Managed to have enough energy to blog for my first day.. here goes!
5th September 2007-Arrival at Philly
After a long 8 hours drive from Boston, we finally arrived at Philadelphia at 9pm. It was fun having lil chats and history lessons on world war in the car, blasting music, falling asleep haha and stopping wherever we want to take a break, eat sth..whatever. Nice, just did whatever we felt like doing along the journey :) And Daniel drove the entire time from Boston to Philadelphia.. he must be really tired. Thanks Daniel!
Yup did a lil reading in the car too and gotta know that Philadelphia is actually the "City of Brotherly Love". The name is kinda in greek, Philos "love"and adelphos "brother" and it's commonly known as Philly. This was also the place where many of the historical events originated and occurred like the American Revolution and American Independence. yup that explains the prominence and emphasis on the Independence National Historic Park in my Lonely Planet, especially the Liberty Bell Centre and Independence Hall. :)
At first we were kinda lost after getting off the car cos we couldn't find the exact building of loftstel, we were all looking out for signs or some sort of an indication of a hostel. It turned out to be one of the private houses, kinda converted into a hostel. The hostel was set up just a week before October 1 and so everything here is brand new! very cosy lil setting w nice ppl from all over the world.. met Carlos from California, Mat from France and lastly Vera, the RA, from Ukraine. The kitchen and living room on the first level, the common/tv room on the second, the bedrooms on the third and fourth, can house about 20-30 people i guess. It's 25 usd a night and with such a new and comfy environment it's definitely more than reasonable! There is also lil computer terminal that's shared by everyone.. yup that's where I am and what i'm using to blog now :)Well, this place is really cool and it's definite yes yes to people who are travelling around here in Philly! Strongly recommended!
After checking in, we had dinner/supper at Allegros where we ate pizza, drank and watched the Red Sox Vs LAA game. typical American restaurant, nice place to chill.
Well, gotta say that it's a pretty gd start for our Columbus trip today and hope things will go continue the nice way it is! Gonna sleep now, kinda tired..gd nite!
Some pictures of our first day:
While waiting for the car...
In the car
Brooklyn Bridge!
In Philly...
Haha does the bedsheet look familiar?
Dinner at Allegro Pizza
6th September 2007- DAY IN PHILLY
Our hostel
We took a bus down all the way to the 2nd street as instructed/cautioned again and again by Vera to not venture beyond 47th street. It was really funny the way she told us not to do that..."no no.. just this side, not the other side" and she would just keep her hands high up in the air, in such a manner that she seems as though she really revered 47th street and below. When we probe further, she'll just keep saying the same thing again.."no no..just this side, not the other side". Well, i guess she's trying to be tactful in saying that beyond 47th street, the neighbour or street gets kinda unsafe, like it's meant to be an unspoken fact but because of us, she was forced to say that. haha. I like Vera, really friendly and helpful.
yup so we hit right to the 2nd street in the morning and visited the places of interest around there, namely Independence Hall, Carpenter Hall (we didn't go in though), Liberty Bell Center and Independence National Historical Park. It was hilarious because we were expecting a park, like you know a park with trees, grass and benches with nice historical statues ..something BIG... but we ended up in a "park" that was indoor with aircon and exhibits. Totally not a park park. haha.
The Irish Memorial
In the museum with George Washington!
At the Independence Hall
My favourite quote from Liberty Bell
Bernd, Daniel, me & Cindy
Daniel, Adam, me & Cindy
Cindy, me, Bernd & Daniel
When we were at Philly, we noticed something in common with some of the people walking along the streets. They were all wearing sth pink. Well, there happened to be an ongoing 3-day walk to raise awareness in people about breast cancer. Majority of the participants in the groups were ladies and they were all wearing pinkie stuff. Pink shirt, shorts, cap, bags..some even had pink doll-liked necklaces and feathers on them. And random people along the streets were all cheering for them. It was really encouraging and nice of them and.. pretty interesting for us. :)
Us @ Logan Circle
Bernd and his sexy mermaid-liked pose
@ Philadelphia Museum of Art
EVENING IN ATLANTIC CITY
About an hour's drive from Philly, we arrived at Atlantic City which is otherwise known as Vegas of the Eastern America. Haha. Well, it was my first time going to a casino so I was pretty excited of course! Wahaha I did my part and donated 50 cents to the casino at one of the slot machines. A pretty unique experience and scenes in movies like Ocean's suddenly seemed real. haha. Felt exactly the same way when we passed New York especially in the tunnels and "desserted" car garage..Cindy and I would be like this is such a typical scene in a movie! Yup was also watching people play roulette..gotta admit that envy did strike me when I saw people winning piles of chips but it was also scary when they started losing. the change of luck was really fascinating. There were quite a few casinos like Taj Mahal, Caesars, Ballly's etc..I guess they are more or less the same, just that they have different themes that's all. We ended up at Taj Mahal as advised by Vera cos the parking was the cheapest of all! haha
Dinner @ Hardrock Cafe
7th September 2007- DOWN TO WASHINGTON DC
Our next destination was Washington DC and it took us about 3 hours plus to get there. we had lunch and started walking around since we didn't have much time to spare. We first visited the White House (that's for sure!) but we couldn't get inside, sadly. haha could only take pictures from outside. Also went to a few war memorials such as the South Vietnam war, Korean war and World War 2.
The White House, one of the buildings to be exact
The Treasury
South Vietnam War Memorial
@ the Reflection Pool directly Facing Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
All of us!
Korean War Memorial
World War 2 Memorial
Capitol
The Supreme Court
Dinner at the mexican restaurant was great.
Drank at Stoney's Bar at night and met James from Ohio and Ethan who's a local.
8th September 2007-BACK TO BENTLEY!
We woke up really at 5 plus and headed back to Boston at 6am. haha it was crazy. Enjoyed the time we spent in the car, all the lil stories! Quite amusing..haha coincidentally all 5 of us are attached so we started telling each other stories about our "partners".
I love the way we communicate and how things would just work out so smoothly.. Well, gotta say that I seriously seriously had a wonderful trip! Fun and memorable road trip ever :) Cindy and I walking really fast trying to catch up with the guys especially when they were hungry; Bernd working in the "press"; Cindy and Adam's window incidents/accidents; Daniel and his strip club and all the sacrifices (like no late nights out) he made cos he had to drive: and all the walk walk see see poke poke! haha yup the list goes on.. really thanks for the trip guys! :):):)
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