It’s been so long since I’ve posted on the site about my travel adventures. Ever since I moved to Pennsylvania, things have been pretty hectic. My first few months have been in inpatient, ICU and inpatient again, so there’s barely been any time to do much.
I did a short, day long tour of Philadelphia. This time instead of doing a walking tour which is my usual preference, I did the bus tour. Especially since my mum was with me and it would be hard to walk for over 2 hours.
Hop on -hop off
This was an on the spur of the moment thing. The prior night I booked two tickets and the next morning we took the train to get here. The starting point of our tour.
Tree names
When William Penn, brought the Quakers to found the province of Pennsylvania, they were largely uneducated and most streets were named after trees. The native Indians who lived on the land also knew the streets by tree names and so many streets are named after trees.
As you go through the downtown area, you also find there are many extensive building facades covered in graffiti.
Reading Terminal Market & Hard Rock Cafe
For lunch we stopped at the Reading Terminal market. There’s something for everyone here. Like one of the typical European markets, you can get a lot of food. My mum settled for some Indian food and I got a burger and fries. The only issue with this place is the limited seating especially at lunch time. There’s a mad rush for seats and it can be a frustrating wait if you want to sit down and eat. The Hard Rock cafe is just few yards away for those keen on trying something new.
Independence Hall
Independence hall is considered the place where the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution was created and accepted by America’s Founding Fathers. If you’re a history buff, then this could interest you. I wasn’t keen on going inside and visiting, but these civic buildings are a big part of Philadelphia’s history.
Friendship Gate & Chinatown
This is a colorful, 40-foot Chinatown Friendship Gate created by artist Sabrina Soong. Basically, it marks the entrance to Philadelphia’s Chinatown area. You can find a pan-South East Asian influence here, from stores to restaurants.
Rocky Steps
To be honest, I’ve never seen the Rocky movie. I didn’t know this was a thing, until my colleagues at work explained to me about it. To me the steps are the entrance to the Museum of Art. The day we went, there was beautiful artwork done on the stairs. It looked magnificent from afar.
National Constitution Center
The 160000-square-foot National Constitution Center explores and explains the Constitution of the USA without having the original document for display.
Betsy Ross
This home is immortalized as the home of the seamstress who first stitched the American flag.
Theatre
There are a lot of theatres here for people interested. We were keen on doing a show and the only thing playing was the Lion King for the matinee show. Hopefully, we can watch a musical in the next few months.
Downtown
Philadelphia is a mix of modern and old architecture. There’s really nothing wow but it does have a nice busy vibe to it. We didn’t really go all that far. The frigate, the river front, Art Houses, Thinker statue and Logan circle are just a few of the places we stopped at. The neighborhood around the UPenn area is very artsy and clean. I’ll just leave you with a few of my shots from here and there.
Visiting Philadelphia
I think in general, you need a car in Pennsylvania. I rode the trains without an issue but lots of people have warned me about using the bus too early or too late. In general, during the summer months, the streets were fairly busy but there were a lot of weird people. My mother who is not used to this, kind of freaked out. We’re aiming to visit the planetarium, science museum and hopefully attend a musical but with my schedule during intern year, I’m not sure if it will materialize. Enjoy a few more pictures from Philly.
