Work trip to Philadelphia, USA - 19th to 22nd May 2008

Within 2 weeks of a week long trip to Chicago, I was back in the US - Philadelphia this time - for a conference and a load of meetings. The guy at immigration gave me some funny looks as he thumbed the previous US entry stamps in my passport, and even asked why I had bothered to go home between the 2 trips. He seemed to find the answer satisfactory, luckily, so I avoided the rubber gloves. Half an hour later, I got out of a cab in the city centre (or "center"), right outside Philadelphia's magnificent City Hall, with the statue of William Penn on top. This always used to be the tallest building in town, and was briefly the tallest building in the world when it was built 100 years or so ago. A pretty impressive building, it is a huge place.

Of course, this trip took me away from the UK for the Champions League Final - which I wasn't too upset about, as it meant I got to avoid all the rubbish that was written and said in the UK during the build up. Clearly. nobody winning would have been the ideal for me in this game, (failing that, Manchester United, grudgingly) so it didn't turn out too badly in the end. I skived off work on the Wednesday afternoon, and made for an Irish boozer in Philly in time for the 2:45 kick off, to watch the game. On the way, I passed by the Love Statue. which seemed to look much more photogenic than I have seen it before, with the fountain behind it in full flow for a change.

In the Irish Pub, there were a surprising number of Chelsea fans (in Chelsea shirts), virtually all of whom were American, and I suspect many of whom did not support Chelsea 5 years ago. Of course, there were still more Manchester United fans, including almost all of the foreigners in shirts in the bar. The rest of the bar was full of a mix of Americans and Europeans who didn't care as much who won, but just wanted to see the game. At kick off, the bar was absolutely packed, and it got busier and busier as the game went on. Strangely, though, it started to empty out a bit at the end of extra time, some people at least seemed not be be staying for penalties - of course missing the delightful sight of John Terry screwing it all up, and Nicolas Anelka finally losing the trophy. If only Ashley Cole has missed too! I was surprised at how full the bar was for the game, even if the rest of the city was no doubt completely unaware of the game's existence.

On this trip, I got to see some things in Philadelphia that I've (rather shamefully) never seen before on my numerous trips there. The photo here is of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which features the famous "Rocky Steps" (and Rocky Statue outside). I also saw some of the "Independence" stuff in town on this trip, notably Independence Hall, and the National Constitution Center, which celebrates the foundation of the US as a country. Sadly it was dark for much of the time I was at this end of town, so no decent photos made it - but I will definitely wander down there in daylight for a better look on my next trip.

This was a short, chaotic but good trip to Philly - every time I go there, I grow to like the place more and more. It probably isn't the greatest city in the US, but combines a lot of the European-ness of a big East Coast city, with characteristics that definitely make it a lot more American than Boston or New York - the 2 places that most Europeans get to go. I am a fan of the place, and become more so every time I go - a city with a lot good to say about it.