Life As We Know It: Philadelphia. You're closer to New Jersey than you think.

A map of downtown to put things into perspective. The circled places are where we went/walked to. The circle with no highlight near JFK plaza was where the massive conference center was. Rittenhouse square was near where we went out to eat for lunch on Saturday when we arrived. Washington Square is next to the Historical Section and has the big X over it.

Saturday, May 18th through Wednesday, May 22nd was a conference that is kind of a big deal at work. This meant that myself and the two other female students in the lab hoped on a plane in Cedar Rapids and spent this last week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (for those of you who didn't know, that's where it is).

The whole trip was quite an experience. The conference was a good experience just knowing what to expect. I got to present a poster of the work that I've been doing for the last year which was exciting. We also walked everywhere. There were so many days that ended in extremely tired feet. In general, Philadelphia was a fairly exciting city. There were so many old buildings next to some new tall buildings. My favorite part was the walk from the JFK Plaza to the Franklin Institute. We did get a chance to walk all over the historical district and that was cool. All the old buildings with lots of grass. I also enjoyed Washington Square. It was strange to think that there were lots of bones of those who fought in the Revolutionary War under my feet. Weird.

We also had the chance to visit the Franklin Institute. It is similar to Discovery World in Milwaukee for those who have been there. Anyway, it presents science in a more interactive light. My favorite part had to have been the 50 most stunning photos put out there by National Geographic. Each one had a small synopsis of the story behind the photo and some of them were so gripping. All of the photos were stunning. That is my kind of art gallery.