« Let's go Mets | Main | Paramore/Fall Out Boy »
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Philly Update
Hello from Philly. :) Getting ready to leave again in a few hours but it's definitely been a fun stay.
Left Stamford, CT on Amtrak yesterday at 8.30am and got into Philly a bit after 11am. I had never been to the Philadelphia train station before but it's a nice station, similiar to the other older ones on the East Coast like Boston, DC or NY (Grand Central). The station is also conveniently located, just a short walk from the center of the city. Although even a short 25 minute walk can feel like forever when it's super humid, muggy and hot outside. :)
Made it to my hotel (the Loews, got a great rate on Hotwire - really nice hotel) and was able to check in. Enjoyed the AC in my room for a bit, settling in. After that I walked across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet up with my German friend Tina. It's been way too long since I have last seen her. She now lives in the US and it's been 4 years since her and her husband came over but this is the first time we actually managed to meet. We will need to do it again, sooner. :)
After lunch at the Hard Rock I went back to the hotel. Relaxed for a bit, had a glass of wine in the lobby bar at the hotel and then eventually ventured back out into the heat to walk to the library. Only a 15 minute walk so not so bad. I got there a little after 5 and there were already at least 50-100 people in line. Sat down and camped out in line for the auditorium. Met some nice people in line and eventually it was time to go inside. It was great to see Diana Gabaldon in person again. We actually saw her really quick while camped out in line as well. She walked through and said a quick hello to her fans which was nice.
She spoke for an hour and as always it was a lot of fun to see her. There was also a Q&A session and some new tidbits of info along with the showing of the Starz trailer for the TV show coming out in August. After her talk she was going to be signing books and my plan was to get my copy of the book signed as well. But after getting out of the auditorium and seeing the line of people (I don't know how many people would I have to guess at least 300, if not more - the line sneaked through the whole library and outside into the parking lot) I decided against it. As nice as it would have been to have her personalize my book and say a quick hello I really didn't want to stand in line for hours on end. I already have a picture with her and a signed copy of the last book when I went to Phoenix 4 years ago.
So instead of standing in this endless line I made my way back and had another quick drink at the Hard Rock across the street from the hotel. This morning I slept in for a bit and then was craving breakfast so I went downstairs and had a yummy breakfast sandwich and Earl Grey tea at the restaurant downstairs. Now back in the room for a bit. Need to check out in a little while so will get ready soon.
Probably going to head over to the Hard Rock for one more drink to kill some time before heading to the train station and catching my train back.
Received a letter/owe a reply to: Katie/Germany, Celia/MA, Laura/Spain, Kimber/BC, Carmen/Malta, Charles/TN and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 10:58 AM in Books, Food and Drink, Travel | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341f682353ef01a511d027e2970c
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Philly Update: