Philadelphia Freedom (February 2015)

In February we spent a short weekend in Philadelphia. We took the Amtrak from Penn Station and rolled into Philly just over an hour later.

First up, Independence Hall and the famous cracked Liberty Bell.

Independence Hall is where both the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were adopted.

The chair at the top table is the original Rising Sun Armchair from 1776. George Washington used this chair for nearly three months of the Federal Convention's continuous sessions. James Madison reported Benjamin Franklin saying, "I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I know that it is a rising sun."

Representatives, one from each state, sat at the surrounding tables.

Reading Terminal Market is a large covered market with dozens of food stalls.

Being in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) communities ran a number of stalls. One of them churned out freshly fried doughnuts that we had to try.

Their blueberry fritter was amazing...

...so too was their maple-bacon cream doughnut.

Apart from just sightseeing around Philadelphia, part of the reason we were visiting was to see James and Luisa, and their new baby Julianna.

About a foot of snow came down in the few hours we were James's parents' house! Everything was white when we left.

Back in the city, we trudged through some very pretty spots on the way to dinner.

Our destination was City Tavern. The original building dates back to 1773 however it was destroyed by fire and subsequently demolished in 1854. Today's building is a replica built in 1976. The restaurant stays true to many original recipes served in period dining rooms.

In particular many ales are produced to recipes including those from Benjamin Franklin (6th President) and Thomas Jefferson (3rd President).

A lot of architecture in the city is Greek-revival. Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. It was the first truly national style in the United States, found in all regions of the country. The popularity of the style was due to strong associations with classical tradition and democracy, and because it was perceived as free from ecclesiastical and aristocratic associations.

The next morning we caught a cab to the Italian market, south of the city.

You might recognise this street...

A slice of Philly's famous tomato pie for brunch.

This place caught our eye, too.

Looks a bit of a mess, but this tripe sandwich with fresh tomato and onion was pretty tasty. Tripe sandwiches are a traditional dish in parts of Italy since it is a cheap meat.

The area is famous for it's two Philly cheesesteak restaurants, literally opposite each other.

We chose Pat's this time as it is the original and we were too full to have one from each place!

You need to know the language, as if you waste their time on a busy day they apparently send you to the back of the queue.

We ordered a sandwich 'whiz wit'. 'Whiz' stands for 'Cheez Whiz'....the processed American cheese sauce that is traditionally put on cheesesteaks. 'Wit' means 'with', as in 'with onions'.

Walking back towards the city we found some nice residential streets.

City Hall sits in the centre of town.

On our final afternoon we visited the Rocky steps, which lead up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum was good and had an impressive Kano exhibit on.

It had to be done.

In case any non-Rocky fans don't get that reference...