DIGEST ezine

I was shopping in the mall at Liberty Place on Chestnut st one blustery December Friday, when I over heard two gorgeous girls asking another shopper in accented english where the Reading Terminal market was located, I of course being a very civic minded individual offered my services to the two young damsels in distress, not only would I give them directions but that I would also be very happy to escort them to the market, where maybe they would like to join me for a cup of coffee.

Like a good many Philadelphians I had never been to the market before, but I had a vague idea where it was located.
These two French madamoiselles turned out to be stewardesses who were in town for an over nighter, I was curious to know why out of all the things to see in Philadelphia , they wanted to go to the Reading Terminal market? They replied ,"thee Almeesh , miszur!"

"Almeesh"!?, They meant the Amish, the Amish are part of a religious community that forsake a number of modern conveniences such as autos, phones..,they wear very old fashioned clothes with the woman in bonnets and the men in beards, they operate a number of the food stands and restaurants, using many ingredients that they grow themselves on their farms,which are located mostly in Lancaster county which is about 80 minutes west of Philadelphia.

Well we made it to the market in one piece and I was in for a surprise, I opened the door to a world that I never knew existed in the heart of Philadelphia, there before me in an over 100 year old building were aisles of every imaginable food, crafts,flowers, spices, there were produce stands, butcher shops, bakeries, flower stalls, specialty shops and lunch counters and of course the "Almeesh", all in a spray of colors, sights and sounds.

We sampled exotic foods such as hoagies, cheese steaks, scrapple, we learned how not to over cook squab at a food demonstration, we ate home made ice cream and hot from the oven soft pretzels.
What a great afternoon, I made two friends from another country, discovered a part of Philadelphia that I did not know existed and I got to meet the "ALMEESH!"

"Viva La France"

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