Photos of USA '06

italian market festival @ 9th street

went on to the italian market to try out cheesesteaks but found an italian festival going on. thus decided to go ahead and see what happened. anyways there was just such a long line at the place where i wanted to eat the cheesesteaks that i decided to put off that itenary for another day. can't say that i have regretted that decision though. this is my longest post so far so sit back and enjoy.

the banner that is hung from the electric poles. many of these located at specific intervals to remind you that you were still in the festival boundary. i guess the reason for this is because the italian market is not as big as this festival.

see how crowded it is? and this was close to 2pm when the festival ends at 5pm.

actually its not as crowded as the photo above. that was what i thought when i took this photo. boy was i wrong after walking a couple of minutes down the road.

they had a coupld of this make-shift concert stands where bands performed songs. they sure were good and people were grooving to it. will try to upload at another time to show you what i mean.

Another band performing songs as well. this one was performing more of a country rock style compared to the one above performing pop music. both were catchy. both were good.

and this is the main attraction of festival (to me at least). food glorious food. tried to take as many photos as i could but not when i was eating coz of the messy hands. nonetheless i think the photos i got would show you how good the food are. by the way, if you happen to drop by an italian market, make sure to taste their pizza. no one makes better pizza than the italians. oh yeah!!

see the large crowd? this is because we're at one of the many food sections of the festival. funny that these places had the most crowds at any time.

a shop selling cigar. was thinking of getting one to pose a la godfather but thought twice about it. anyone wants a cigar as a souveneir?

and these cigars were not factory-made but hand made as you can see above. the guy was kinda shy when i pointed the camera on him and tried to get a video of him making one so my apologies for the lack of it. but it sure was interesting to see him make one.

more food. seems that the italians are not just famous for their pasta and pizza but for their pastries as well. all beginning with Ps. coincidence?

one of stalls with their food deco on it. pineapple with sausages as big as... erm.... sausages? i think they're at least 8 inches long.

another sight at the festival. beautiful potted plants. another P. i'm starting to see a trend here on italian speciality.

some pictures of the plants for sale.

some of the potted flowers.

even herb plants are for sale here. with summer around the corner, it's a good time as ever to buy plants for your garden.

looking familiar? these are what the american indians call dreamcatcher. they believe that these dreamcatchers catch your nightmare so that you will only have dreams in your sleep. anyone wants one of these as well?

this shop was giving out free coffee. surprisingly for a place giving out free coffee, it was not as crowded as those places selling pizza and pasta at USD5 a bowl or USD2 a slice. just goes to show how good those pasta and pizza there. i agree. anyone wanna concur?

finally leaving the festival around 4pm. the crowds have also started to thin by this time. oh well cheesesteak, looks like i will have to meet you another day.

posted by Tariq @ 9:24 AM