What's Next?

It's been a while since I've written something for whereisdarrennow and wanted to get back into the swing of things so here's a little bit of an update...

If you're friends with me on facebook, you've seen how I didn't get to go to Japan after all. I was bummed to say the least as I really was looking forward to experiencing an extended amount of time in such a great place as well as with the friends I have there but it just didn't work out. Hopefully I'll get back there in the future. I'll continue working on learning Japanese in hopes that I will have that chance.

As you may have also seen, I was in Philadelphia for three weeks with my family. I got to spend a lot of quality time hanging out and talking with my dad, which was fun and valuable. I visited with some great old friends and made some amazing new ones. I spent time with my brother and sister and their families. I went to the zoo. I got coffee at Wawa. I tried some new (to me) restaurants. I put over 800 miles on the rental car. I ate water ice and pretzels. Most of all, I got some valuable "me time" reflecting and making new plans.

Where is Darren now? Pues...I'm writing this entry from my new home in Barcelona, España. The timing worked out well that some newish friends that I met had a room open up in their apartment so I jumped at the chance and took it. David and Diana (see below) are great people; they're super clean, fantastic cooks, and they seem to actually like me...so I'll be here for the foreseeable future and will be using it as a base to travel around Europe for a bit. Life's still pretty good, in other words.


So, what about the blog? I started whereisdarrennow as a way to share my travel experiences and what I'm learning while doing it. During a discussion about what to do with my blog, one of my super-so-smart-PhD.-candidate roomies suggested that the name lent itself well to not only physically where I am but also where I am as a person. With that in mind, I'll continue to write about the places I go and the experiences I have but am planning to post some "historical" stories about places I went in the past as well as some stories about "where" I am now. Don't worry though...I don't plan on this becoming some sort of online, self-reflection diary! :-)

I hope you enjoy reading the new-and-improved version of whereisdarrennow. I know that I'll continue to enjoying living it as well as writing about it. Who would have known that I'd actually enjoy writing???

Water Ice

I was driving around Philadelphia today, passed by a Rita's Water Ice shop, and knew that I just had to make a stop. I was able to fight the urge until I got over to my sister's house tonight and offered to take my niece for a treat.

Rita's has become a Philadelphia institution over the past 20 years and now has around 500 locations in several states. They sell a few different summer treats including soft-serve ice cream, frozen-coffee-style drinks, water ice, and (at least in the Philadelphia area) pretzels. You can also get the basics mixed in various ways. The most popular menu item is a water-ice/soft-serve combo that has some silly name.


For me though, the money's still in the plain, old-fashioned water ice. If you haven't had water ice before, it's kinda' like a Slurpee or Icee drink only thicker so it can't be eaten with a straw. It is not like a snow cone, which tends to be made from fairly course (unflavored) ice and flavored syrup poured over it. The flavoring in water ice is actually in the ice and comes in various flavors like cherry, lemon, mint chocolate chip, mango, and others. My favorite, chocolate, has been recently overtaken by my new addiction, Swedish Fish. I've been known to polish off a large along with a pretzel.


As I mentioned, I took my niece over to Rita's tonight. She's a fan of cherry water ice. Here's one happy customer:

Elfreth's Alley

When I lived in Oceanside, I considered my house to be pretty old, at least by California standards. It was a 1923 Craftsman-style and it was in a neighborhood of homes from the teens to the 1950s. Being originally from Philadelphia though, I know that a house from the 20s really isn't all that old so today, after breakfast with a friend, I visited the oldest, continuously-occupied residential street in the U.S. to check it out.

Elfreth's Alley is located just west of (the) 95 (freeway) and just south of the Ben Franklin Bridge in downtown Philadelphia. It's a small street with about 30 or so homes on it and was first developed in 1702. Here's a shot from the west end of the street that shows how narrow the street really is:


The street was occupied by craftsmen and artisans during the 1700 and 1800s. In the 1900s until about the 1950s, it was mostly run down and almost demolished several times but was saved by local preservation groups. For much of it's history, Elfreth's Alley has been a great example of the melting pot of America. Residents have included pretty much every immigrant group from Europe that sought a better life in the U.S. Nowadays, tour groups walk up and down a street that's priced out of reach of most.


One thing that's cool that you'll see on houses in downtown Philadelphia, and all along Elfreth's Alley are called Fire Marks. These plaques, issued by insurance companies to be placed on the outside of a building, were originally used in Europe and found their way across the pond. The fire marks would indicate to the fire brigades, which were usually private groups, that the building was insured and by whom and if they should put out the fire. It's small in this photo but you can see one on this house half-way between the second and third floors:


Here's a close up of one fire mark:


...and another one:


Oh yeah, for my friend Ri who always says that my photos are "Here-I-am" shots, here I am at Elfreth's Alley Philadelphia: