I love the city of Philadelphia. Over the past 30 years of living here, I have watched the renaissance that has made this city one of the best in the country.  Each of the distinct neighborhoods embody a personality that is uniquely its own and each of them have so much worth visiting.  At Christmas time, we take a trek to experience the lights, discovering new surprises every year.  Love park has Christmas Village with little artisan shops and the huge tree behind the iconic LOVE sculpture.  Rittenhouse square is elegantly dotted with a myriad of white, glimmering lights.  We love to sit in a coveted window seat at Parc Bistro, overlooking the square and indulging in the truffle frites.  And then there is South Philadelphia.  We happened upon the Christmas magic years ago when our daughter Talia was studying opera at the Little Lyric Opera House. Every year since, Talia has excitedly planned  the evening of exploration and together we take in the joy these neighbors gifted to us.  Entire streets participate, stringing lights from house to house, creating canopies, creating the North Pole, making people smile.  I exuberantly thanked  one gentleman responsible for the installations.  He told me that all of the intense work is worth it because he loves to see people enjoying it so much.  The night I took these photos, there were little kids who could hardly contain themselves, their eyes reflecting back the rainbow of colors.  I have done my best to photograph some of what we see,  but I am not a professional photographer, and even if I was, there is nothing like seeing the lights in person.  Some of the best are on the 2700 block of Smedley, Colorado and Bancroft.  13th street is amazing as well.  They have titled it, The Miracle on 13th Street. I am so grateful to all of  the people who take the time and put in the effort to create the beauty in which we can all share. Happy Holidays Philadelphia.
