Heaven is a Philly Cheese Steak at 10 AM

 My first perspectives of Philly were not that great. The morning started off with my shitty parallel parking, and a bus ride from Manayunk to central Philly filled with unhappy people and houses that were barely able to stand on their own. But Philadelphia is flowing to the brim with spontaneity. You will find yourself wandering through slummy areas which are quickly accompanied by absolutely gorgeous blocks with houses whose architecture gives you that warm, "home" feeling.

Besides the shitty inconsistent bus system and the fact that everything is pretty much closed by 5, I enjoyed Philadelphia. The Rocky Steps by the art museum were beyond motivational, with locals working out in the surrounding area while tourists completed the typical trek up. In addition, the walk to the museum was breathtaking, as the streets were lined with various flags from countries around the world that were lit at night by the street-lamps. Philadelphia is the place to accompany students on their class trips where they learn about American history and you can even see multiple, impressive Ben Franklin impersonators if that's your thing. If you want to feel that 'Merican pride even further, this is a great place to make you realize just how hard our founding fathers fought for us, and how much work went into building the liberties of our 50 states.

My key favorite thing about Philly though, were the cheese-steaks.  I know that seems like a typical answer, but after going to Jim's, Philly's most popular cheese-steak hot spot, I realized my morning could not have been started better. As I and my German boy were told, it is tradition to request "wiz with" which means you are embellishing your sandwich with that processed "cheese" (I question how much of that is really cheese...) that comes out like whipped cream. You'll find your sandwich overflowing with onions, beef grease, and melting cheese, which all comes together to give you a mouthgasm where you wouldn't care how many cheese-steaks you ate, because the cardiac arrest would be well worth it to eat them for the rest of your life. 

But on an ending note, don't walk into Philly expecting NYC, because they are in no way comparable. Both cities are known for different things, and have a completely different look/feel. So go in with an open mind, and come out with a cheese-steak.

PS: Thanks Sam for allowing us to have this experience :)