Here is the Apples and the Oranges and Plums….

The Italian Market in Philadelphia is my favorite place to go shopping. Even though it is completely outdoors, the deals are fantastic, and it’s just a fun place to go. Once a week I make the 20 minute walk from my house to 9th and Washington Streets to shop for my fruits, vegetables, fish and meats . Most of the produce comes from local farms, so it’s fresh and ready to use, so there’s no waiting period for the bananas to ripen, for example. The street itself runs for several blocks, from around 9th and Wharton Streets up to 9th and Fitzwater. The brightly colored awnings and street-side produce bins highlight the appearance of this market.

There are several fruit and vegetable stands in the Market, several butchers, a couple of fresh fish stops, and some restaurants. There are a couple of cheese places (DiBruno’s being the best), a pastry shop, and a bakery. The bakery, Sarcone’s, also has a deli that makes the best hoagies in the city. You can also find an herb store, a flower shop, and a coffee shop or two.

The Italian Market is great because you can find pretty much any kind of fruit or vegetable you are looking for. The diverse cultures in Philadelphia make it a necessity for the produce dealers to have wide and varied selection of the planet’s finest fruits and vegetables.

People fill the Italian Market six days a week (Monday is the day off most of the shops observe), and when the weather is nice, it is full of people, both residents of the city, and non-residents who make it a point to stop by if they’re in the city.

Those of you who have seen the original Rocky movie will remember the montage of him in training, and he runs through the Italian Market, waving hello to the different sellers, and having an apple tossed to him by one of them. It’s a scene most people remember. As a matter of fact, as Sly Stallone gets ready to drop the latest Rocky movie on an indifferent public, he made sure to include another Italian Market visit (and run up the Art Museum steps, of course) within the movie. Yeah, can you believe it? ANOTHER Rocky movie….Rocky VI. I think he fights tooth decay in this new one.

But, the Italian Market is a bustling, and very important part of Philadelphia’s history, having opened some time in the late 18th Century. If you ever come to Philly, you’ll just want to check this place out, to say “I’ve been there”, especially if you ever watch Rocky with your friends, you can point out that “I’ve stood right there on that corner!”

What’s better than that?

Note: I had some pics of the Italian Market I took this past weekend to share with you via this post, but blogger would not upload the pics, despite giving the me the "successfully loaded pictures" message when I was trying to do it. Is this a normal problem for blogger....not uploading pictures?