Yes, that's from my hotel window
I couldn't resist snapping another picture of the strange art
I was slightly disappointed with the hotel placement, not only because I had stayed there before, but I had heard another hotel had their own chocolatier. Redacted. However, I wasn't too disappointed when, upon checking into the Palomar, I was given a box of Godiva and a similar note. It wasn't locally made, but it was still chocolate, which I think is such a sweet touch that is unique thus far in my experience.
I met a friend from UVA, Esther, who also had callbacks at firms to dinner. Since it was restaurant week, it was hard to find a restaurant that wasn't full of reservations already. We decided on Audrey Claire, because they didn't take reservations and headed over.
First of all, we didn't expect that Fall would hit Philly so soon, and with such a vengeance so we were underdressed for the brisk winds. Secondly, we didn't exactly understand what restaurant week meant, when the front desk clerk tried to explain to us. We were given a prix fixe menu, which was $35 per person. I later found out that most of the time, you can ask for a normal menu to save some money, but we had no idea about this and all of the venues in the area were participating in the promotion. We did get a lovely 3 course meal, however. I started with an arugula salad with goat cheese and figs, went on to a potato crusted ahi tuna with mashed potatoes and green beans, and finished with a cinnamon rice pudding. The waitress was very knowledgeable about what was gluten-free, and with her suggestions it was a great meal. My dessert options are always limited, so I decided to be adventurous and get the rice pudding. The texture was not my favorite and it wasn't sweet enough overall, but the combination of cinnamon and pieces of fruit inside added some good flavor. After getting our doggy bags (three courses is far too much), we headed back to our respective hotels.
First of all, we didn't expect that Fall would hit Philly so soon, and with such a vengeance so we were underdressed for the brisk winds. Secondly, we didn't exactly understand what restaurant week meant, when the front desk clerk tried to explain to us. We were given a prix fixe menu, which was $35 per person. I later found out that most of the time, you can ask for a normal menu to save some money, but we had no idea about this and all of the venues in the area were participating in the promotion. We did get a lovely 3 course meal, however. I started with an arugula salad with goat cheese and figs, went on to a potato crusted ahi tuna with mashed potatoes and green beans, and finished with a cinnamon rice pudding. The waitress was very knowledgeable about what was gluten-free, and with her suggestions it was a great meal. My dessert options are always limited, so I decided to be adventurous and get the rice pudding. The texture was not my favorite and it wasn't sweet enough overall, but the combination of cinnamon and pieces of fruit inside added some good flavor. After getting our doggy bags (three courses is far too much), we headed back to our respective hotels.
I had an 11 am callback, which I originally thought was 10. I probably should have kept thinking it was 10 because I let myself have too much relaxation time in the morning and missed out on any breakfast. But I headed over to firm for exactly a 10:50 arrival. My tour guide was a 4L (a common term for the most recent UVA grads), which was interesting, redacted. I'm not sure if this was a conscious choice on the part of the recruiters, but my first interviewer had a similar choice that I did before law school: whether to go into sports journalism or go to law school. It was interesting going back over that decision with him.
Lunch was at the Continental, a cute place nearby. I got the crab pad thai, which was delicious. I enjoyed the associates that took me out to lunch because they had little expectation of telling me anything about the firm or their job so we spent most of lunch talking about Philadelphia or the fashion choices that come from the interview or the work dress code. While I appreciate the other firms that are really trying to get any questions I have answered, it was nice they realized I probably had a good idea of the firm culture and we never had those lulls in conversation that come from both parties trying to come up with more questions.
Lunch was at the Continental, a cute place nearby. I got the crab pad thai, which was delicious. I enjoyed the associates that took me out to lunch because they had little expectation of telling me anything about the firm or their job so we spent most of lunch talking about Philadelphia or the fashion choices that come from the interview or the work dress code. While I appreciate the other firms that are really trying to get any questions I have answered, it was nice they realized I probably had a good idea of the firm culture and we never had those lulls in conversation that come from both parties trying to come up with more questions.
