Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rocky Steps, USA

December 2013

 I've never actually seen the movie Rocky, but the Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art was on every must do list of Philadelphia as well.

I think part of the attraction is that they are located at the Philadelphia Museum of Art which is an attraction in its own right both inside and out (we didn't get a chance to go in).

Its also located a close distance to Boathouse Row, which was no surprisingly quiet this time of year.

We managed to get a shot of the Boathouses lit up on our train trip home.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, USA

December 2013

On everyone's must do list for Philadelphia is a trip to Independence Hall.

They run 30 minute tours from 9 am every day. These tours are free, but you can book online for a $1.50 booking fee per person, which is a great option if your tight on time and travelling during a busy peak.

You can walk around the grounds without a ticket, but you will still need to clear customs.

The tour takes you into three rooms in the Independence Hall, with a bit of the history of the building and the events that occurred there (the Declaration of Interdependence being one). The commentary seemed far and balanced with a lot of talk about the founding fathers feeling that it was good but not perfect (we found a great quote in DC to match this).

If you can't get tickets the buildings are worth the trip through security.

The Liberty Bell is conveniently located next door and can be viewed inside (you don't need a ticket but there can be a bit of a line) or as we did through the glass.

Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, USA

December 2013

I wasn't expecting much with the Reading Terminal Markets. It was on everyone's must see list when in Philadelphia and had been recommended by a number of people but it was just another market right? Wrong.

The Reading Terminal Markets has a large selection of food, from take home vegetables to must eat right now cheese steak. I wished I had planned my eating better so I could have sampled some of these tasty pickles.

Instead we first went to try the traditional Philadelphia Cheese steak, with wiz (I am assured that this is the traditional form).

After that we stumbled across these hand rolled doughnuts, which were light and delicious.

Philadelphia, USA

December 2013

We caught an early morning train to Philadelphia for a day trip from NYC. It was a quick trip (1 hr 20 min) and easier than trying to navigate the road. I was surprised how compact the city area was, we walked all day (initially we had thought about using the metro) and while it was cold (about 32F or 0C) it wasn't raining.

Eat
Reading Terminal Markets
I could have spent all day eating here, but we only managed to try the Philly Cheese steak with wiz and some fabulous hand rolled doughnuts

We had meant to try Campo's but after the early morning start and all the good food at the market we never made it

Do
Independence Hall, we were able to reserve our free tickets online for a $1.50 booking fee, this worked out except for the fact you still had to collect your tickets at the visitors center!

Liberty Bell, can be viewed inside or outside the museum that is independent of Independence Hall

Walk from Independence Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Boathouse Row, you can get some cool pictures at night (our are from the train)

City Hall
We missed out on tickets to the observation tower (I couldn't find anywhere to book online) and I'm still disappointed

Special call out to The Red Headed Traveler for all her cool tips