far from lean) that has been cooking too long. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but it was still worth doing. Not that it was expensive, but it also helped that my company foot the bill.
One Wiz Wit Onions (half eaten)
Market Street Stop
South Street
To ducktail on my previous post, I actually set my watch to eastern time while I was there, something I rarely do while traveling just because I don't want to mess with resting it for the return trip. I figured since I was out there for a week it was worth it. You may be asking yourself "aren't you lying to yourself about the time if you don't change your watch?" Good question. The answer of course is no. In that case the watch is still accurate, within a second, of the true time, just not the time zone I'm in. Location doesn't change its correctness (since it still matches one time zone), only changes how it is interpreted. Time is location independent, interpretation of time is location dependent.
I got out into the city one night, it was fun to get out. There was a train station a little under a half mile from the hotel, so I hopped on a train there. The trains operate much differently than I had expected. While many cities offer such systems (NYC's subway, Chicago's L, San Fran's BART), I've never been on one like this. The trains operated with only two cars, arriving at stations every 1/2 hour. Tickets were purchased on the train with cash from an employee walking the aisle, then at each stop the employee would shout out the name of the stop. Not surprisingly, the man shouting out the stop had a very scratchy voice, it was obviously not his first day on the job.
Liberty Bell
Although it was after dark and everything was closed, I was able to at least walk by a few historical sites, even if I couldn't go inside. These included the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and City Hall. I also walked around on South Street to check out what living large was all about in Philly. Apparently it has a lot to do with cheese steak. Similar to Maine's obsession with lobster, Philly seems to be obsessed with the cheese steak. I couldn't escape restaurants that were selling the famous sandwich, and I did indeed succumb to it myself. I bit into one at Jim's Steaks. The authentic way to prepare a Philly cheese steak is to use Cheese Wiz and "steak" (I use quotes because it was far from lean) that has been cooking too long. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but it was still worth doing. Not that it was expensive, but it also helped that my company foot the bill.
One Wiz Wit Onions (half eaten)
Market Street Stop
South Street
To ducktail on my previous post, I actually set my watch to eastern time while I was there, something I rarely do while traveling just because I don't want to mess with resting it for the return trip. I figured since I was out there for a week it was worth it. You may be asking yourself "aren't you lying to yourself about the time if you don't change your watch?" Good question. The answer of course is no. In that case the watch is still accurate, within a second, of the true time, just not the time zone I'm in. Location doesn't change its correctness (since it still matches one time zone), only changes how it is interpreted. Time is location independent, interpretation of time is location dependent.
posted by david at Thursday, October 26, 2006
6 Comments:
You're funny about time. But I thought of you the other day when I looked at a clock in one room, looked at my watch on the way to the bathroom, and then looked at the clock in the bathroom only to notice that all three were different. This, surprisingly, bothered me.
I thought "Man, Dave's right. What's the point if they don't tell the same time?"
I suppose I am, but for a guy as obsessed with the Back to the Future movies as I am is that any surprise?
Karin! You were in NYC this past weekend? Of course you were! The honeymoon! I wish I would have thought of that earlier, I was also in the city! I road the subway though, it is the only way to get around!
I never actually read this post all the way through.. And I wasn't surprised that you didn't eat the Philly Cheese thingy since you always soccumb yourself to the twinkie weiner sandwich as well. Hopefully the former is better than the latter! :)
To clarify, I actually did eat the Philly Cheese Steak, I just took a picture when it was half eaten. The sandwich was MUCH better than a Twinkie Weiner Sandwich!
funny, i actually meant to write I'm not surprised you DID eat it... I apparently wasn't paying attention to my typing! oops :)
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