Bringing Christmas Spirit to Bumms near you

I expected Philly to be the quintessential suburban America we’ve all become accustomed to in movies and TV throughout our lives. The America affected by foreclosures and the economic downturn, where danger and gun shots are just a suburb away and all the supposedly regular people are connected only by highways to their work and friends in other similar residential areas.

To some extent this is the Philly that I saw, but also with some very surprising additions to that depressive story but there are reasons for this. I stayed on the border line to “the wrong side of the tracks” where West Philly starts getting ghetto and dangerous. Surprisingly this is the area that UPenn is in, an Ivy League Uni with an amazing architecture and design school. This location does mean that there is always an army of security and police at every turn, just in case….. It gave you the feeling that if the security and surveillance was reduced or distracted for one instant the area would be swallowed by the seedy underbelly of the city just next door. But this location is surprisingly cheap and becoming gentrified as it is just across the river from Downtown.

The Border Line to West Philly

My biggest discovery is that Philly has some of the best stocked bars and restaurants that I have come across while. Most non-dive bars had a wide range of tap beers and bottled beer from all over the world and rarely had Bud on tap. We even managed to find some locally brewed beers with an alcohol content well over 12%, something I haven’t tried outside of Belgium.

And the Food, it ranged from budget Indian, to fine dinning Cuban and everywhere in between. Granted I did arrive for the start of Restaurant Week and therefore were able to go to some places usually out of our price range. But even disregarding this the food was amazing. From contemporary Cuban to a Mexican restaurant decorated like a wrestling ring and still serving surprisingly unusual dishes, Philly certainly has a lot to offer and at a reasonably price. But if you want to try the famous Philly Cheese Steak, make sure you get to Tony Luke’s and order the Fries with Bacon bits and Ranch dressing. Heart Attack in a basket but something you have to try once….

Chocolate Cigar - Cuban Culinary Delight