Visiting Philadelphia

Thanks to Martin Luther King we had a day off at school yesterday. He had a dream. Us too. So we used this long weekend to visit the birthplace of the American Constitution. Yes, we went to Philadelphia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia.

On the way

Philadelphia is an about 2 hours drive from us or as I lately saw in a brochure, 1h20 minutes with a train from NYC. It's the fifth-most-populous city in the United States with the population of about 1.500.000. In addition to what I mentioned above, Philadelphia is known for many things: it was once a temporary capital of the US during the time when Washington D.C. was under construction; concerning gross domestic product it ranks 9th place in the world and 4th in the country, and is also famous for its art and culture as well as their cheesesteak and soft pretzels.

We left in the morning, arrived at noon, checked in at the hotel, ate a little and went to our goal destination, Barnes Foundation http://www.barnesfoundation.org.

Barnes Foundation is an awesome art gallery, with an overwhelming collection of impressionist and modernist artists. Our friends visited this museum twice and highly recommended it to us. It's really very impressive and we enjoyed the tour very much. But keep in mind: you have to book tickets in advance, because these are tickets by time. You get your time entry. Ours was 4 pm and it's a little tight, cause the museum closes at 6 pm. But I'm thinking to go over there once more with my husband by train, just for one day.

Everybody is looking different after seeing so much art...

After the museum we got a dinner; nice and delicious. And later in the evening Igor and I went for drinks.

The next day started with a breakfast at a hotel, which was a disaster. Not enough plates and cutleries, disgusting food etc. But what can we do? Take it easy! We took a taxi and drove to the historical city. I wanted to visit the Antique Row to do some shopping for our home, but due to the holiday everything was closed. Nevertheless we enjoyed the nice things we saw.

A smart way to storage and display

I have a weakness to yellow homes...

See a sign on the steps? A slip of the foot you may soon recover,
but a slip on the tongue you may never get over. That's true.

It was a cold day, so visiting the Independence Hall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Hall with a guide was a good occasion to have a small break, get some warmth and learn a little bit of history.

A room where a Declaration of Independence and Constituton
were drafted and signed

After all of the walking and seeing we were ready for a lunch. And we got a very good one at Amada. http://www.amadarestaurant.com (thanks to yelp!). Believe it or not, but we got a full menu with one of choice appetizer, two main courses and dessert for 20$ per person. Is it not great? And they counted J. and F. as one person. It took us 106$ for a dinner for 5 persons, wine included. Yahoo! And it was extremely delicious!

I have some more pics for you, to get a spirit.

One funny place. Mamas and kids are doing some yoga together

Another funny name

Library

A skyscraper. They have some more.

The city is full of different street signs and monuments.
And this one always lets our hearts bit higher.

We enjoyed the trip. And you? Got a wanderlust?