Have you ever taken a bus into New York City’s Port Authority? You start your ride in some calm New Jersey suburb, and gradually make your way into one of the most exotic, exhilarating and overwhelming cities in the world. The time in the bus is generally quiet, you close your eyes, and then you arrive. The inside of Port Authority is like a mall, overly shiny full of crap you don’t need, but subdued. Then you exit the building and you are swept into the concrete valleys that are the streets of Manhattan. The wind snaps your jacket around your legs, you walk a little faster, you clutch you bag a little tigher, your hearts races a little; it’s great! That is what it is like to walk down the jetway into the Philadelphia airport. It was like being squeezed from the womb into the blinding lights, noise and colors of a foreign world. The hallways leading from gate to gate are lined with credit card salesmen, food stands, jewelry stands, and books stands, and I could hear customers bargaining and arguing as I strode by. Of course there is also the hot pretzel stand, selling traditional Philly Pretzels, 3 for $3. This is the first place I go whenever I fly into Philadelphia. It is something I thoroughly look forward to. In fact, I have flown into Philly in the past to my own inconvenience just so I could get my pretzels.
The walk to the baggage claim is a little long, and I always have to wait a long time for my luggage to show up, so those are my two complaints about PHL. Overall it is an older airport that seems to run well, is full of stuff, and is pretty easy to navigate.
Leaving Philadelphia to go to Florida was less of an enjoyable experience. Terminal A was over heated, dirty and old. But the pretzels were soft and salty and the people were nice.
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3 comments:
Wow. I've never been there. You make it sound like some sort of flea market airport, or planes coming and going from a renaissance fair or something. Is PHL Philly's only international transit point? I mean, if I buy a ticket to Philadelphia just to see the place, will I certainly be routed through there? I've always wanted to visit, and this seems like a wonky enough excuse to do so.
But you need to see Hong Kong. That's one candy-colored funhouse (with Gucci stores, of course) that is a pleasure to spend a five-hour layover in.
To answer your question, yes, there is only one Philly international.
I have flown into philly many, many times, and usually it is more subdued than it was on monday, but it is always, sort of like a bazaar.
I remember that airport. It's on the southwest side of the city, off the Delaware Expressway, if I recall correctly.
Philly is an exciting city. I love the downtown, the Art Museum and the great restaurants in Chestnut Hill. At one time I knew my way around the whole city and was brave enough even to drive the Schuykull Expressway (called the "Sure-Kill by Philadelphians.)
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