Lentenchilada Dinner

The boys have been helping with the packing for our Mexico trip. For the record, this is our sixth trip to Mexico for spring break: 2008 and 2010 in Puerto Vallarta, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 in Cancun. This is the third year in a row we’ve stayed at Live Aqua. We’re looking forward to the sun, good food, ocean, and most of all the relaxation. I’m thinking about speaking only in hushed tones for the entire week.

 

There has been very little growling among the cats but just the usual occasional open field tackle by Ravel on his unsuspecting prey either orange or white.

 

Today is a gray Good Friday here in St. Paul. On Wednesday we got about 3 inches of snow while ten minutes away in Cottage Grove they recorded 10 inches. Still, Sue had no snow day. This photo is from the bluff on the west side across the river from downtown St. Paul.

 

Sue played in the bell choir at church last night for Maundy Thursday. I arrived half way through the service on my way home from work.  “Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries) is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the Maundy and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels.” (Wikipedia).

 

This is a photo of the Cathedral of St. Paul. I’m sure things are hoppin’ there this weekend. Tonight we’ll go to the Good Friday Tenebrae service at Augustana. “Tenebrae (Latin for "shadows" or "darkness") is a Christian religious service celebrated in the Holy Week within Western Christianity, on the evening before or early morning of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Tenebrae is distinctive for its gradual extinguishing of candles while a series of readings and psalms are chanted or recited” (Wikipedia).

 

We went to the last of the Friday Lenten Enchilada (Lentenchilada or Lenchilada) meals at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church.

 

Delicioso.

 

Cheese and onion enchiladas with refried beans and Mexican rice washed down with an orange drink and finished with a baked good

Penny For The / A Thought

OK, while I am bored reading about hospital ratings on https://data.medicare.gov/ I thought I’d post the rest of my pictures from the Philadelphia excursion. Here is the Basilica Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. I think it was built in the 1850s?

The white silo-like structure in the middle Is where I stayed—the Embassy All Suites. I think most of their rooms are suites. The address is 1776 Benjamin Franklin Parkway and this is not a fake address like “1 Twins Way”. The hotel is at the corner of 18th street and the Parkway making the 1776 legit.

Here is Benjamin Franklin’s grave. Tradition is that tourists avoid paying the $2 Christ Church Cemetery entrance fee and instead whip pennies at Ben through the fence. A penny saved used to be a penny earned.

Gravesites above and below ground

Like I said, most stones were not readable. 220-some years brings a lot of wind and rain and erosion.

 

I don’t remember seeing Francis Hopkinson’s signature on the Declaration of Independence.

 

In the background is the Comcast Center described as looking like a “giant USB memory stick” by the Philadelphia Enquirer.

George Washington worshiped here at Christ Church. I sat down in his pew box. Remember, the US capital (and capitol) was in Philadelphia for the first ten years of our country’s existence. There was a Boy Scout group getting shout-lectured by a loud docent behind the pillar. I didn’t want him to shout-lecture me about taking pictures.

Christ Church

This is Ben Franklin’s printing office that still has working printers and free tours. I met some tourists from Austria watching the printing press demonstration.

Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed by our founding fathers. Fiction tourists will want to watch The National Treasure starring Nicolas Cage to see some great footage in and around Independence Hall and Philadelphia. It’s probably playing on TBS or another basic cable channel tonight.

Here is the courtyard of the Barnes Foundation Art Museum. This collection moved from somewhere in the suburbs to the central city in 2012. This is where I saw more Renoir and Cezanne paintings—more paintings of girls and fruit bowls than I’ve ever seen in one spot.

The Thinker or rather A Thinker by Rodin out front of the Rodin museum. I changed the “the” to an “a” because Rodin did so many versions of The Thinker in so many sizes and materials that we must think of this as just another thinker. I should have made that rhyme and incorporated it into a rap song.

Only one of the two wings of the Philly Art Museum had a painted frieze featuring some nudity. I should have zoomed in with the camera a little more.

I will have to rent Rocky to see Stallone run up these steps and raise his hands in victory. I hope the steps were at the end of a longer run because there really aren’t that many steps. The old tall building in the center is the historic city hall which sits smack dab in the middle of the city.

 

Back to looking at government websites and writing about things. . .

 

Phun In Philly For a Fan of Mega Mahler

Yep. I flew to Philadelphia last weekend for a performance of Mahler’s 8th Symphony. My old friend Matt from the Disney band (22 years ago) is the co-principle trombonist in the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the top five American orchestras. Here I am on the SEPTA train from the airport to downtown. I flew there directly on miles on Delta and then returned on United transferring in Chicago.

Sue and I booked me a Hotwire deal on a room. With Hotwire, you say yes to a price and a general location but you do not know the exact hotel until you seal the deal. This was my view from the 15th floor of the Embassy Suites Logan Square. The museum in the upper left is the Philadelphia Art museum where Rocky famously ran up the steps in his training for punching someone—I don’t remember ever seeing Rocky so the details might be fuzzy. . . I think he punched people?

As it turns out, right across the street from the hotel is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, where the Pope spoke during his recent trip to Philadelphia. I went to Catholic church here on Sunday morning. I talked to a security guy in the plaza outside the church. I said, “I’ve been reading some Philadelphia travel books and none of them mention this awesome cathedral!”  And there it was, right outside my hotel room. There was a special service Saturday afternoon for a tour group from New York—a group of 300 people!

I do enjoy visiting churches.

 

On Sunday after visiting the Barnes Foundation Museum where photos were not allowed, I walked up the “Rocky steps” in a light rain just to soak in the atmosphere. The St. Pat’s Day parade had finished and a lot of the drunk revelers had dispersed to the pubs around town. There is even a statue of Rocky off to the side.

Here is the cathedral from my balcony. On the next street over, I-676 runs through the center of town buried in a trench. You can hardly notice it but it is just a four lane interstate running through the downtown of a major urban area. Traffic is always backed up on this undersized road but at least the road is not an ugly blight on the city.

Here is my buddy Matt. We met for lunch on Sunday afternoon before his performance of the Mahler 8th. I might have gone to that performance too if Matt had offered me a back stage pass. . . instead I went to an awesome museum. We didn’t even get to rehash any of our old Disney stories or catch up on band member’s lives. I actually know the fourth horn player in the orchestra too but was unable to meet up with her. Matt lives in New Jersey just across the Delaware River from downtown Philly. He rides the commuter train 25 minutes. He also teaches at Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music.

I visited Christ Church Cemetery where Benjamin Franklin and many other Revolutionary War era patriots are buried. This place is so old that most of the writing on the tombstones is worn away. This is right across the street from the mall where the Liberty Bell is and the hall where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.

Here is a streetscape with row houses and the tallest building in Philly, the Comcast Center. I had a great weekend and only wish Sue could have come with me!  She and I did this same trip in 2006 to hear Matt and the orchestra play another Mahler, Das Lied von Der Erde – The Song of the Earth. We flew free on miles then, too. Matt said the orchestra is playing Mahler 3rd next year. Hmmm.

Squirrel Watching Duties