Philadelphia!!!

Going into this trip most of us were not very familiar with Philadelphia but had heard it wasn't too safe and kind of dirty. Right away we noticed we were totally wrong! We started off the day by visiting Reading Terminal, an open air market in an old terminal. All of the stores and restaurants were local to Philadelphia which was really nice. There were so many options it was hard to pick what to eat, so we ended up eating a lot. Between our group we had Italian hoagies, Greek food, ice cream, cookies, and of course a Philly cheesesteak...the areas most famous food. 

Next we went to the constitution center where we saw a show called "freedom rising" about the founding fathers of America. It was an interesting show where they used pictures and an actor to tell the story of how America began. The museum was really interesting and very interactive. We could cast votes, take an oath of office on film, decide what laws should be passed and much more. The end of the exhibit had a room full of bronze statues of famous early Americans that you could take pictures with. 

After that we met up with a guide, Chris, for a walking tour of Philadelphia. He was very funny and knew everything about the city, he was an awesome guide! He took us first to the liberty bell, which is a very important part of American history...mainly because of the crack down its side. Next we walked to Ben Franklin's house and leaned all about his life. It was amazing how no matter where you were there was always something historic nearby, we really felt like we were seeing history. Then we got back on the bus and drove down a street modeled after the champs élysées in Paris. The street ended at the art museum which is even more famous for being in the Rocky movies. We all started in a line at the bottom and we raced to the top like he did in the movie, it was awesome! It was the nicest weather we had seen on the trip and we got to see the sun set over the skyline. 

Then we drove to the restaurant we were having dinner at, Bridget Foy's. on the way to the restaurant we got to see so many cool mosaics and murals from the bus. We all wanted to stop and see them up close but we had to get to dinner. The food was really good, most of us got Philly cheesesteaks. Overall Philadelphia surprised us and we really loved it! We definitely want to come back to the city of brotherly love!!

Caroline--Germany 

Victor--Brazil

Jemima--Switzerland 

Carl--Germany