7/17/2012: Bus Tour Today I took a bus tour of Philly. It was really fun. We saw some very cool sites even though most of them were just from the bus. I learned that Philadelphia is the mural capital of the US and we saw many very beautiful murals on many of the buildings as we drove around. Also because Philly is one of the early cities created in the US there is a lot of old architecture still around. We stopped at a theater which had a nice circular dome shape and was made most of glass. We didn't get inside the theater to heart the acoustics but it's amazing how the shape and material of a building can change the sound of people's voices. I took a lot of pictures of statues. We got to see the other LOVE sign (the first one I saw is on campus, walk passed it every day when I go to work). We saw Betsy Ross's house who made the first American flag of the 13 colonies. My favorite place we went to was Elfreth's Alley, which is the oldest street that still exists in America. It is still a rocked pavement and many of the houses still hold their original architecture. It makes me sad to think that someday that might be gone and our history will be lost. I guess now we have camera so it's not hopeless but still sad. Like other houses we seen these houses had a "busy body." It looked like a black shape that come out of the house and it was a three way mirror that allowed you to see the street below from all angles. I think it's a pretty awesome way to spy on your neighbors. I need to get me one of those. We also got to see many statues of Benjamin Franklin, pass by Chinatown, Pennsylvania convention center (which is the largest building in the city), and we got to run up the steps of the Arcadia Art Institute just like Rocky. Although our tour guide said he only ran the first three steps and then they had a stunt double run the rest (the other 69). They didn't want their star to sprain an ankle.