A couple of weeks ago, Liina and I had the opportunity to make the trip across the beautiful Pennsylvania turnpike to see my Aunt Melisa and Uncle Kevin in Philly. They are the last of the my Uncles for Liina to have meet. With some reason of predictability, we had 2 beautiful days of weather and 2 days of rain. I am not sure how this predictable weather theme got started for all of our trips so far, but in Estonian fashion, we just go with it.

The first day we spent hours walking and talking around their huge botanical gardens. It was pretty cool since we don't have anything of this size in Estonia, yet we love going to them especially in the spring. Liina loved all the different colors of the tulips and also the conservatory had many influences of European appeal. Along with my uncle and aunt living more in the urban part of Philly with tons of old trees and houses, it brought back many memories of Estonia. Though we have enjoyed our stay, rest and solitude, our minds are slowly moving back to our Estonian home.

The second day we went down to the historical district. I would say this was more cool for me than for Liina since American History really isn't that interesting for her. Also, our history really is not so old compared to European history. After this, we headed downtown to the parks and fountains. We also found the road of World Flags and of course found the Estonian Flag. Also, for our American friends we found the museum of Modern art, ran up the steps and also got a picture of the Rocky statue. After that, we were treated to our first Philly
cheese-steak. Liina gave it a thumbs up.


Overall, we had a great time in Philly. We enjoyed my aunts cooking who makes mostly my late grandmothers recipes which brings back many memories. I am just happy that Liina was able to meet grandmother and now to enjoy some of her recipes. It was an encouraging weekend, and we hope to go back for a visit one day.

Another treat for Liina was as we headed back to Ohio. We were able to stop in the small city of Hershey, PA. For a girl who loves chocolate, Liina was in heaven. For me not so much, I was just thankful that there were no lines and we did the whole thing in an hour, including lunch.