The Pony Express - Part 8

For a moment, it was like being back in Budapest - those last three days that I spent walking around the city - as i started the long walk down Benjamin Franklin Parkway (For the Mumbaikars: this guy is the Chhatrapati Shivaji of Philadelphia..and no, that's not the Thalaivar for the Tamilian.) Realization soon dawned that it was not to be so. Philadelphia is beautiful, but Budapest is better. As you walk along the Parkway, the first thing that catches your attention is the string of flags that dot the sidewalks. Far ahead you can spot a majestic building conspicuous with its Greek columns - the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Earlier in the day, this was to be my destination. But as the day progressed, I was just content to walk around.

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, is a picturesque road that runs through the middle of the cultural heart of Philadelphia. On one end towers the black and grey walls of the world's tallest masonry building, the Philadelphia City Hall, cleaving the beautiful Broad Street into two. I got my first glimpse of the building as I crossed Broad Street further down the block. There it stood, further along the street, towering up as if out of a B-Grade Hollywood flick. I was immediately captured by its beauty. "I have to photograph it some time" I told Kavitha, as we headed further down.

The City Hall is frequented by few tourists - perhaps only those who find it beautiful enough to be a side distraction, as a prop in the background for a photograph. There seemed to be more beggars than tourists around the place. Around the corner stood the JFK Plaza, with its famous LOVE sculpture. Needless to say, there were many young couples, intent on taking photographs in and around it. What attracted me most was the lively atmosphere around the square. The fountain was gushing up, as if in a losing challenge to the huge clock tower of the City Hall in the background. Youngsters were busy flaunting their skills on the bicycles and skateboards. There was a sense of deja vu; a scene i had witnessed at Deak Ferenc Ter in Budapest. It seemed as if all and sundry had converged onto this small square (mind you, Minsk Square in Bangalore - technically though that is anything but a square in shape - is bigger than this), for there were no tourists to be seen on any of the side streets.

A small black mark on the map caught my attention. At the corner of Broad Street was marked a square symbolising the Masonic Temple. The dark and controversial history of the Freemasons piqued my curiosity. My map claimed that this was one of the oldest Grand Lodges in the United States. I ran towards it, only to find the huge building draped in a black cloth, resembling a woman in mourning. A mammoth flag of the United States fluttered from the top. It was under renovation.

Pic of the Day - 1:
"Who's taller? Me or you?"