The Build Up: Part Deux

It's official: Philadelphia just cracked the top 3 food cities in the U.S. for me. We started the morning off mild with Delilah's world famous macaroni and cheese, and made sure that the title was justifiable (in case you're wondering, don't ever question Delilah's Mac and Cheese, it's just blasphemy). Second stop, Dinic's Beef and Pork (btw, this is a true example of the inner fat kid inside Joe and myself). Hot and crispy hoagie roll, insanely delicious roast pork, sharp provolone cheese, topped with garlicky spinach. Watching the same guy who was featured on Man vs Food put my sandwich together was like watching real life food porn. The stand directly next to Dinic's just happened to create a chocolate designed after our life motto (see the "picture of the day" below), and we proceeded to sample several truffle selections.

After making several stops at heavenly food destinations, we decided to be responsible tourists and visit the Liberty Bell, a symbol of our nations's freedom.

After breezing through that, we went straight to the home-base of the greatest film of all time: The Rocky Series. As we approached the steps of where the MML (Man, Myth, Legend) ran, I got goosebumps (no homo). The age old joke kept running through my mind (What's the difference between Rocky and God……..Trick question, Rocky IS God). Some of you may think this is a bit obsessive, but the man ended the Cold War, he deserves our respect (please reference Rocky IV).

After running up the Rocky steps and jumping in the air, repeatedly screaming "ADRIAN!!!" as helpless passersby watched in horror (and silent remembrance), we went in search of the illusive, legitimate local Philly Cheesesteak. We decided that we needed to poll the locals to get the right location for our taste test. After getting a sample of locals, we soon realized that the best locals to question (the most well travelled in local Philly food) were police officers. Surprisingly, every overweight officer we asked made a serious case for Jim's Steaks, exuding disgust for the famous Gino's, telling us that it was "touristy and fake……just gristle compared to Jim's." Two full Philly's later, lets just say that they were absolutely right, and that cheese whiz and fried onions are the perfect toppings for the perfect cheesesteak.

After a couple drinks, we headed back for the airport and boarded our flight to Madrid. In all honesty, void of all sarcasm, it was not until the plane took off that the significance of both the length and scope of our trip sunk in.