I am not really sure where to begin with these posts because there is so much to say!  Luis coming to visit the US was something we had been talking about for awhile, and once I finally bought my own ticket to go home for a bit, we were able to get it together for him to come too!  I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was one of our best trips to date.

10 days, 4 cities, and a whole lot of food.  We flew from Madrid to Philadelphia last Wednesday (and enjoyed the whole 8 hour flight filled with movies, ice cream (?) and some sleeping), and after an awesome eggplant parm dinner with my parents, we hit the ground running on Thursday with a really fun day in Philly.

FIRST and foremost- pretzels:

 Then we walked all over the city, starting around City Hall.

FYI– you can walk up to the top and get views of the whole city.  Tickets can be purchased at the visitor information center on the ground floor.

From there, we walked down towards Jefferson University so I could show Luis where I used to spend my days, and then headed to an all American favorite…

Wawa 😉

With (a big, American) coffee in hand, we headed towards Chinatown…

And then over to the Reading Terminal Market!  What a fun place!  I forgot how great it is.

He couldn’t believe the foods people were eating for their “typical, smaller, American lunch”.  Luis was introduced to his very first Philly Cheesesteak! What a moment in history.

Then we were off to Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, and the National Constitution Center.

FYI The Liberty Bell is free to enter, but there can be some lines for security checks.  Independence Hall is also free, but you need a timed ticket which can be picked up at the Constitution center, or reserved online.

We needed another coffee, so we made a quick stop in Old City for another huge coffee.

And from there, headed over to my favorite Philly spot: Spruce Street Harbor Park, which is this great pop-up park right on the river.  They have music, lots of (kind of gross) hammocks to use, food, drinks, and ice cream for sale.  There is also ice skating?!

We were brave and used those questionably clean hammocks, more so because once we realized they have probably never seen a washer or soap, it was too late since we were all wrapped up in that cacoon-like sweat bag.  Hey, YOLO.

And to end the night, a couple beers and games (which I lost, graciously and with pride) over at the Independence Beer Garden.

He was a little wary of our “American watery beer”, but…I think it was okay in the end.  We headed home and had a big Cuban dinner thanks to my mama.  The next day, more fun!  Coming soon.