On a cold, rainy Saturday morning, I rushed to catch the bus that was parked at the Stockton Arts and Sciences building. The special occasion was a trip to Philadelphia to visit the Mummers Museum and the Italian Market. After the hour long bus ride to Philly, we finally made it to the Mummers Museum, where our three professors waited for us. The Museum had a glamorous outside design and once we stepped foot inside the museum, we were enthralled. The museum had a gift shop, costume displays, and furnished red carpets. A man who worked at the Mummers Museum guided us and gave us a detailed background of the Mummers history.  Every New Year’s, thousands of Philadelphians perform at the Mummers Parade. The costumes that the Mummers wear on New Year’s Day were stylistic. We wore some of the parade clothes and took a class photo. We really had a great time exploring the Mummers Museum and understanding Mummers tradition.

The next place we went to was the Italian market, which was similar to Jackson Heights in New York. Throughout a widespread area, the Italian market was full of meat and vegetable markets, restaurants, candy stores, gift shops etc. I was in a group of 9, including the honors mentors, as we explored the market. It has been forever since I last explored around the streets of Philadelphia. As we hiked throughout the Italian market, our group was hungry. We went to the first restaurant that was nearby us and it was called Ninas Trattoria. The waiter came to our table and was getting his sketchpad to take our orders. While he was walking around to take our orders, I was thinking carefully about my order. I had $12 in my wallet and most of the delicious food on the menu exceeded the amount of money I had. I had to order something that was under my budget. Even though there were $12 food items, I chose one that would be of less price. Finally, I ordered the broccoli fritatta. It had no meat, was a $9 meal, and sounded delicious. After waiting so long for my meal, it finally arrived. The broccoli fritatta, or broccoli omelet, was made of broccoli, fried potatoes, crisped onions and peppers, eggs, and mozzarella. However, I did not expect the broccoli to taste bitter. We all had our fill and thanked the waiter for the best food we had. The bus arrived after a half hour and it was time for us to go back. Throughout the whole field trip, I had a taste of refined Philadelphian culture and will hope to return again someday.