On a recent trip to Philadelphia, Dickie and I were taken by the view of City Hall as it is seen from the north on Broad Street. The building itself has great character. We had recognized that on visit to the city a few days earlier, so we parked the car on a side street and walked back down Broad Street to where I could take this shot:
We were actually on our way out to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which stands on a hill overlooking the Schuykill River. We hadn't visited the museum lately and it was a beautiful day, so we made the best of it. This is the view of the river from the west side of the museum:
When you approach the museum from the east (a view made famous by the "Rocky" movie), you have to climb the many steps leading up to the main floor. That, too, is a pretty sight:
Before you cross the street from the parking lot to the museum you pass by the imposing statue of General George Washington on his horse:
Another interesting feature, before you enter the museum, is the sculptures in the tympanum (an ornamental recessed space) on the north wing. The sculptures are the design of C. Paul Jennewein and were installed in 1933. They depict ten different Greek gods and godesses. Here's a closeup:
The museum was featuring an exhibition of landscape paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael, a Dutch artist from the seventeenth century. Dickie and I made a quick tour of his work and then spent some time in the section which features French impressionists, our favorite kind of art. Flash bulbs are a no-no in the museum, so I had to take photos with available light. This one of Renoir's "Bathers" was about as good as I could do:
If you ever spend any time in Philadelphia, put the museum on your itinerary. You won't be sorry.
What a nice title, you say. It is, isn't it? It's also the name of a neat little town on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Dickie and I visited there the other day. It's the home of the Bucks County Playhouse, pictured below:
While we were in New Hope, we walked out on the bridge over the river and also took a short stroll along the canal that runs along the river. Visitors to that part of the world often take a boat ride down the canal. We've done that on an earlier occasion. It's a great way to party. As you can see in this next shot, the canal doesn't exactly rival the one in Panama, but it affords some nice scenery, especially when the flowers are blooming or the leaves are turning:
On the way home, we stopped by Washington's Crossing State Park, which commemorates General Washington's crossing the Delaware to surprise the Hessians at Trenton, some eight miles to the south. The victories at Trenton and, shortly thereafter, at Princeton are regarded as the turning point in the Revolutionary War. Here's what the Delaware looks like at that point today. In Washington's day there was a ferry crossing here. Today a narrow bridge spans the same water just to the south:
By the way, since it isn't obvious, I suppose I should point out that, if you click on the title, "New Hope", above, you can access more of my photos which I have linked to that title. I've been doing that linking for a few weeks now. The first time I did it by accident. Now I'm doing it on purpose. Enjoy!
