Ian's up in studio again working on an essay test and his master's project stuff, so I'm doing another catch-up blog. Today I tackle Jordan and Karen's overlapping visits! Jordan stayed with us for a week, and Karen visited on a weekend, with a full day overlapping for the four of us to all spend time together. It was great to see you both!
I'll start with Jordan's visit following our return from the Big Apple. When Ian and I were working Jordan enjoyed roaming the city, from Penn's campus to Rittenhouse Square (home of Jordan's new favorite statue: the lion attacking the snake, in bronze). In the evenings, we took him to some must-see Philly landmarks. First up? Geno's Famous Steaks. We tried Pat's with Sarah, so decided to try the flip side, and boy was it tasty.
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| Here are Ian and Jordan enjoying the cheesesteaks. |
This is Geno's....
This is Pat's, which is across the street. We liked Geno's better... no political statement though, just straight up for the food.
On the walk home, we came across this sweet bike shop!
The next day, on the walk home from work, I saw this protest march: "Dalai Lama, stop lying." The Dalai Lama was in the city giving speeches at this time.
After Karen arrived, she joined us in our new game obsession: Bananagrams, which we picked up at a Barnes & Noble in NYC. People have told me it's very much like speed Scrabble. We just know it's fun!
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| Here's Jordan with "quintillionaire." He lost the game, but we were impressed! |
Friday I had the day off, so I joined Jordan and Karen in exploring the historic side of Philly. We took the Independence Hall tour and wandered around the area.
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| Our tour guide was great! |
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| Here's the stairs they snuck up on in National Treasure. |
We were tired, so we took a nap under this amazing old tree.
We also saw The Dark Knight on opening day.
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| Here's Ian holding our popcorn! |
The next morning, Ian saw Jordan off, we slept more, then explored with Karen. We took her to the Italian Market. One of our discoveries was a cool spice shop with an old carousel horse in front of it. The sign says "Ouch — my back hurts. Please don't ride me. Neigh Neigh Neigh Neigh Neigh Neigh."
We also viewed the cityscape at night from the Rocky stairs.
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| I accidentally tipped my camera mid-photo and it came out like this! |
Sunday we enjoyed a great church service, then a great lunch at our beloved Caribou Cafe. We introduced Karen to the butterscotch brioche bread pudding!
We wandered around Penn's campus, and Ian had a little too much fun with the camera. These are just a few of the many shots he took!
We're so glad you both could visit. We appreciate your friendship so much!