The Rocky road to Philly

The following morning we got up early for our complimentary breakfast, before heading into the city. The Travellodge was located close to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so we went there first and ran up the steps leading up to museum, as they are the same steps featured in the Rocky films. We weren't the only ones racing up them! We then had our photo taken by his statue.

ROCKY STEPS

ROCKY FOOTPRINT

VIEW OF PHILADELPHIA FROM THE TOP OF THE STEPS

ME AND SARAH BESIDE THE ROCKY STATUE

An hour and two very sweaty girls later, we walked into the city centre. The weather seemed even hotter than it was in Washington.
We went to the Liberty Bell Museum, as it is now recognised as an international icon of freedom. The museum allows visitors to learn more about its origin and history. It was interesting and certainly worth a visit.

LIBERTY BELL

We then moved on to Independence Hall and the Declaration House, where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Our final stop for the day was Benjamin Franklin's house which was pretty cool. We had also planned to go to Betsy Ross' house, as she is the woman who apparently sewed the first ever American flag, but we were told it was all a lie so we didn't bother!

INDEPENDENCE HALL

DECLARATION HOUSE

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S HOUSE

We had worked up quite an appetite by this time so we found a lovely Italian restaurant, where we shared a pizza and salad. Having already been in America for a good couple of months, we soon realised that sharing meals was definitely the way forward. The portions are huge and we often found ourselves only being able to eat half of what we had ordered! After dinner, we found a liquor store and bought a bottle of wine, before heading back for a quiet night in, in front of the TV.

August 6th:

Having finished all our sight-seeing yesterday, we had planned to spend the day sunbathing at a local park we had come across. Unfortunately, we woke up to rain and thunderstorms, and we found ourselves with very little to do. We wandered into the city, before walking for miles to the nearest cinema, only to find we had just missed the showing. We walked for miles again back into the city and luckily found this great Mexican bar advertising $5 margarita's..... We didn't have to think twice! It actually turned out that we got 4 glasses each for just $5 each, and even though we were both desperately trying to save as much money as possible for New York, we couldn't turn down this excellent offer! So a couple of hours and 8 Margarita's later, we left the bar feeling slightly tipsy!

We walked a few more miles to get a Philly Cheese steak from Pat's; a restaurant regarded as the best in America for Philly Cheese Steaks. The sandwiches also originated from Pat's so we expected them to be delicious, but unfortunately we were disappointed. It is more of a fast food takeaway place as opposed to a restaurant, and because they are always so busy I think maybe they rush them a little bit. The steak wasn't great at all. There are definitely much nicer steak houses in America.

The following day was our last day in Philadelphia, and the sun was out again so we went to Fairmount Park for a day of sunbathing, which is just behind the Museum of Art. Sarah had a hair appointment in the morning, so I went down to the park on my own. For some reason, this man who must've been about 55, thought it acceptable to come and sunbathe with me and invite me round to his apartment. I felt pretty disgusted so I put my ipod on ad ignored him hoping he would get the message. Unfortunately, he didn't for a while, and as Sarah wasn't due back for a few hours, it made for a pretty uncomfortable morning. He eventually left and I moved to a different part of the park as he said he might come back! Other than that, Sarah and I spent a lovely afternoon topping up our tans and resting our tired feet before spending our last two weeks in New York City!