The City of Brotherly Love

Partly glad, partly sad to get out of NYC, we stayed in Philadelphia for the last two days. What a change! How quaint and quiet it felt, very few people at the subway stations, noise level much lower, all in much slower motion! We have been to Philly three times before, last time approximately seven or eight years ago.

Philadelphia is considered the „Cradle of Democracy“ in the United States and therefore functions as sort of a place of pilgrimage for many Americans. After the victory of the Americans against the British, in 1776 the Declaration of Independance was proclaimed. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson presented a first draft of a constitution which was discussed fiercely among the representatives of the 13 states at the time and in 1789 the Constitution of the USA, still in effect today (with a couple of later additions, called "amendments") was ratified. All of this took place in Philadelphia (see pics of Constitution Hall and Bell of Liberty) and therefore there are many historic places which have somehow to do with the struggle for independence and the geniuses who made democracy possible. Historic buildings as well as the fantastic multi-media National Constitution Center are worth being seen.

Philadelphia, founded in 1682 by the English Quaker William Penn is also called the „City of Brotherly Love“, no wonder they set up a fitting piece of art in downtown’s JFK Plaza („Love Park“) designed by Robert Indiana. A good idea of the look of the city in the very beginning gives Elfreth’s Alley with its tiny brick buildings (see pic).

Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers and lived in Philadelphia from 1723 on. He was very influential and multi-talented, perhaps comparable to Thomas Jefferson. Franklin founded the first university, the first public library, the first newspaper and so on. He also signed Declaration of Independence.

Another unusual, remarkable building is City Hall, planned in a very elaborate french Second Empire style. It's the largest municipal building in the United States; building started in 1871. We took part at a „tower tour“ (max. 4 visitors are allowed to use the elevator up and get 8 minutes to look around) and enjoyed a good view from the platform directly underneith the statue of William Penn which is crowning the City Hall Tower. City hall forms a stark contrast to modern buildings like One & Two Liberty Place and Comcast Center.

Philadelphia is also famous for its murals and for its Parkway Museums District with a concentration of high-class museums, mostly situated in temple-like buildings, e.g. the Philadelphia Art Museum or the Franklin Institute, a Natural History Museum. Especially interesting was the newly opened Barnes Foundation. While the architecture itself is rather nondescript and plain (see pic), the inside is spectacular, not only because of the high-rated collection of mostly impressionist paintings, but even more because of the unusual hanging and arrangement of the pictures: not for topics or painters or chronologically but for sizes/light/frames/colors. Absolutely worth being seen!

We stayed in a historic hotel on the waterfront, at Penn’s Landing, at the edge of Old City, which is - besides midtown - the most attractive centrally located neighborhood with lots of fancy shops and bars. We loved Reading Terminal Market - a huge market hall with locally grown and Amish produce. In 1890 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company purchased this block for its new terminal, but already existing street vendors refusedl to relocate for the new building and therefore a new market was erected beneath the train shed and tracks.

Interesting City, but now it's time to check out things in Washington ...