Pondering the world

accessible public art in Philadelphia

Art is everywhere in Philadelphia, from statues in public parks to the portrait gallery in the Second National Bank Building.  Large bare walls on the sides of buildings become a huge canvas for murals.  Apparently there are a lot of them in Philadelphia, because there's even a special guided tour just to see the murals.  We saw a few on our own as we were walking around.

Most murals are painted on the sides of buildings.  I can't even begin to think of what it takes to paint something that size and keep it at the correct scale and proportions.  Imagine our amazement when we saw this on the side of the building.  At first it appeared to be a painted mural, but when we got closer we realized it was actually a mural done in tiny mosiac tiles, millions of them.  The building was several stories tall and probably 100 feet deep.  The second photo is a close-up of the mural, that section at the lower right under the young man's hand.

Not everyone has the opportunity to visit all of the galleries and museums, so this art is outside in their own neighborhood, for everyone to share.

Cuba Libre--great Cuban food in Philadelphia

Cuban food?  What is that?  With all of the ethnic food that we have eaten and love, we'd never had the opportunity to try Cuban. 

On our first night in Philadelphia, Steve had suggested several places for dinner, and we decided to return to Cuba Libre where he had enjoyed dinner after a meeting in September.  The interior of the restaurant was fabulous, designed to look like a courtyard in Havana (or at least what I think one would look like), with a two-story atrium, large potted palms, balconies looking over the dining area...  it's hard to describe.  The attention to decor reminded me of the "world" restaurants in Epcot Center, only better.  If you've ever been there, you know what I mean.  I wanted to take a picture but realized it probably would not come out very well.

Everything on the menu sounded so delicious that I couldn't decide what to try, and the waiter suggested their special--"15 tastes of Cuba."  It was on a separate card, with 5 appetizers, 4 entrees, 3 side dishes, and 3 desserts.  I had seen menus like it before, where you select one dish from each category.  Didn't I say it was 15 tastes?  Yes, the meal included all 15 items on the menu!  The waiter assured me that it was just a bite-sized sample of each item.  Steve ordered a lovely salad, and we shared the 15 tastes.  (I'll list the menu at the bottom of this post.)

It was heavenly!  Each course was exquisitely plated and "accessorized," if you can say that about food. 

We made it all the way through and pretty much finished off every dish.  It's not often that I order a meal like that, but it was a special treat.  And if you're not in Philadelphia, they also have locations in Orlando and Atlantic City, and another location will be opening in Washington D.C. in the spring of 2010.

Cuba Libre

10 South Second Street

Philadelphia, PA   19106

(215) 627-0666

15 Tastes of Cuba menu

Appetizers:  pressed Cuban bread and mango butter, Havana Ceviche Misto (A chilled cocktail of shrimp and Baja bay scallops, fresh tomato cocktail salsita, saltine-coconut salad), mariquitas Latin America (black bean hummus, avocado salsa paired with house-made crispy plantain and yuca chips), empanada (chicken, corn and Jack cheese, baby spinach salad, tomatillo relish, goat cheese ranch dressing), guava BBQ rib (Cuba Libre's award-winning pork rib slow cooked and glazed with guava BBQ sauce, jicama-Sambal salad)

Entrees:  Churrasco a la Cubana (grilled skirt steak, parsley, lemon and onion sauce, rosemary mushroom escabeche salad), Camarones con Caña (pan-seared sugarcane-skewered jumbo shrimp, mango BBQ glaze, guacamole Cubano), Suntanned salmon (filet of Chilean salmon bronzed with honey-mango glaze, star anise tomato sauce), all accompanied by their signature watercress salad

Side dishes:  Moros y Cristianos (black beans and rice), Verdura en Enchilado (young mustard greens and tomatoes), maduros (fried ripened plaintains)

Desserts:  Tocino del Cielo (A traditional Cuban flan, salad of seasonal berries), Arroz con Leche (Mami Totty’s recipe for classic Cuban rice pudding, Alfajor de membrillo), Torta de Chocolate y Dulce de Leche (Fallen chocolate soufflé tart layered with dulce de leche, golden pineapple)

Tartes--walk up to the window in Philadelphia for delicious cakes and pastries

We found Tartes on our first evening in Philadelphia, as we did what we always do--dropped off the suitcases and went exploring.  We had some time until dinner, so we just decided to walk around for a bit and wander wherever, which turned out to be Arch Street near the Betsy Ross house.

