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There were quite a few beards and moustaches in the breakfast room this morning. Most of them got some food and disappeared. Must have had a big night celebrating or it just wasn't cool to eat in there.
We knew that the main Amish areas were around the towns of Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse and they were less than 20mins away from Lancaster. We also knew that some things wouldn't be open as it was Sunday. But, there was one farm advertising they did buggy rides on Sunday from 10am. We decided to get there early.
We drove around a bit first and spotted some buggys driving around. It is very pretty countryside - relatively flat with green fields and white houses. Everything was very neat around around the houses, gardens and fields.
We got to the Plain and Fancy Farm, there were already quite a few people there. We had planned on taking the 1hr ride through Amish farms but found there is only 1 ride available on Sundays which goes for about 25mins. Sunday is the Amish's sabbath so they don't work and tourists aren't allowed to visit their farms. All the people working today were Mennonites or Brethren.
The ride ended up being in a wagon, not a buggy. People are packed pretty tightly onto 2 bench seats. The wagon had a roof but the sides were open. I would have liked to ride up front with the driver but kids got to sit there.
The clip clop of the horses hooves sounded excellent on the road.
The driver took us onto a couple of roads that ran past Amish farms and he told us about the Amish as we went.
There are several different districts which all have slightly different rules, dress and tolerance for technology. Most Amish don't own cars but some are allowed to be driven by others. We passed a farm where a car was parked in the entrance to a field. The wagon driver told us it belonged to the son of the Amish couple. He has chosen not to be baptised into the Amish church so he is allowed to drive a car. However, his parents won't allow him to park it on the land where the house is. It is similar with phones and electricity. No lines from the outside world can be connected with the house. But, some Amish will have a phone in a barn. They use propane or generators to run fridges, heating and cooking. Many use air pressure to run things and have lots of air pipes throughout their properties. Most have modern farming equipment but it will be horsedrawn.
The men mainly wear black but we did see some wearing coloured shirts but that would have been determined by the districts they lived in. We saw some ladies in dark clothing but also some bright pink and blue. They wear a black or white apron over their dress and a cap or bonnet.
Clothes are made at home and are kept very basic which has earned the Amish the nickname of the Plain People.
Amish children are schooled in one room schools with one teacher. They are only schooled until Year 8. They speak German or Pennsylvania Dutch at home but learn English at school.
The Amish don't pose for photos because they believe having 'graven images' is against the teachings of the bible. It is disrespectful to take photos that show their faces. The children play with faceless dolls and we saw lots of these for sale in the stores.
The Amish are very religious but there are no Amish churches. They attend a service every 2nd Sunday which is held in the home of someone else in their district. Homes must be built big enough to hold about 200 people at least once a year for a service.
After driving through the little towns and stopping at stores that were open, we went looking for a covered bridge. There are lots of them around the Amish areas. We found one that was a single vehicle crossing bridge. As we got close, we could see a buggy approaching so we waited for them to cross first. It looked very cool.
After driving through the country roads we came to Paradise. A bit further on was Ronks. There was a place there called Dutch Haven. This is the home of Shoofly Pie. We had read about it but didn't know what it was. Luckily Dutch Haven gives free tastings. We tasted and it was delicious! It seemed to be an apple/cinnamon filling with a crumb crust. They had whole pies for sale but they also had it by the slice so we got a slice. The man heated it and put whipped cream on it. Yum!!!!!!
We went back up to Bird-in-Hand and followed the road through the rest of the Amish area. We passed a heap if buggys - mostly closed but a couple were open. We also saw lots of Amish people walking by or scooting. They have very cool scooters that look like bikes but have a scooter footrest instead of pedals. We also saw one man on rollerblades.
After turning back onto the main road we headed for the bright lights of Philadelphia. The hotel is right in town so after checking in we went for a walk. We went up to City Hall which is a lovely building. There is a protest going on there at the moment. There were people camping in tents, sitting around, chanting and carrying signs. I have no idea what it was all sbout.
We found there is a hop on hop off bus around Philadelphia which we will get on tomorrow. That is the best way to see as much of the town as possible and as many of the highlights.
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