6am, Friday the 5th.I awake to find David telling me it’s 6am, and we’d managed to sleep through 3 alarms. A mad dash to the station ensued, but we got the train, which had backwards facing seats, and a backwards steward, who told us the front facing seats were “only for smokers”. Positive discrimination, or what…

We arrived on time in Philly, PA, and stepped from the train to find a fantastic piece of architecture in the shape of the station concourse. Shortly after leaving the station, we found that this was to be the way things were. Founded by William Penn, the town is steeped in history, and justly proud too. After being recommended breakfast in the Down Home Diner, we went to watch Chubby Checker, who was playing a promo for the Penn lottery.

We then went to the liberty bell, town hall, and the site of Benjamin Franklin’s house. This is such a lovely city… had I arrived here from the UK, I’d have definitely stuck around to find work; It’s just crisp and clean and light and friendly We headed back to the station, grabbed something to eat on the train, and prepared to board.

We were shepherded onto the train, which had more room than the last, but I still wasn’t really impressed. The windows were badly pitted and scratched, but the guard made a good job of announcing points of interest that we were missing. When sleep time came, it was disappointing to find that the chairs only reclined about 38.157 degrees (roughly). So David slept on the floor, and I proceeded to see what the least painful neck angle was, but failed to find it. Then lights out came, in name, if not nature. The main side lights went out, leaving just the 5 MegaWatt halogens burning in the middle of the car. 2 notes for next time I travel Amtrak… eye cover and blanket. Oh… and become smaller!

Tags: america,massachusetts,summer camp,travelogue,usa
Categories: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, america, travelogue
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