Off to the States (Or: One cold but cool vacation)

Marco, Roger and I returned last week from a vacation to Philadelphia and New York City. It was cold! Though we noticed that it was just as cold in the Netherlands when we returned last Tuesday.

The first part of the trip was being tourists in Philadelphia. It was also interesting because it was the first time Marco and I stayed at an Airbnb (Roger had experience during a trip last year). It worked out well, but I am not sure how I would feel about sharing an apartment with a stranger. Since there were three of us and we needed two bedrooms this was not an issue during our trip.

We ended up staying in the area of Rittenhouse Square (above). This was taken the night we arrived, so we were basically walking around trying to stay awake.

“Spirit of transportation” mural at 30th street station in Philadelphia

Above is artwork in the 30th street station. We ended up here because we flew to Newark, NJ and then took a train to Philadelphia for the first part of our trip.

“Rocky” steps!

Here’s where I admit I have never seen the Rocky movies (and have no interest in doing so). But still, when you are in Philadelphia it is pretty much a requirement to take a picture of the steps made famous by the movie. The building itself is the Philadelphia Art museum. The city erected a statue in honor of Rocky off to the right, just out of view of this photo.

Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary 

One of the highlights of the trip for me was Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary which was abandoned but offers tours these days. Best part? Realizing the design of the jail inspired the design of the jail in SimCity.

The Philadelphia Korean War Memorial at Penn’s Landing

Over on the east side of the city (with Camden, NJ just on the other side of the river!) we visited the Korean War Memorial (above).

Finally, some awesome graffiti at Penn’s Landing.