Sunday at the Reading Terminal Market

One of our favorite places in Philadelphia is the Reading Terminal Market. Although not all the stalls are open on Sundays (the Amish for instance do not open) enough stalls are open (about 2/3rds I'd say) to make it worth the trip. And as a bonus if you get there before the "after church" crowd its delightfully easy to get around, find a seat at one of the many food stalls, and get a latte without a 10 minute wait.

The Reading Terminal Market is located at 12th St and Arch Street and occupies the groundfloor and basement levels (storage) of the former train shed of the Reading Railroad Terminal (which is now part of the Philadelphia Convention Center). There are over 80 vendors (food, crafts, clothing, produce, meats, fish, fruits/vegies, coffee, ice cream, etc.). Founded in 1893 the market has weathered the Great Depression, food shortages of WWII, and the flight of Philadelphians to the suburbs in the 50s and 60s. In the 1980s, after several decades of declining fortune, attention was again turned to restoring and encouraging businesses in the Market and it is once again a robust, fun, and delicious market.

For more info as to hours and special events, check out http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/

This past Sunday we enjoyed fabulous roast pork (jerry) and Italian styled pulled pork (me) sandwiches at Dinic's. Had a reliably good latte from City Coffee. Grabbed a pastry to eat while walking at Termini brothers. And bought terrific fresh large "white" prawns and "tiger" prawns (from the Golden Fish Market) freshly made hummous, great asparagus, mangos, and salad greens for dinner with Jack and Judy yesterday evening. Also, took a moment to take photos of some of my favorite signs. Signs which add to the charm and ambience of a great institution.

Kindle2

I have a Kindle2. Never thought I'd want one. Never thought I'd really like it. Wrong on both counts. I decided that the new Kindle (being smaller/thinner and lighter) might make a great travel aid when we take long trips so that I don't have to lug along 15 lbs of books in my suitcase. Then I tried one and discovered that a) you can make the font bigger (great for aging eyes), b) you actually can make annotations on a page (great for book club reading), c) its easier to hold in bed when you are laying down than a really big book, d) you can share e-book purchases between family members with different kindles (as long as they are registered to the same Amazon user), e) it has really good battery life (especially when the wifi is turned of), f) its really light weight and, g) important for traveling - you can store an AMAZING amount of books on it. So I'm sold. And I haven't even explored the world of blogs, newspapers, and magazines yet. One learning curve at a time.