Philadelphia was much more attractive and interesting than I was expecting, particularly when we arrived at 30th Street Station—probably the most beautiful train station I've seen. Another taxi to the hotel followed—slightly less harrowing but still enough to make me slightly nauseous—where we were situated on the thirteenth floor. We had an amazing view of the city, the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge, which we enjoyed immensely during our stay.

Once we had rested we set out on foot to explore the city, wandering down South Street and up Broad, getting a close-up view of the arts district and the Italian market along the way. There were a number of interesting occult shops along South Street, which peaked my interest, though finding a liquor store in Philadelphia turned out to be one of Hercules' great labors. The next day we woke to snow outside our window (a phenomenon which would dog us the whole trip), but we set out anyway to see Independence Park. On the way we stopped, drenched, at a coffee shop to warm up; there we met Rita, our most interesting new friend from the trip. If you're ever in Philadelphia, you should visit Mrs. K's Coffee Shop at 4th and Chestnut. The people there are awesome and helped us out, giving us advice and directions to places all over Philly. After visiting the various landmarks of American history, we concluded the day by visiting a pub—which we discovered had an outstanding jukebox, the most excellent honey mustard dressing on Earth and 100 different types of scotch. Needless to say we were not even close to sober when we left the pub.

Philadelphia turned out to be a great town, and not at all what I was expecting. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to see and do all the things I wanted to, so a return trip is already in the works.

The next day we hopped a train back to New York, where we were met at the station by Jason, our host and tour guide. Our first experience with the subway occured shortly after, during our trip from Penn Station to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I don't recommend riding the subway while carting your luggage, but some things cannot be avoided. After we dropped off our things and settled in at Jason's apartment we headed to BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) for A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the all-male Propeller Company from England. The play was incredible—one of the highlights of the trip—and we were even treated to a musical performance by the cast during intermission. After the play we headed to Park Slope with Jason and his friends for a late bite, then home to rest up.

The next day we wandered around Bay Ridge to get our bearings and discovered a great little bagel shop and deli at 86th and 3rd. After filling up on some excellent bagels and coffee, we headed for Union Square for a quick peek around. From there it was off to Times Square to meet Jason for drinks and a bite before the night's entertainment, Wintertime, at the Second Stage Theater. The play was mediocre but enjoyable, notable primarily for its set design. The next day we headed way uptown to the Met to browse the exhibit of Italian mythological prints, as well as the Egyptian, Byzantine and Medieval exhibits and the modern art and objects collections. I was terribly impressed with the size and scope of the museum, as well as the current holdings. Some of my favorite pieces are housed there, so it was a treat to be able to see it all up close and personal. Oh, and we took a picture with a mummy! (I'll try to post some photos when we get them developed.)

After the Met we caught up with Jason and headed to a bar so we would be properly sauced for the show that night, Justin Bond: Uncorked! at the Ars Nova. I can best describe the show as a slightly drunken transvestite cabaret act about junkies, hookers and hustlers; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and his backing band is very talented. After the show we hurried to the movie theater to catch a midnight showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It seems Friday was a night of surprises, as I am not much of a Charlie Kaufman or Jim Carrey fan, and I wound up enjoying the film very much. I was pleasantly surprised and not at all sorry that we didn't see Dawn of the Dead instead.

Saturday passed in a blur of activity. We woke up late (the curse of going to bed at 4AM) and hurried to get ready to make our 2PM matinee of Avenue Q, the X-rated puppet show musical. I can't remember ever laughing so hard at the theater; I was helpless in the face such truthful songs as "What Do You Do With a BA in English?," a question I have asked myself many times since graduating with one. After the show we headed back to Union Square to catch our last play of the trip, Beautiful Child (playing at the Vineyard Theatre, where Avenue Q premiered off-Broadway). Along the way we accidentally met up with James and his girlfriend, Beth; James had gone to college with Nik, Jason and I, though we didn't know him at the time. They came to see the play with us, then accompanied us to the bar(s) afterward. It was a lovely night out—we saw some enormous urinals and the oldest working dumbwaiter in the city of New York, and were introduced the magic that is Yuengling Lager.

After leaving the bars and heading back to Brooklyn, we stopped for an early breakfast around 3:30AM and took control of another jukebox while enjoying eggs benedict. After what seemed like an incredibly long ride to JFK we made our flight at 7AM, hungover and exhausted, and more than ready to be back in sunny Los Angeles.

Though NYC has a lot to offer, I could never imagine living there. The crowds nearly did me in, and I was close to the point where I was going to start hitting strangers who touched me, even accidentally. Despite the smog and current gloom, I don't think I've ever been quite so glad to be back home, inhabiting my own happy little dominion of personal space.