The neighborhood is a bit mixed, as a lot of Philadelphia is now.  Colonial houses and buildings are mixed with modern buildings as well as many from the 1800's, parking lots and banks, restaurants and churches.  I found the mix delightful, since sometimes there were lovely row houses in unexpected places.

Tartes is in a tiny building tucked between parking lots.  See that room inside the window?  That's all it is, and there is no "inside."  It's just a walk-up window, but it's so great to watch them making the delicious goodies right there.  The display window shows you what they offer, much of which is just enough for one or two people. 

We bought a pumpkin spice cake and intended to share it for dessert after dinner.  However, it turned out that we dined at a terrific Cuban restaurant called Cuba Libre (more on that later) and ordered a special that came with dessert.  We ate the pumpkin spice cake for breakfast the next morning.  I was afraid that after sitting all night in its little box, it might be a bit stale, but it was moist and delicious, perfect with our morning coffee.

If you're ever in downtown Philadelphia and need to satisfy a craving for something sweet, drop by the window at Tartes.  Bring cash because they don't take credit cards.

Tartes Fine Cakes and Pastries

212 Arch St.

Philadelphia, PA   19106

(215) 625-2510

locked in the subway--caught in the SEPTA strike

Our transportation went fairly smoothly at first--the plane to Philadelphia airport, then the train from the airport to downtown.  The last leg was a subway ride from the train stop over to the next stop on the subway and a short walk to the hotel.

The train station was in East Market Mall.  I have to admit that very little is clearly marked in Philadelphia, where one would expect to see signs when you get off the train saying, "subway--> this way," and continue with the signs until you get there.  Nope.  Fortunately, Steve had recently been there and knew his way around.  However, when we came to the entrance to the subway station, the gates were closed.  Strange, we thought.  We could find no other way to get in.  No problem--he knew that there were entrances to the subway on the street.  We went out and crossed over to the street entrance at 12th street and went down, and down, and around.  We noticed that we only saw one other person the whole way along. 

We finally reached the turnstile area to get onto the subway, but the gates were closed there, too.  One lone attendant told us that the SEPTA strike had started and the station was closed--we would have to go back out the way we came.  On the way out, we decided that we would just walk the distance to the hotel.

Imagine our surprise and concern when we went up the steps to the street level to find the exit gate closed--we had been locked in.  There was no one around to unlock the gate, so we went back down to try to find another exit.  This time we went down the tunnel where we had seen that one other person.  We ended up on the other side of the tracks with another gate across the turnstiles.  At least there was another attendant there.  When we told her what had happened, she said we must have entered during that short window of time between when they went on strike and when they locked the gates.  She was kind enough to take us up to an exit gate at street level and let us out.

We always seem to have adventures when we travel--getting caught in thousands of motorcycles on their way to Sturgis, having to fly to northern Japan via Korea because an earthquake had disrupted all train traffic, driving hundreds of miles out of our way to avoid massive flooding...  seems like there's always something.

When did the SEPTA strike end?  Just as we were in Philadelphia airport flying out, of course.

Morris House Hotel in Philadelphia

While in Philadelphia, we stayed for several nights at the Morris House Hotel, a lovely colonial-era B&Bin the heart of Philadelphia.  The house has been restored to its original splendor, with modern conveniences added, of course.  Our room was quite lovely, and in addition to being a historic home full of character, the location is fabulous.

The Morris House Hotel is on St. James Street, just off 8th Street (called "Jewelers' Row" because of the concentration of jewelry stores) only a few blocks from Market Street.  Its location between the Old City historic district to the east and downtown to the west makes it a perfect spot for visiting much of Philadelphia on foot. 

And visit on foot I did!  I'm thankful that I had just bought a new pair of Dr. Scholl's sneakers, because I covered most of the city close in over two days--from Front Street and Elfreth's Alley all the way over to the Reading Terminal Market on Arch and 12th. 

I'll post more about all of the things we saw later.  As always, we seem to have adventures on our trips.  The next post is called "getting locked in on the Philadelphia subway."

using your eagle eye

How much do you know--or not know--about places?  Go to Guess the Spot and take a little quiz.  Not your usual geography test!