Philly is Beautiful (And Philadelphia's Not Bad Either)

Having bid farewell to Manhattan, it was time to move on to Philadelphia early Saturday morning (and although Frank Sinatra might have been right when he said New York is the city that never sleeps, it sure was pretty drowsy at 6am on a Saturday morning).  I caught the train, enjoyed some free wifi, and had a look at the picturesque Rittenhouse Square, near where I was staying.

The first scheduled stop of the day was the Mutter Museum (imagine that with an umlaut on the 'u'), a medical museum which is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.  On the way there, I passed this interesting-looking shop.  I think they probably had a few anatomy exhibits as well :p

But anyway, mind out of the gutter and back on topic.  Photos weren't allowed inside the Museum, so you'll have to take my word for it.  There were all sorts of ghoulish exhibits - deformed foetuses, gangrenous limbs, shrunken heads - a charming way to spend a Saturday morning really.  I found the historical exhibits most interesting - there were sections devoted to the assassinations of both Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James A. Garfield.  Of course, the story of Lincoln's assassination is widely known, and there were tissue samples from his assassin, John Wilkes Booth, on display.  Less well-known is Garfield (who didn't make much of a mark as a President in general, having only sat in the chair for about six months).  He was shot by Charles J Guiteau, but didn't die immediately; instead, his doctors stuck their fingers in the bullet wound, caused an infection and Garfield slowly worsened over a two month period.  Modern historians tell us that it was probably the poor standard of medical treatment, rather than the bullet, which ultimately finished him off.  His assassin was controversially executed; he was probably insane at the time of the shooting, and sections of his brain are on display at the museum.  In other morbid news, Albert Einstein's brain was the subject of great scrutiny upon his death, and doctors concluded that it had a number of abnormal features which probably caused his great intelligence.  In fact, the medical world was so fascinated by Einstein's brain that they sliced it up and spread bits of it far and wide so that everyone could have a look, and some of it ended up on display at the Mutter Museum.  It wasn't one for the faint-hearted, but the Museum was definitely worth a look.

I also stumbled across Philadelphia City Hall.  Actually, you don't really stumble upon it, it kind of jumps out and hits you in the face, it's massive.  The City Hall is basically the start of the long walk up the museum strip; because it's so big, the best photos are taken at a distance, but here are some close-ups.

And so begins the long trek up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway towards the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  The route cuts through LOVE Park, officially a John F. Kennedy memorial, but more famous for this iconic piece of public art.

The route is also lined with various national flags, and I couldn't help but get all proud and excited when I saw this one :)

The museum district culminates with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and its iconic staircase.  You can see the Museum, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and some of the surrounding area in this scene from Rocky.  There's also a big statue of Rocky in the grounds of the Museum.  My photos of the Museum are below.

And then if you reach the top of the steps, turn around and look back towards the city, you get this amazing view, with City Hall as the centrepiece:

As for the art collection, of course the one that everyone goes to see is Sunflowers, by Van Gogh:

I also liked this by Thomas Eakins (no, not the Eakins of Eakins Hall):

And this one by Canaletto:

After the long walk back down those steps, and then down the cultural mile, I felt like I'd gone a couple of rounds with Rocky.  It was very nice to get back to the hotel.  Oh look, they even had monogrammed towels especially for me, how nice!

I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the hotel's name started with P, of course.