So the one place I hadn't planned to go until about two days before I got there turned out to be a really good time! Hooray for spontaneity!

I spent the whole morning in the Washington Downtown Hostel after deciding it was logistically too difficult to actually get anything done in the spare two or three hours until my train to Philly. So I borrowed Reptar, Emily's giant laptop, and did some more admin while we watched The Princess Bride from the very front of her DVD collection.

On the journey the Philadelphia I sat next to a guy my age who was apparently really interested in travelling like I am. I told him it was easy: all he had to do was not be afraid to leave everything behind. Unfortunately he had a girlfriend and they always seem to get in the way (in a good way, I'm sure). Also, careers seem to take up a lot of people's lives in America. It's a shame. Anyway, he told me a few things to see in NYC as well.

At the station I was met by the lovely, generous and straight talking Nadine, who I'd never met before. She took me to two great bars for food and drinks and we chatted the night away. For good measure we then drank wine back at her flat and I was introduced to the cats and the sofa-bed, which is far more luxurious than any hostel could ever be!

Fed and watered, I took the next day to see the main sights in Philadelphia, pausing momentarily to watch the protests at city hall over a "soda tax". First up, the art museum. If Sylvester Stallone ever did anything, he put that place on the map by running up the steps with a bunch of kids. Little did he know he'd spark an annoying English ad campaign with the same music two decades later. Nevertheless, I couldn't find the place where he hurdled the park benches. Some guy took me for a ride claiming to be a photographer (he had no idea) but at least he was loyal. I then went into the museum, checked the prices and retreated. How many Rocky punters have done that? Too many. When I was about to leave, three coachloads of school kids turned up and had a massive race up the steps. I totally missed my chance to get a photo of me jumping up and down with them. That photo would have been a winner.

Instead, I went off to find Pat's to have a Philly Cheesesteak "wit whiz" and that was great. The clouds darkened as I walked to the Liberty Bell (maybe a dark sign of foreboding) and after my visit I was plunged into a world of heavy rain. Time to go back to Nadine's then, where she cooked for me! I am being spoilt rotten. And speaking of rotten, Nadine had somehow found and queued up the incredible Dead Snow film on Netflix. I told her about it last night and she was far too excited about it! We watched it with Nadine's friend (whose name I can't currently remember) and I checked for couchsurfing and Airbnb places in New York for this coming Saturday. No luck yet.