Parthenon on the Hill appearance - a promontory-on-high facing the glorious city skyline to the east,and the shimmering Schuylkill River with its noble university rowing crew houses to the west, the muse- um beholds countless works in this, the third-largest art museum in the country. I watch countless visitors taking photos and selfies with the Rocky statue at the base of the structure, or, they run (or they try to run) up those iconic museum steps like filmdom’s Italian Stallion.
Me? I simply saunter to the front door and enter…
Galleries hold visionary, masterful works and the ongoing public takes it all
in.The galleries and public spaces are accessible to event planners, as well. The Great Stair Hall with its thick pillars and gilded Augustus Saint-Gaudens golden sculpture, “Diana,” provides one of the most striking spaces (and city views) in all of Philly.
Above this area is the Balcony,which also looks over those many welcoming“Rocky” steps and across the statue’d city and foun- tained expanse and toward the multitudi- nous array of skyscrapers.
I tread lightly and in awe throughmany gal- leries. Each one takesme through time and place. I espy one that is constructed in a soothing landscaped design and Zen-filled quietude of a Japanese Tea Garden, and I imagine groups here sipping fragrant teas and socializing easily.
Behold The Barnes! –
Departing the artmuseum, I walk down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, which looks akin to the Champs Elysees in its beauty, accessibility and
artistry.To my left,Rodin’s The Thinker ponders on where to find the city’s best cheesesteak (okay, maybe he isn’t, but more on this later). Continuing down the city’s “Museum Mile,” I arrive at The Barnes.
When Albert Barnes’ vast collection of priceless artwork was moved from the western suburbs to the Parkway in 2012, it completed the tangible congruence of vision,material and promise - a consortium of museums to rival the artistic collections of virtually any city in the world.
The iconic Reading Terminal is next to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Being adjacent to the Home 2 Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Philadelphia Marriott and Loews Philadelphia hotels and Maggiano’s and Hard Rock Café Philadelphia, it is in the heart of the convention area. photo courtesy: PHL CVB
3 Philly Phoodie Phacts
1. Eat up! The city has become one of the very best dining meccas in the country.
2.Most Philadelphians don’ t order CheezWhiz on their steak sandwiches. Or (God forbid!) Swiss cheese. Go for American cheese or provolone instead.
3. If you love beer then come here. The Philly region has some of the country’ s most respected brew- eries, including Yards, Victory Brewing Company, and Stoudt’ s.
Mid-Atlantic EVENTS Magazine 69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84