I went back to the hotel for some work and Esther met me for some coffee and to let me use her phone charger. I must have taken my phone cord out of my bag at some point, which is a pity because I use my phone way too much to not have one in my suitcase at all times. I was debating being lazy all day but decided I should go to the museum and walk around in my last trip to Philadelphia for a while.
I took the Schuylkill river trail, an underrated part of Philly to the museum, walked around the Rembrandt: Faces of Christ exhibit for a while, then walked back through town. I really enjoyed the exhibit, as well as the American art that was also in the museum. It was interesting to me how much biblical and historical research Rembrandt did to make his scenes of Christ and how many different times he experimented with the head and face. Some scenes from the afternoon:
I took the Schuylkill river trail, an underrated part of Philly to the museum, walked around the Rembrandt: Faces of Christ exhibit for a while, then walked back through town. I really enjoyed the exhibit, as well as the American art that was also in the museum. It was interesting to me how much biblical and historical research Rembrandt did to make his scenes of Christ and how many different times he experimented with the head and face. Some scenes from the afternoon:
The IRS building and the Amtrak station from the Schuylkill trail, with the skyscraper in the background. Scott and I once tried to walk into the IRS building when I had an early morning train. The buildings are next to each other and have a similar color/shape, but luckily we were stopped because we didn't have the correct badges. We may have been seriously confused had we gotten inside!
A cute scene near the waterworks building
The art museum has a Friday after 5 program with jazz music and drinks. Here is this week's band, At Your Request (or something like that)
Walking back, the view of the city
I headed back to the hotel, after a stop at B&N to buy MORE thank you notes. I grabbed a cab to the airport and went to the US Air club lounge. My family apparently hoarded day passes to the club back when we traveled more, so whenever I use one, the front desk attendants look awed by my vintage pass. I was having a lovely time eating dinner and chatting with the bartender about How I Met Your Mother, the TV show that was on.
I was about to head to my gate, around 30 minutes from what I thought was my departure time when I looked at my ticket and realized my flight was set to leave about 5 minutes from the current time! I sprinted to the gate without so much as a goodbye to the bartender but the doors were closed and I got to watch my plane taxi away :( The poor desk attendants had to help me change my flight as I was sobbing from exhaustion and the feeling of pure ditziness. They even lent me a phone charger so my phone wouldn't die before I could book a hotel.
I ended up spending the night at the Days Inn in Chester, PA, which wasn't as bad as it could have been for sure. The friendly flight attendants that were also staying at the hotel suggested that I take the 7 am shuttle, instead of the 730 shuttle in case of a long line at security. While I appreciate the suggestion, the airport was deserted this morning and I went BACK to the US Air Club. I'm pretty sure I deserved free coffee and fruit for the $69 hotel room that they cost me last night (I am positive that when I was younger, they kept track of who was in the club and when their flight would leave to try to make sure everyone got to the gate on time).
Since my flight is in about an hour, I will be heading over there soon, just to make sure that I don't miss another flight!! I'm headed to NC next week, so I will journal about those soon!
I was about to head to my gate, around 30 minutes from what I thought was my departure time when I looked at my ticket and realized my flight was set to leave about 5 minutes from the current time! I sprinted to the gate without so much as a goodbye to the bartender but the doors were closed and I got to watch my plane taxi away :( The poor desk attendants had to help me change my flight as I was sobbing from exhaustion and the feeling of pure ditziness. They even lent me a phone charger so my phone wouldn't die before I could book a hotel.
I ended up spending the night at the Days Inn in Chester, PA, which wasn't as bad as it could have been for sure. The friendly flight attendants that were also staying at the hotel suggested that I take the 7 am shuttle, instead of the 730 shuttle in case of a long line at security. While I appreciate the suggestion, the airport was deserted this morning and I went BACK to the US Air Club. I'm pretty sure I deserved free coffee and fruit for the $69 hotel room that they cost me last night (I am positive that when I was younger, they kept track of who was in the club and when their flight would leave to try to make sure everyone got to the gate on time).
Since my flight is in about an hour, I will be heading over there soon, just to make sure that I don't miss another flight!! I'm headed to NC next week, so I will journal about those soon!
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