Allright just got back from Philly this morning. Because of bad temperature over on our side of the border we arrived very late on Saturday (at 13:00 after a 12 hours drive) so I could not get a workout in. I did manage to see the city though, as well as the Eagles - Rams game. Here are some comments (do not be offended!):
1) Old Philly is quite a site. The oldest building we have in Quebec date back from 1800 or so and they are few an far between. I was truly shocked by the historical density and feeling of old Philly. Quite a sight!
2) There is no way to get beer in Philly!!! Seriously, the only way is to go to a bar and buy beer from them, but you are limited to two 6-packs and it's gonna cost ya 9$. I heard of a beer distribution store but it was too far away. Here in Canada you can buy beer at every corner and it's gonna cost you the equivalent of 15-16 US$ for a case of 24! Not to mention that the alcohol content is 6-7% instead of your 4%. Not that I'm a big beer drinker, but I was truly shocked by this (especially considering that there was plenty of liquor stores around).
3) It was really envigorating to see the fan frenzy on Sunday! We did roam from tailgate to tailgate and visited the Eagles fan fair. Honestly I had never seen anything like it! Here in Canada we have crowds of 15 - 25 000 peoples at our football games and the towns are not really into it. Seing 70 000 peoples all dressed up in green & white, celebrating the game 6 hours beforehand was very impressive. And after the game I could not believe the atmosphere. To quote my friend: "And to think that it's like this every weekend!"
4) Sadly I did not bring any supplements with me and had to buy Myoplex bars at a local GNC. As a result I had diarrhea for the whole weekend.
The bars and dance clubs do look great and have a great ambiance. But I find the beer to be very expensive (here in most clubs you’ll pay 2.50 can$ for a beer, or 1.50 US$). Because of the low cost we generally tip at least a dollar per beer over here, needless to say that this got us quite a few looks in Philly!
All and all it was a great trip, I was sorry that I did not have time to catch a workout or visit a gym but maybe next time!
Christian, regarding the beer issue: Visit us over here in the Pac Northwest. Microbrew capital of the US. You want your 7%, you’ll find it here! (Care to back me up here Pat, Ko?)
Glad to hear you had a good time! Those Philly fans are one of the most vocal in the league. They love their Eagles.
I hear that they even have a jail/holding cell at the stadium. Anybody heard about or experienced this?
Compared to Canada, most of our beer is more expensive and it doesn’t even come close in quality (i.e. Bud,Miller).
If you’re ever in the Northern VA. area you’re welcome to train at the club where I train at (yes, they do allow powerlifting here).
Cheers!!!
Christian…glad you enjoyed Philly. I’m 2.5-3 hours up from Philly near Scranton PA. I am a die hard Eagles fan. Glad you got to see the tenacious defense of the birds, but you missed out on Donovan Mcnabb. I wasn’t aware of the beer situations in Philly as almost everyone is drunk at the game anyway haha. In NEPA we have the the oldest brewery in America in Potsville(Yuengling) and have a variety of lagers. Yes there is a court and jail on the lower level, too much shit going on at the games so the stadium took matters into their own hands. You should come down next year to “the linc” our new stadium, its supposed to be state of the art. The Phillies will have a brand new gorgeous park in 2004 as well. Oh and finally, if you really want to see a site, come on out to State College on a fall Saturday afternoon and take in 108,000 screaming fans rooting for the Penn State Nitanny Lions…unreal! Have a good one…Mike
What part of Quebec do you live in? I am in Ottawa for a good part of the year(Christmas/summer) and I think it would be cool to meet as many T-men as I can. I have met Ike Ko and Patricia, and had one of the best discussions of my life and I think it has been invaluable to me. Possibly we could meet up sometime in Quebec or Ontario. Groove
Christian-Glad you enjoyed your trip. the Eagles “experience” is not for everyone but it is a blast! The Rams game was revenge for us. Dallas, Washington and NY are pure blood fueds. You should see the Philly crowd then. FYI- They not only have a jail at the stadium but a judge who starts hearings at the end of the 3rd. quarter, in the stadium. It’s called “eagles court”. the drunks and fighters get fined and sent home. It actually calmed things down. You know those clubs can charge so much for booze because of the “eye candy” factor. Guys will pay up to hangout in a fertile hunting ground. Take Care
That was actually my second Eagles game. I went to an Eagles - Cowboys game 7 years ago. The Eagles won 21-19. That was when the Cowboys were still a great team. My friend wore a Cowboys shirt and that actually started a fight: Guys would throw pennies at him … one missed him and hit the guy in front of us who thought that the guy next to him punched him an a fight started!!!
I’ve always been a defensive player and coach defense. So the Eagles performance this past weekend was very impressive to me. 8 sacks … 1 int for a TD. Great “D”.
(Care to back me up here Pat, Ko?)