Today we explored the Italian Market of Philadelphia. We started by visiting different murals in the neighborhood. The murals were by the famous artist Isaiah Zagar. His murals are very distinct because he utilizes common materials like old bottles, broken figures, and mirrors. One of the pieces of his that we visited was the piece in the backyard of his house. Afterward, we visited murals by Meg Saligman at her studio, which included a large lifelike eyeball and an eagle with Tom Brady in its claws. We enjoyed the Eagles tribute mural because it shows that the mural was recent, which increased our interest.
We toured the Italian Market and visited countless cheese shops, bakeries, and delis. Our tour guide did an excellent job of explaining to us how each of the shops was decades old and how they were passed down generation to generation. One example is Di Bruno’s cheese shop; it started with a man importing Swiss cheese back before that was something common, and that evolved into a business that has opened multiple shops dedicated to selling unique cheeses. Something we noticed about each story about the shops was how they started with hard work and a dream. One meat shop we saw started with the owner having to go to the airport every morning before the store opened to pick up the different imported meats like alligator, yak, and kangaroo. The tour was very interesting, enjoyable, and in depth. We finished the tour at Pat’s Steaks, eating the original and best cheesesteaks.
