I spent five days of my spring break in Philadelphia, visiting one of my best friends, M. M goes to Villanova, which is located on the Main Line, a stretch of millionaire suburbs dating back to colonial days. There are beautiful stone mansions, quaint little towns with great shops and cafes, and poky little antique stores and big, leafy parks, all within 20 minutes of downtown Philadelphia. During the day M and I did tourist stuff in Philadelphia, and at night we'd meet up with her roommates and friends to go to bars, Final Four basketball viewing parties, and, one night, karaoke (mamma mia). Philadelphia was suprisingly awesome. Philadelphia was never one of those cities I've always wanted to go visit; I went there solely to visit M. However, I became enamored with the city of brotherly love. It has very nice features, and it's not one of those generic American cities. There is a lot of character, and not just through its colonial roots, either. Diversity, cool shopping areas, and gorgeous European-style squares give it a unique vibe.
Rittenhouse square:
My first day in Philly was "Patriot Day". We did a tour of Independence Hall, went to see the Liberty Bell, strolled around Christ Church and saw where the Franklins and Washingtons worshiped, and, best of all, went inside Betsy Ross' house. It's adorable and tiny and totally preserved. AND WE MET BETSY ROSS! On the way home to see the Villanova basketball game, we took suburban rail, and Betsy Ross was on the train, sitting across the aisle from us!!! She was still in period gear (although she took her hat off), and it was quite the uncanny experience.
On the second day we went to the art museum, which has an excellent Modern art collection, to see an exhibit on Cezanne. The exhibit focused on artists who have been influenced by him, so the curator took 60 of Cezanne works and then paired them with pieces from later artists. They brought stuff in from MoMA, the Met, Chicago, the National Gallery, the Musee d'Orsay--it was a phenomenal exhibit. One genious paring was Cezanne's "Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair" with Picasso's "The Dream" and Matisse's "Lady in Blue". There was so much Matisse!!! M was cracking up because I was having a small fit every few seconds. LOVED IT! I'm not alone in my opinion. The Boston Globe said "There won’t be a show anywhere in the world this year to compete —in ambition, scope, and sheer concentration of masterworks". The London Telegraph said "This is one of the most important shows I've seen in two decades of reviewing for this paper". Wowzers! Way to go, M--great outing!
In other exciting media news: I got on TV because I was posing next to the Rocky statue outside the musuem and a reporter for Fox was doing a story on why tourists love Rocky. So I had my five minutes of fame in Philly (do you like that alliteration?).
We also went to South Street where I had my first cheese steak at Jim's
When M was in class one day, I got to stroll around Wayne, the most adorable town ever.
I also got to spend a lot of time with M's friends and roommates. It was very nice to meet these people after hearing so much about them over the past four years. They were great! One of the best parts about traveling, even within one's own country, is meeting nice, cool people. I'm really pleased with Philadelphia, and it was a great city experience. Thanks to M and co. for making this a wonderful trip!
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