Saturday, April 27, 2013

PIFA returns!

That's right, it's once again time for the biennial Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts! Last time the theme was France (or maybe Paris?), this year it is time travel. So not only is our backyard trapeze back (yay!), but there is also a dinosaur in front of our building.

His arms and head move, and they even trucked in sand and little palm trees for his environment. In other parts of the street, they brought in lots of sod and flowers to create pop-up parks.
This usually looks like this.
You can also see some of the street performers in that picture, those ones were dressed like giant sparkly insects. There were also some on stilts "riding" metal bird-horse creatures:
They could even make the creatures' mouths open and close
The coolest street performer was one of those living statue people, who danced to operatic music. She was the only living statue I've seen with a water feature.
Water streamed out of her fingertips, and even out the top of her head!
In addition to the street performers, there seemed to be a decent number of Renaissance Faire people, I think as part of the "time travel" theme.
A knight
A guy with a portable bellows-driven bubble machine
Lest we forget that time travel can take us to the future as well as the past, there was a robot that drove around talking to people.

Other things in the street that aren't usually there included a Ferris wheel:

And a bunch of guys welding something unidentifiable:

The centerpiece of everything was an elaborate "time machine" inside the Kimmel center, but it was probably the least interesting part of the festival, given that it was basically just a  walk-through tube that lit up and played odd noises.
Ben about to enter the "time machine." Time did pass inside it, but only at the usual rate.
Happily, there was another time machine that was much cooler:
Complete with flux capacitor!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Springtime in Philly

Most houses in Philly don't have yards, so when it's spring people show off their green thumbs via elaborate window boxes. It makes going for walks up and down random side streets very pleasant this time of year.
My favorite house
Spiral mini-trees
Not sure what this is, but it looks neat
Not a window box, but still pretty
There are also lots of community gardens scattered throughout the city, which also make for nice scenery.
This one is right by the Schuylkill
The only downside to this season is Philly's abundance of Callery Pear Trees, which have a certain distinct and unfortunate smell when they flower. Happily, my spring allergies usually make me too congested to be bothered by it.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Friend friend friend

Our friend and wedding officiant visited us last weekend! It was the first spring weather we've had, so we spent a good 6 hours just walking around the city.
By the real bridge
By the mini-golf bridge
Seriously, we walked all over. Google maps says 8 miles, but it was probably longer since we took lots of random detours down interesting-looking streets.

Home, Penn's Landing, Elfreths Alley, Reading Terminal Market, Franklin Square, Logan Square, Art Museum, City Hall, and home again. Whew.
Triumphant atop the art museum steps at the end of the day
All that walking totally justifies the ginormous ice cream cone I had from Bassett's in Reading Terminal, right?