spedbug | There and Back Again

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Thursday, A Day of Rest?
As I mentioned in a previous entry, Savagefuzzball had to be near home on Thursday to attend the birthday dinner of her best friend, Mingo. Because we didn't want to attempt a trip and stray too far afield, we stayed at home, slept in, puttered about and then took SFB to Mingo's at about 4pm. From there, MrBug and I went out to dinner at The Olive Garden. After dinner we went to Borders where I bought The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner, which I am presently reading, and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon which I've heard good things about and look forward to reading, next.

Friday: On the Road Again
Originally, we'd planned on sticking close to home because of Savagefuzzball's birthday dinner scheduled for Friday evening. However, having been infected with wanderlust from the beginning of the week, we decided to drive to King of Prussia mall in not-so-far-away Pennsylvania. We shopped, we ate and then headed back to Delaware to pick up Alluna (we had Mingo with us, already).
Dinner at Casablanca restaurant was lots of fun and very filling (it's an entire seven course meal).

It was a first for the girls who thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Saturday: Finally! Philadelphia!
I had begun to worry that we wouldn't make it but, we did. On Saturday we woke up bright and early and drove the short distance to The Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I can't even begin to describe the experience. I was in the room with the works of Rodin, Van Gogh, Renoir, Picasso with armor and weaponry from 1000+BC, with honest-to-goodness Ming dynasty furniture. I was awed. It was all too much in so short a period of time. SFB and Mingo enjoyed it but their interest lagged toward the end so we reluctantly left and headed to the Italian Market for a bit of shopping. I took this shot from the middle of the street, struck by the bustling, cramped feel of the 9th Street.

We stopped in a place called Di Bruno Brothers and spent a good twenty-five minutes talking to the people working there. They sliced down 2 year old parmesian cheese and drizzled it with the most delicious Bellei "Cherry Gold" balsamic vinegar (cured in cherrywood casks only) for us to try. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! I didn't buy any of the vinegar and could, now, kick myself. We did leave with a container of big, black olives and over a pound of fresh mozarella cheese wrapped around proscuitto, though. I can feel my cholesterol rising but, oh, what a way to go! I think we're going to go back, fairly soon, and buy that vinegar. It was too good to pass up.
On one corner, there was an open-air restaurant where a man in Venetian garb played the accordian to the diners. If it hadn't been so stinking hot, we would have eaten there but, because it was over 90 with over 81% humidity that day, we ate in the museum's cafeteria instead. Oh well....autumn is just around the corner and I have my step-mother's promise that we'll go when she comes up from Florida.

Sunday, A Day of Rest
We slept in this morning. Yes, Dad, we're heathens. ;)
We picked SFB up at Alluna's house, this afternoon, and then went to my brother's house to pick up my father's mail (to Priority mail it to Florida). While there, I briefly met my brother's fiancee, Arij's, mother and brother who are visiting from Morocco. Hopefully, this week, we'll get to sit and speak with them a bit longer.
I'll end here as my niece is IMing me on AOL and asking me questions about our vacation.

Love to all! xoxoxo