This morning, I left my house in a clouded state of mind, as it was 3 AM and unless you have a marathon to run, hardly anyone is able to be awake at 3 AM. I got to LAX, fumbled through security, and made it onto my flight(which was completely full). Looking back, it was exciting, but in the moment it felt numb.
When I landed in Philadelphia around 2 PM local time, I felt refreshed. Ready to take on the city for the next 32 hours, I got onto the train from the airport and arrived in Center City 30 minutes later. There I met my older sister who has been living here for the past 4 years as she studies bassoon performance. This summer, she will move to Houston, where she will continue her studies. She had a rehearsal to get to, so after I dropped my bags with her I was free to roam the city.
I began by walking up Broad Street, and over to a Wawa for something quick to eat(for those who aren’t familiar with Wawa, it is a convenience store/fast food restaurant that is very popular in Philadelphia, and very good). I got a box of chicken nuggets, and a pretzel filled with cream cheese. In terms of fast food, it was wonderful, and was nice as I ate in the courtyard of City Hall. From there, I wandered around, hitting up famous spots such as Reading Terminal Market, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. It was a nice sunny and cold day in Philadelphia, so I had a great time. You can read about the murals of Philadelphia that I documented on my Things I Like page.
By that time, my sister’s rehearsal was over so I met back up with her and we went out to dinner at Dan Dan, a local trendy small bites place, that specializes in Szechuan food. We got dan dan noodles(traditional noodles smothered in a spicy Szechuan peanut sauce with salty minced pork on top), a scallion pancake, kung pao tofu, and pork belly buns. Then, we went back to her apartment, where we relaxed and where I am writing this now. Tomorrow at 9:55 my flight will depart for Dublin, so I will figure out some more sights to see and things to do tomorrow.