Even when most of that time is spent in the historic district or a hotel, it's enough to get an eyeful. "Summer is when you see the most homeless and there are more people around to see them," Levitz says. Usually, tourists react in one of two ways. "You may not be upset about it or it's a very strong turnoff."
The Raos were unfazed. Compared with India, they saw little poverty, said R.S., a 65-year-old retired factory manager. Small, distinguished, white-haired and white-sneakered, he said, "The city is well-planned and very orderly. Drivers obey the traffic directions."
While all around them, people were turning into steaming puddles of damp T-shirts and molten flip-flops, the Raos were quite comfortable. "For them," explained their translator, "it's not very hot."
"I don't know how you guys handle the heat," said Brenda Northrup, of Wenatchee, Wash., as she and her family took refuge in Reading Terminal.
You might recall (of course you do) that in the era of powdered wigs, British empiricists theorized about perceptions of reality. How it's difficult, perhaps impossible, to prove the truth of any one viewpoint.
For example, dip your right hand in ice water, your left in hot water, then after a few minutes, plunk them both into tepid water. What will happen is you will simultaneously perceive the tepid water to be both warm and cool.
The point is that everything's relative.
To wit: While New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thought Philadelphia was a pigsty, the Northrups found it clean.
(That, alone, almost makes the tuition spent on Philosophy 101 not only worthwhile, but relevant.)
Regarding the city's grooming, Horst Heitmann, a representative of the German air force, has been of both minds. On this, his third trip to the city, he wanted to show his friend Ulla Eisenmenger "the beauty side of Philadelphia."
"Last year, I was driving up the Route One and it was not so beautiful. I closed the windows and locked the door," he said, then softened the criticism. "But you can find these kinds of places everywhere."
He likes the food here well enough.
"But I prefer German schnitzel."
Helen and Brooks Bailey, retired print-shop owners from Gainesville, Fla., took their 13-year-old grandson, Cortland, to see the essential Philadelphia.
They missed the proselytizers across from City Hall, the jaded art students smoking cigarettes on Chestnut Street, and the existentialist scene on 12th where someone had left a copy of the "Queer in Philly" guide, along with a banana peel and a pair of neatly folded pants on a café table.
Nearby, a demented guy in a hard hat was venting to a patient young man with a backpack.
"Thanks for listening," the guy said. "I just had to get that off my chest."
"Sure," said the young man. "Take care of yourself."
That aspect of the city would pass unnoticed as the Baileys and their grandson made their appointed rounds.
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