Warm weather on Christmas Day brought many outdoors in Center City

Many were tourists, including some in the City of Brotherly Love for the first time.

Sunday, December 26, 2021
Warm weather on Christmas Day brought many outdoors
While it looked like Christmas outside with all the decorations, it didn't feel like it with the warmer weather.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- While it looked like Christmas outside with all the decorations, it didn't feel like it with the warmer weather.

"The whole goal was to go to the Rocky Statue, so I got my ice cream and got my picture with Rocky," said Iona Moguel visiting from Merritt Island, Florida.

Christmas Day in Philadelphia brought a line outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art to get ice cream. Many took advantage of the mild temperatures by getting out.

"We thought we weren't going to have many people around here. We thought we were going to be by ourselves, but as you can see, it's quite a turnout," said John Erickson, from Northeast Philadelphia.

Many were tourists, including some in the City of Brotherly Love for the first time.

"I think it's like the best city, and we're excited to be here and just see Philly," said Gustavo Valani from Brazil.

Others said if they had to spend the holiday away from family, at least they got to do some sightseeing on their jog.

"When the sun is shining, it's not that bad to be without the family," said Raymond Jacobs, visiting from the Netherlands.

When the sun came down, so did the rain. Some people took cover by seeing a movie.

"We're here to see Spider-Man, one of our favorite movies," said Jaray Omeil from Willingboro, New Jersey.

Some families stopped by the Philadelphia Film Center as part of a Christmas tradition they try to keep going.

"Last year we couldn't, because of COVID, so this year we kind of picked that back up," said Terry Xu from Center City.

Others came as a last-minute idea.

"The rest of our family has COVID, so we don't, so they delivered the meals to us, and we had dinner at my apartment, and then the rest of the day was empty, so we decided to go see Spider-Man," said Makaela Somma from Washington Square West.

And some came back to see the new Spider-Man movie for a second time.

"Because of COVID, people didn't have a chance to go to the movies. So I feel like right now-- if I have a chance to go to the movies, I'll go more than one time," said Can Dalli from Richmond, Virginia.