Well after LA, New York and now Philadelphia, Digby and I agree that we are not big city folk. We are currently staying in an Airbnb which is a typical row house which is nice and convenient to town and public transport. Row houses are defined as houses that line a street in a row and can stand alone if the houses on either side were removed.



Some row houses have a single garage built in but mostly people park on the street, which are narrow and are normally sign posted for 2 hours parking only (8am to 6 pm). This is the only downfall that we have found as a long term (30 days) guest and staying in town, we have to move the car every two hours during the day. Parking inspectors are everywhere and the fine is $26 a day which in some locations is cheaper than having to pay for normal parking.
We saw one garage that had a lift system so that they can store two cars on top of each other. Crazzzy!


There is a lot of history here such as the “meeting place” for the founding fathers of the United States and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia was also instrumental in the Revolutionary War and is the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps. In the 1970s Philly revitalised and gentrified its town and surrounding areas and have large cultural, artistic, music and sporting precincts and has seen a growth in economic stability making it one of largest populated city, now standing at 1.5 million.


On the complete opposite side of the scale we drove 60 miles inland from Philly to visit the town of Intercourse – Lancaster County which has one of the largest populations of Amish culture. They live within a normal community which is ever changing but they remain true to their beliefs. There is a spin-off group called Mennonites which have a few more freedoms than a full Amish. They don’t do photography so getting a compliant picture is not that easy.

You can tell the Amish farms as their washing is on the line. The whole landscape is farmland and is open and quiet. With no computers, tv’s, phones, electricity or motor vehicles, we visited a typical Amish farm and I tried to sign Amy up for a years “on the job training” but she wouldn’t go for it, something about she couldn’t live without her technology.



Not much more to tell this week and with Christmas being next week we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope that Santa is good to you, take care and stay safe.

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