Tuesday morning we left New York, but before we could, we had to squeeze in one last thing. We have to see Bloomingdales!
Fortunately it's quite close to the hotel, so it's easily walkable. We're up early, and packed, have breakfast, and taking our coffee with us, in true American style, we leave quite early.
10 minutes walk, and we're there, and we're a little too early, it doesn't open until 10 am. When the doors open, we can go in, and its really impressive. It's much brighter and cleaner than Macy's, and despite they have a British theme going on, we enjoyed our little wander through the really classy department store. Talk about 'coals to Newcastle' we came here for the American theme surely!?
Then it's back to the hotel to check out, and take the subway to Penn Station for the Amtrak back to Philadelphia.
I'm really looking forward to being back in Philly, I'm fairly confident that I know my way around the city, and I'm hoping to have a bit more time to explore.
It's why I wanted to stay over in the city so much. Center city as it's known is such a beautiful place, it's vibrant and yet really chilled out.
From 30th Street station we took the subway to 2nd st. We were staying in the Hostel International Youth hostel in Old City.
I've stayed in HI before, in DC and for a week in Chicago, and both times it's been good.
We checked in, and the receptionist was really friendly and helpful. We dragged our cases up the staircase to the female dormitory and sat down for 5 minutes. Finally arriving on the second section of our trip, we could relax a little now.
After a little unpacking and resting, we went out to explore, first wandering along to Penn's Landing, and in search of an afternoon drink. We came across a nice bar that was part of the Hyatt hotel, and sat down for a refreshing cold glass of wine.
It was nice to be able to sit and relax for a while, and enjoy the view across the river. Soon we decided it was time to find something for evening meal, as we had plans to return to the hostel for the 8pm Ghost tour!
We continued through the streets to catch a glimpse of South Street, decided to eat in a sushi restaurant a few doors down from the Hagen Dazs cafe that I remember from my first trip 10 years ago!
Time was getting on, so we paid the bill, (the check) and went back to the hostel. A quick turn around to drop off some stuff we and went downstairs to meet the guide.
It was already dark now, and there were 21 of us on this tour. The guide was informative and friendly and had some interesting ghost stories. Plus, we got a good view of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall all lit up at night. It's beautiful.
Along the tour we got talking to some of the other people staying in the hostel. That was really the point of the ghost tour, the hostel is very friendly, and keen on promoting social activities. They do a really good job. On our return to the hostel, there was a free beer for anyone who had done the tour.
I'm not really keen on beer, and I've had so much on this trip! I managed the one but we decided it was time we went back out for another drink somewhere else.
It's what I really wanted to do on this trip, travelling with a friend means that we can really appreciate the nightlife, and enjoy the real city.
With the German and Romanian guys we met on the tour, we asked the hostel for a recommendation on where was good nearby. 1 block over was the recommendation, so that's where we went. It was a bar with a wide range of beers. For me, time for a cider!
We chatted, and we danced, and returned to the youth hostel around 2.30 am!
I was worried we would be too tired to do any sightseeing the next day, but as you'll see, I needn't have worried.
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