A week of sightseeing, reunions and eating out! Just a heads up, this blog is overloaded with pictures! As I mentioned in my previous blog, the weeks here in Bloomsburg are flying by so quickly. Bloomsburg is a fairly small rural town and I am city boy, so after 6 weeks of staying in Bloomsburg I was itching to go to a big city and explore.
Philadelphia
My student mentor, Mark, kindly offered to show me around Philadelphia as he is from Philly and knows the city well. I couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide.
Since arriving in Bloomsburg one of the most common questions I get asked is “Have you had a real Philly cheese steak yet?” my answer to this was always no, so it was only right that the first thing we did when we got to Philly was to go to Mark’s favourite cheese steak place.
Mark took me to Sonny’s Famous Steaks, his favourite cheese steak place. I must admit the cheese steak was delicious and something I get used to eating on a regular basis.
Next stop of the night was the Ben Franklin Bridge, it’s a suspension bridge across the Delaware river connecting the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The following day we ventured further into the city not knowing there was St. Patrick’s Day parade going on. It gave me the chance to speak to some of the locals and even get a picture!
Cathedral Basillica of Saints Peter & Paul. A very relaxing and beautiful place.
This has to be my favourite place in Philadelphia. The one liberty observation deck gives you a 360-degree view of the city. We luckily went on a clear day, so we could easily distinguish the landmarks of the city.
This is Philadelphia city hall and the statue on the top is of city founder William Penn.
Pittsburgh
After an eventful week in Philadelphia it was time to jump in the car with Mark and make the 5-hour journey to Pittsburgh, luckily, I wasn’t the one driving. We were going down for the St Patrick’s day parade and to see the city in general.
Let’s be honest that picture is the real reason why I came to America. Hands down the best the burger and milkshake I have ever had. This restaurant allowed you to create your own burger from scratch which was amazing. As Mark would say “10 out 10, would recommend” if you’re ever in Pittsburgh, this place has to be on the “must visit places” list.
St. Patricks Day was a great success the whole city turned out to celebrate the day. There was a great buzz about the place and people were so friendly.
