We were true tourists on our trip to Philadelphia!
We took this bus tour twice with a different guide each time...
and we did this tour as well!
Here are some of the memorable things we saw and learned about:
The Benjamin Franklin bridge across the Delaware River. It was painted "Bicentennial Blue" in 1976:
Eastern State Penitentiary operated from 1829 to 1971. It was famous for its 23 hour solitary confinement regimen for all prisoners.
Philadelphia has a large Chinatown.
This arch was gift from it's Chinese sister city, Tianjin.
Pennsylvania Hospital: Ben Franklin was one of the chief founders and the building built in 1755 is still used today.
It has the nation's oldest surgical amphitheatre. The amphitheatre served as the operating room from 1804 through 1868. Surgeries were performed on sunny days between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm since there was no electricity at the time. That's a large skylight on top.
These are the famous 72 stone steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art that Rocky Balboa trained on in the movie: Rocky!
Close up: We were told there are almost always individuals and groups training on the steps and we saw this when we passed by:
Philadelphia is a city of murals. Founded in 1984 as an anti-graffiti program, local artists were encourged to express themselves. That flag is a mural painting on a building!
Our favorite building to see was City Hall!
It is the world's tallest masonry building--which means it has no steel in it but is just stone block on stone block.
That is William Penn on top: He is 37 feet tall!
More views of the beautiful building:
Philadelphia is the 5th largest city in the U.S.
We saw lots of skyscrapers!
I didn't realize that Philadelphia is a city of art museums. Wish we had had more time there. This is the front of the Rodin Museum with The Thinker out in front. This casting is one of three originals.
Famous for food: We were told we had to go to Sonny's for a Philly Cheesesteak. We got there a little after 1:00 p.m. and were able to order right away.
As we were eating, the line kept getting longer and longer.
Yum!
America's oldest ice cream company: Bassetts.
We had to try some!
We found the ice cream in
the Reading Terminal Market, an enclosed public market. We loved walking through it several times. Hundreds of merchants offer fresh produce, meats, fish, cheese, groceries, ice cream, flowers, baked goods, crafts, and specialty and ethnic foods. There are many Amish vendors as well. We had a couple of meals there.
It's fun being a tourist...
...you never know what you will see!
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