Last Friday, a few of us desperately needed to get out of 1300 for the afternoon to stay sane, and so after work we decided to go to Reading (pronounced Redding) Terminal Market in the Center City area.
We decided to walk there (about two miles), looking forward to stretching our legs after being cooped up in the same building all week. After one mile in the intense heat, however, we were less than enthused.
To break up the monotony and pain of walking two and a half miles in 90% humidity, we stopped to admire some really interesting buildings along the way. This old hotel is my especial favorite. Apparently it has been vacant for at least twenty or thirty years (when Kelcey's mom went to school at Temple, the building was already abandoned), and the gorgeous, interesting architecture is covered with equally interesting graffiti.
We finally found the terminal, squeezed in among lots of other tall buildings in the downtown area.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the outside, but once inside, it was like love at first sight.
Everything was homemade this and homemade that. There were old-fashioned soda fountains next to raw fish and shrimp laying out on boxes of cracked ice next to booths of fresh produce. There was an old bookstore, a bakery, a chocolate shop, and a hand-made jewelry shop. It was like heaven.
To celebrate this beautiful place, everyone decided to get desert. Most people went for the ice cream, but I found this great little Middle-Eastern shop and bought fresh-squeezed fruit juice (banana, strawberry, pineapple-- the suggestion of the guy behind the counter). I also got a piece of deeeelicious baklava (pictured below), and I felt quite cultured.
If I had more time, I would love to go back and get breakfast there sometime. I'll have to add that to my list of things to do (though too bad I don't really have any more free time left).
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