Since I had a free stopover on my flight back, I decided to visit a friend in Atlanta for a couple days. I took a day to do the whole touristy thing and walk around town, and has been my M.O. throughout the whole trip.

Well, I forgot I was back in America - and Atlanta, unlike New York, is very much AMERICA. No more government-subsidized art museums that cost two bucks to get into - instead I got stuff like a 10-dollar entry fee to the World of Coke. No more walking around interesting streets for hours on end, getting the feel for a new city - instead we get highways, suburban sprawl, and parking lots. I had to drive to get a cup of coffee at the place I was staying.

I did get to head up the Peachtree Plaza (which is where the above picture was taken), which was OK. But probably the most interesting thing I ran into in Atlanta was my namesake Tex-Mex joint, Moe's.

The next week I decided to visit a friend in Philly for a couple of days. Philly was a little more my style. I've always dug Philly a lot, and was happy to have a couple days to do the wandering around/touristy thing. First we headed to the Rodin Museum - which has both a cast of The Thinker and the Gates of Hell. Despite the fact that the cast was in severe need of restoration, it was still one of the most astounding works of art I've ever laid eyes on. We also headed up the tower of City Hall to the observation deck, which is right below the statue of William Penn. Until 1987, there was a Gentleman's Agreement in Philadelphia not to build anything higher than his hat. Local legend has it that Philly sports teams are now cursed with the construction of 1 Liberty Plaza, the first building to break that agreement, which also happens to still be Philly's tallest. No Philly sports team has won a championship since it's been built - the last champions being the 1983 76ers.

It was a pretty smoggy, so you couldn't really see much. The observation deck was free and you can only fit 4 people up there at a time. Contrast this with the Empire State building, which costs (I think) 15 bucks and sees 3 million+ visitors a year. In fact, demand is so great another observation deck is opening - actually re-opening - at Rockefeller Center. I've actually got a hook-up to check it out for free before it opens, which I'm pretty exited about.

We also walked around South Philly a bit, which is a pretty cool old part of town to wander around in. And, of course, I had to get a shot of me with the pride of South Philly - Rocky

I can't deny it was nice to be home. The more I travel, the more I have an appreciation for the United States - even the parts like Atlanta. This last trip has really made we want to do a long, cross-country drive. I figure it'll be great - I speak the language fluently, I'd have a car, and America's one of the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world. Other than Tropical Rain Forests, you've got pretty much every type of nature and terrain in the world. You've got true world-class cities, small towns, and absolute middle-of-nowhere country. You've got some of the best high-culture - and low-culture - in the world. And you've got perhaps the biggest myriad of different types of people of any country in the world. So while I loved my Escaparse de Nueva York, not only am I glad to be back in my town again, I'm glad - and really excited - to be back in my country, and take advantage of all it has too offer. I feel very lucky to be an American.