East Coast Trip 2012 part 2

I am a city girl. Concrete, buildings, traffic and neon lights are no stranger to me. But despite of my love for the metropolitan life, my ancestors come from the beach, rice terraces and the jungle and because of that, I also love nature, outdoors and the quiet life.

What I love about this trip is the fact that I got to see parts of the country that I would never thought of seeing. B's parents live in a rural part of Pennsylvania. Now when you say the word "rural" to a city girl like me, I think of just farms, neighbors living about a mile from each other and animals. Well, in a sense, that is what it is but a bit different. His parents live in a beautiful house surrounded by green green grass. No fences. Neighbors are walking distance and in front of the house you see the woods- tall trees sweeping the sky. Other than silence you hear the seasonal cicaidas chirping away.

We spent a couple of nights there. It was good for him to spend time with his folks and they don't live too far from Philly.

This is the table we ate dinner. So cute. I even got to help shuck corn.

 

 

B tells me that the farms here are protected. That the government bought the land and promised that nobody can build on top of it. The best part is that they let the families continue to live and work on that farm. Farms like this are conserved for historical purposes.

 

Lucky for me, Hulu had Amelie and Kill Bill playing. Got to watch a bit in our room.

 

We took the train out to Philadelphia and I got to experience the city by foot. 79 blocks to be exact! We had a pass that was good for the whole day and he didn't tell me that we can take the bus because he wanted me to really absorb the city. sigh.. ahahha!

 

 

William Penn is on top of City Hall. At one point, no buildings were to be built taller than the statue but in the 80's, they have decided to break that ordinance if they wanted to be seen as a metropolitan as big as New York and LA.

 

 

 Lunch was at Bain's, a deli that has been in business for almost 100 years. I got a reuben with toasted marble rye bread.

 

Philly has some of the best murals around. My friend told me that they have a pretty good mural program. This piece was made entirely out of tiles.

 

 After seeing the Liberty Bell and the place where they signed the Declaration of Independence, we headed to the opposite direction to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia to check out the Mutter Museum. Here we got to see medical abnormalties and anamolies. We also got to see tools that they use in the in turn of the century. Informative and yet a bit uneasy. "

I bought conjoined twins letterpress card in which I will frame and cookie cutters. Holiday cookies are going to be fun this year!!

 

 

It wouldn't be a complete Philly trip if I didn't have a proper cheesesteak. We went to Jim's Philadelphia Cheesesteaks. Yes, I can honestly say that not many places in Los Angeles make it the right way.

 

 

The last day, we drove back to New York City to catch our flight and return the car. (sad face)

 

 

But thanks to a mobile app, we got to check out Saluggi's. OHMYGOODNESS... yes, my East Coast friends. I get it now. I understand why NY pizza is just the best around. This doesn't mean I will stop eating pizza in Cali. It just means the bar has now been set. =)

 

The dough is what makes it awesome: crispy but just a bit doughy in the inside. The fresh mozzarella and the spicy pepperoni.. superb!

 

Until next time!