I used to believe that the hottest place I had ever been was located half a world away in the jungles of South-East Asia, or maybe a certain Middle-Eastern country with nothing going for it but sand and lots of oil.  But I don’t believe
that anymore.  As if trying to prove that one doesn’t need to go very far away to experience extremes, the weather gods saw fit to turn up the heat control to 11 as we visited Philadelphia for the weekend of 7 and 8 June.

Being the intrepid types, Kathleen and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and spend a little time visiting my exceedingly long-time friend and fellow ex-pat Canuck, Dr. Jon Druhan who resides near Philly, and also attend the Italian Car Show at Head House Square in support of ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer’ on Sunday, 8 June.  We knew that the weather was going to be warm, but nothing could have prepared us for the humidity-laced heat we encountered that weekend!

We left Timonium in our Milano Verde - appropriately named Trogdor the Burninator, and without working A/C at the time - and headed up the back roads towards Philly mid-afternoon on Saturday…windows down and sunroof opened. Stopping first at Russ Baer’s hilltop home, we visited for a while and viewed
his daughter Jenn’s beautiful paintings at her garden party and art sale. Eagerly consuming a couple of refreshingly cold drinks from our gracious hosts, we continued on our way through the pretty and fragrant countryside towards Philadelphia.  What a beautiful drive!  Should you ever have a need to head
North towards the City of Brotherly Love, please consider using Route 1 instead of I-95.  Believe us, you won’t be sorry…and it may not even take any more time.

Arriving just in time for a quick change, Kathleen, Jon and I dined at a nice little Italian Bistro in newly-reborn Havertown, PA.  Lingering for a while over some fine Pinot Noir and a Doppio Espresso, we returned to Jon’s
lovely historic home to spend several hours recounting stories of our mis-spent youth and discussing the talents of various guitar Sensei.  Having first met in the Fifth Grade, Jon recounted to Kathleen how he and I had planned to travel to Los Angeles on our ‘choppers’; where he would be a Brain Surgeon and I, a Clinical
Psychologist.  Our lives and plans changed slightly from those pre-teen dreams, but we are both still very much the same characters we always were.

Rising to a real ’scorcher’ the next morning, we set off towards downtown Philadelphia to participate in the Delaware Valley AROC sponsored Italian Car Show at historic Head House Square.  Now, perhaps it was the heat (what am I saying!? Of course it was the heat!!!), but the turnout was pretty small for this major event.  Nevertheless, some gorgeous cars owned and driven by true Alfisti, Tifosi, Lancisti and whatever you call FIAT lovers made it out to bake their cars and bodies in the noon-day sun.  Additionally, and I have no idea
what you call fans of the Pinin-Farina bodied Cadillac Allantes, but whatever they are called, there were lots of them at the show!

Fortunately, cobblestones don’t melt and are not quite as hot on the shoes as asphalt and - if you stayed in the shade of the Head House Square Farmer’s Market buildings - there was a slight breeze blowing which made being outdoors just tolerable enough for a few minutes in the blast furnace before
ducking into one of the several ale-houses for a quick dose of A/C and a beverage.  Taking
advantage of a cool spot, we had a great brunch at a bar and restaurant called Jon’s, located in the building where Larry Fine - of Three Stooges fame - was born and raised.

Back in the sun-baked square, the small line-up of cars was very impressive! There, we found a rich and diverse array of Italian machinery upon which to feast our eyes.  Some of the rare vehicles included an Alfa Giulietta SZ, an early and unmolested Pantera, a FIAT 850 ‘Bertone’ Coupe, a beautifully maintained FIAT 128 wagon, a very rare, original and un-restored Vignale-bodied Lancia Appia Convertible, a Lamborghini Espada and a bevy of other beautiful Italian ‘macchine’.  The show’s overall winner was an immaculate, blue Lancia
Beta Coupe, which looked as if it was just driven off the showroom floor…hmmmm, seeing as it was a Lancia Beta, maybe it was towed off that showroom floor…but I digress.

The show was cut short because of the heat, and by about 2:45PM, everyone was getting into their cars and headed back to cooler conditions.  Kathleen and I bid my old friend adieu and scurried back to our air-conditioned home via the same twisty and undulating back roads.

Arriving home in time for sunset, we showered, changed and collapsed on the couch under our ceiling fan.  I’m pretty sure I have recovered from my heat-stroke by now, and I had the A/C belt put back on our Verde in short order right after we got home, but I now know that myth about fire and brimstone is real…and it’s in Philly!

- Alex Csank