Over the last few weeks I've made a couple of sojourns out of the city. One was to visit friends in northern New Jersey, and the other was a recent tour stop in Burlington, VT. These few times I've been able to be in nature are so welcome. I think the excitement and business of the city tends to overshadow the fact that I am frequently missing trees and mountains. That's not to say that I'd trade my NYC life for one in the wilderness doing goodness-knows-what, but sometimes it's pretty tempting.

The winter is always a strangely comforting time for me as well. I love cold air in my lungs and being able to see my breath. When I was in New Jersey it snowed a good foot of fine, icing sugar-like powder and being out in it was exhilarating. As was being in a warm, snug house with good friends, shut in against the wintry night.

I'd never been to Burlington before last week, and it seems like a nice balance of urban convenience and natural setting. Of course, working on a show I didn't stray far from the centre of town, and found myself wondering where the "wrong side of the tracks" was in such a seemingly idyllic place. Here the cold was quite fierce (and, I'm told, was actually quite mild for this time of year), but I loved being out in it at night before retreating to a warm bed. Sitting at the edge of Lake Champlain on a morning off was incredibly peaceful - it's quietness and stillness reminded me a little bit too much of home for my own good, I think, since I got quite nostalgic for BC.

Now, back in Manhattan, I'm trying to carry those nature moments with me but find they're already beginning to fade. I wander about Central Park sometimes, but it's not quite the same (however it does keep reminding me that I should pick up a book about Frederick Olmsted one of these days). I hope the next month back home for the Olympics will leave a more lasting feeling and recharge me more completely.

Here's a long-overdue post about the City of Brotherly Love. On driving into the city the first thing that struck me was how many old (pre-war) buildings there are in states of disrepair. Having spent most of my time recently in Manhattan and Brooklyn, it was refreshing to see a building left to its own natural life cycle as opposed to being eshrouded in an elaborate scaffold the minute it starts looking a little worse for wear. Even the renovated buildings in the downtown and Old City areas look appropriately aged, and their weathered but not unglamourous feelreally tickles the (admittedly romanticized) historian in me.

This was my first time working in Philadelphia, and being here during the ramp-up to the World Series provided me a pretty great look at the people of this city. As I'm sure everyone but me realized before coming here, there is a sports culture here in Philadelphia that borders on the religious. Be it the Phillies or the Flyers (Phlyers, surely!) there is a huge amount of pride and enthusiasm for the local teams here. It's been a long tim - since I was in the UK - that I actually encountered people who would clap me (a total stranger) on the back in the middle of the street and start a conversation about the local team's winning streak. Atmosphere in the pubs (which seem to generally be stocked with a surprising range of delicious local and regional beers) was even more congenial, and I have to say it made me feel like a local in no time flat.

Something I REALLY didn't expect coming here was that I would have the best vegan meal I've had in months. Isn't this place supposed to be the home of the Vegan Antichrist of food, the Philly Cheesesteak? My prejudices were put to shame when I found myself in a restaurant called Horizons on the evening of my birthday. Since I was celebrating, I had an appetizer, main course AND dessert, and boy was I happy about that decision! Everything about the food in this restaurant was delicious, not over-the top, and exactly on point. In addition to this great find, during my stay I discovered several other vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants that offered eveything from delicious soups from scratch to hearty and simple sandwiches.

With the weather turning chilly (and having been billetted in a house in the Old City area of Philly) I was able to observe the trees turning beautiful reds and yellows, and I was overjoyed to see an abundance of fall Maples interspersed with the ubiquitous Oaks and Ginkos of the east coast. Must be the nationalist in me that makes my heart swell when I see a perfect red maple leaf. :)

My time there was much too brief - I hope to have more chances to visit and work there so I can discover more abou this fascinating city.