Beautiful weather at last, the wind and cold is gone, the sun and blue sky remained. Perfect day to be a tourist in this, America’s first capital city. The Brits were particularly keen on visiting the attractions commemorating their country’s historic loss of territory and so we went to the well-done museum of the American Revolution, which has lots of mini-films with re-enactments of battles and other significant moments and hands on stuff for kids.
Frieda’s
Lunch was light, delicious and convenient at Frieda’s (thank you to our favorite Philly public school teacher for that recommendation.) good salads, sandwiches, pastries and rugalach in bright cheerful space. onto independence hall where we missed our timed entrance ny five minutes and fortunately got on a later tour. (Tix were sold out for the day by 3 pm.) The guide was excellent.
The bell
Very dramatic presentation and pretty cool to see the room where it happened with George Washington and Ben Franklin et. al. Across the street we caught the liberty bell in a rare tourist-free moment where we had it all to ourselves..dinner was in south Philly, Italian of course, a red sauce (actually “rose” or creamy red sauce place) called Pesto where our server talked the teacher from south Philly on Abbott Elementary.
Somehow this post didn’t land on my blog site so reposting it for posterity!
March 12
It’s not everyday that you get to vacation with three of your closest friends who live far away and far from each other but here we are in Philly. How great is that?!
We’re staying in a very old red brick row on a narrow one-block lane in center city, mid-1800s we think. Charming, centrally located Airbnb. With narrow planked wood floors, a tight twisting, low ceiling wood staircase, small pretty rooms, a tiny back yard with a flowering tree of some unknown sort with pink blossoms.
A 25 minute walk in a blustery cold and blindingly bright sunny morning took us through graceful old Rittenhouse Square to the fantastic Barnes Foundation. Fascinating place. I feel like returning today.
The museum is in a very contemporary building with a Japanese feel. The art is uniquely displayed, as prescribed by the original collector. Each room has a mishmash of work carefully arranged (Renoir, cezanne, Monet, among the heavy hitters and lots of unfamiliar names and some no name folk art plus textiles, African sculptures, a micro rug…) symmetry and all, plus interesting metal utilitarian objects that when hung on the wall call attention to their decorative features. Old Pennsylvania Dutch hand painted chests and other antiques are also displayed in each room, just so.
It may sound precious but it’s more ingenious and mysterious. After awhile I gave up trying to see everything or trying to figure out the thinking behind the odd juxtapositions and just let my eye wander to whatever caught my eye. Literally. Apparently I am a Rousseau and Modigliani fan. And folk art, which is no surprise.
To each their own. Myra’s eye for example was caught by completely different work. It was fun to watch docents and teachers in action with young school kids. Oh and there are no informational labels. You can take a photo of a work on your cellphone and a description will pop up. The app also lets you keep a record of the work that most grabbed you. Cool!
Lunch was at very busy Reading terminal food hall. Tons of stalls and a bit overwhelming at first but a great local scene. We planted ourselves at a central food cart table and took turns foraging. The beef brisket sandwich was even better than the sliced pork with broccolini sandwich that was recommended to me by a local. Excellent German sweet chocolate cake.
Dinner was at Kalaya, a lively fun scene-y place in fishtown that is well regarded nationally. I found the Thai food a bit too complicated (and pricey.) I should have learned by now that the NYTimes annual list of innovative American restaurants plucked is not always a sure thing.
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And then came summer. Or close. In the three days we’ve been here the temperature went from blustery 40s to balmy 70s. Today was perfect for a lot of walking south to the Italian market which is actually several blocks along 9th street lined with old food shops and fruit markets.
Italian market
We visited several including diBruno Brothers house of cheese, whose large selection spanned cheese from Francine and Russ’s London (Neal’s yard) to Myra’s beloved finger lakes (Cayuga blue cheese from Lively Run creamery near Seneca Lake.)
Cheesesteak
We had gooey chewy meaty Philly cheese steaks at Angelo’s. I could eat only half of mine, which in of itself was enormous. We ate outside at a picnic table in an open lot provided by Di Bruno brothers.
Bok building view
The Bok building is an enormous former technical high school, art deco, turned into makers and artists studios and some shops, pricey sandals make out of old Kilims. That sort of thing. There’s a club at the top with an amazing deck overlooking the city. Dinner was Filipino at Tabachoy, which we all decided was a little too odd for our tastes. It makes me question again the NYTimes annual list of innovative restaurants. Maybe a little too innovative for my tastes.
breakfast on out last morning was at the lovely Parc, which resembles a French bistro, overlooking Rittenhouse Square. our London pals checked into the Alexander Inn, an old world, well-located place that was a reasonable $165. Next trip:Washington Square. Elspeth place, walk along the river, old prison. But as is, we feel like we got a good feel for this historic old city that is my grandfathers hometown.
I’ve been recommending this restaurant for about five years, ever since my son and I ate there during a college visit trip (and my son has since graduated from college) but I can never remember the name. So I’m posting it here for safekeeping (and because my stepdaughter, who is going on a weekend trip to Philly, asked for specifics.)
The restaurant is Zahav, serving Israeli/Middle Eastern fare, somewhat expensive as I recall but it looks like there’s some offshoots that may be less pricy.
See http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/ and for the interesting backstory about back story about how the chef had a drug issue see: http://articles.philly.com/2014-08-13/news/52732976_1_zahav-philly-chef-chef-michael-solomonov
TakeBetsywithyou 