Independence, Betsy Ross, reading terminal and the art museum
So after last night, I was worried that we wouldn't get everything done that I wanted us to see. We woke up late, and I went out to get us some breakfast. I went to the end of the street and walked 1 block and found a coffee shop. The coffee was good, and so were the bagels. Plain bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, well we are in Philadelphia!
When I got back to the hostel, Cath was nearly ready, so we went out to get our tickets for Independence Hall. We had a quick look in the shop, and then went across to see the Liberty Bell. The hostel is only 3 blocks from Independence Hall, it's a great location in Old City.
The tour we had of Independence Hall was my 5th, and I still enjoyed it.
The woman who gave it was really interesting and informative.
Next we needed lunch, so we went to The Bourse, which I've just recently realised is a place we went on my first trip. We had some fast food Chinese that time, and this time we had fast food Mexican. We had a look around the tacky gift shops, and got some postcards, and then it was a walk up to Betsy Ross House, to see where the lady who sewed the first American Flag lived. After that we carried on walking towards Elfreth's Alley, the oldest, continuously occupied street in America.
We both took some great pictures and then decided we were so tired from all the walking that we needed to get the subway to get to our next destination.
Reading Terminal Market is a fantastic food market, there are places to eat serving all kinds of food from Cheesesteaks to breakfast. There are fish counters, and a whole counter entirely devoted to Jerky, of all different flavours!
We stopped for a drink, it was almost 5pm, and then we were on the next stage of our walking tour. From here we walked up through Chinatown, to JFK Plaza to see the statue, and again we caught the evening light absolutely perfectly.
We got some really lovely pictures again, and then walked all the way down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, to the Art Museum. Walking up the Rocky steps, following all the runners, running up and down, and turning back to look over my shoulder to see the view rising up behind me.
It's one of the many things I love about Philadelphia, its skyline is as beautiful and impressive as some of the more famous and recognisable skylines. It's skyscrapers are as interesting as New York or Chicago, although Chicago is definitely my favourite!
We caught the evening light across the city, and had to move fast, the Art Museum was only open for another hour or so.
I've made it this far, it's the second time I've got as far as those steps. We had to be effective with our time. It's the Impressionists that I wanted to see, Van Gogh's Sunflowers. And of course some Monet, which I love.
We enjoyed the small section that we saw, grabbed a cup of tea and a snack, and went outside to catch a bus back to Old City.
We returned to the hostel, via another sushi restaurant, and had a fairly tame, quiet evening. In bed by lights out!
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