Philly on Foot: And we wonder why we're tired

After falling asleep at 3:30 this morning, Shannon and I awoke to an overcast (but less rainy) morning to head into the lovely city of Philadelphia. We got our things together, and wandered the campus looking for an open coffee shop, which we desperately needed, but failed. I guess some colleges don't wake up til 11.

So we wandered over to the train stop, where we waited half an hour for the train to arrive (we seem to be doing a lot of this.) Once the train came, we hopped on and paid the 10 dollars for the day. We got off at the Market Street stop and walked to the Old City but first we had to stop at Dunkin Donuts. That coffe tasted like heaven.

We got into the Liberty Bell exhibit first, which was quick, so we took our photo and left. We then headed to Independence Hall, where we saw a few old copies of important American documents, then left because in order to get into Independence Hall you had to pay for a tour, which sounded unappealing to both of us. Instead we headed back towards the Market St. Station with every intention of going to get Philly Cheesesteaks, but took a detour towards the City Hall to see the famous 'LOVE,' sculpture.

What we diodn't realize was that there was a St. Patrick's Day Parade going on, and so we got a treat and got to watch that unfold.

St. Patrick's Day really is an odd holiday. The parade was great, lots of step dancers, and Irish clubs and bagpipes (which I thought were only Scottish). Oh, and not to mention the drunk people. City Hall was filled with shouting, obnoxious drunks all dressed in green. I can't even count the number of people who we saw peeing in public on both hands. But it was still entertaining to say the least.

We then headed over to South St. for Philly Cheesesteaks. It took us a good hour to find the freaking place, and according to Shannon there were better options in the area. But this place was famous, so we can't complain too much. The sandwich was great nontheless, and on our way back we saw this place called 'the magic garden,' which was a maze of tile pieces and recycled glass bottles and trash objects set in a colorful and beautiful atmosphere. I took photos, and we kept walking.

We had a little trouble with trains after this, and ended up going in the wrong direction of the anthropolgy museum, and had to postpone that visit for another day. Instead, we took the train to 30th station and then walked 20 minutes to the Philadelphia Museum of art, where we only had half an hour before we walked back to the station.

But I'm not complaining. I had a great day seeing the city and absolutely fell in love with it, and I got to spend time with my sister, which was great!

We're heading back to Villanova now, where we will eat and then probably pass out from sheer exaustion, but it was well worth it. Overall, I would call today a success.