In love with PHILLY
It’s not hard to fall hard for Philadelphia, a city steeped in a history of tolerance and culture
Falling in love is like eating cake, I always think. You don’t have to think about it too much. You just take a forkful and swallow. And if you like the way it tastes, you take another forkful. That’s pretty much how I fell in love with Philadelphia. It was not what I was expecting. It was a love affair that came out of the blue.
I love Paris. I love London. I love Rome. All amazing cities. But now I am smitten with Philadelphia.
It is a city that has taken me by surprise and made me happier than I imagined with its innate spirit of creativity, inventiveness, progressive thinking and generosity. I love, love, love its unswerving focus on freedom and tolerance. I think it is a city that deserves more attention. What precisely is it that I love so much? Well, let me count the ways. First, I love the attitude of its founder, William Penn, a man way ahead of his time in terms of his ideas about democracy, city planning and personal freedoms, and I love the work and achievements of so many of the city’s progressive, innovative thinkers, such as Ben Franklin.
Penn’s wonderful spirit of acceptance and religious tolerance still permeates what we now call the “city of brotherly love.”
It is significant that a giant statue of him has been placed at the top of city hall from where he watches over the city. It is a constant reminder to stand up for freedom and human rights and to always be willing to trade in a good idea for a better one.
It impresses me that the city still recognizes that it was built by immigrants from all over the world and today insists on permanently displaying the flags of 109 nations along its main boulevard — Benjamin Franklin Parkway — as a constant reminder of the complexity of the world and the value of diversity.
I love that Philadelphia values and appreciates art and beauty, so much so that it has established three of the world’s best art institutions — the Barnes Foundation, Rodin Museum and Museum of Art, all of which are jam- packed with an embarrassment of priceless treasures.
It thrills me that Philadelphia loves art so much that it has passed a law requiring every new building project to devote at least one per cent of the site to public art.
Walk any way in the downtown and you will see superb examples of wall murals and exquisite sculpture, even on quiet back streets.
You’ll find the famous LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana, Three- Way Piece by Henry Moore, and, of course, the Rocky Statue by A. Thomas Schomberg.
I first visited Philly to attend its superb flower show, the world’s oldest and biggest. That’s what took me there on my first visit in 2013.
But it was only when I returned there this month to see the show for a second time that I really understood what it is that I love so much about the city.
Part of this epiphany came while visiting the Barnes Foundation and Longwood Gardens, two world- class institutions created by multimillionaires, Albert C. Barnes and Pierre du Pont.
Barnes used his fortune to amass one of the world’s finest art collections, more than 2,500 objects, including dozens of works by Impressionists. It has been estimated to be worth about $ 25 billion.
Du Pont used his fortune to buy a 435- hectare property once owned by Quakers in the Brandywine Creek Valley and turning it into the fabulous Longwood Gardens, one of the world’s most beautiful garden estates with fabulous hothouse gardens and various outdoor gardens.
You can’t help but be touched by the generosity and vision of these men; their love for art and natural beauty but also their deep desire to protect and preserve it and share with others. It is a spirit of enthusiasm and leadership that I wish Vancouver saw more from its elite citizens.
If you visit Philly, time spent at the Barnes, where every room is an eccentrically organized abundance of art treasures, and at Longwood, where the dedication to creating gorgeous landscapes is paramount, is never a waste.
Albert Barnes wanted to make people see in a way that made connections through colour and form and space, so he placed paintings next to furniture with similar patterning or colour to stretch the imagination.
Du Pont loved trees and couldn’t bear to see them cut down but he went further and created beautiful gardens, drawing inspiration from what he had seen in Europe.
Every moment at either of these spectacular facilities is guaranteed to lift your spirits and fill you with a sense of appreciation and celebration.
When I came to Philly for the first time to see the flower show, which is an amazing work in itself, I was not expecting to be dazzled also by the quirkier side of the city’s personality, such as walking into the shoe department at Macy’s and finding the world’s biggest pipe organ or the Magic Garden of Isaiah Zagar, a whimsical mosaic garden built on a back street, composed out of tens of thousands of pieces of found art and ceramics.
Macy’s giant pipe organ pumps out Mozart, Bach and Handel in concerts twice a day while shoppers buy new shoes. It’s just as surreal as Zagar’s Magic Garden and no one bats an eye. It is such a wonderful eccentricity, the perfect fit for a tolerant and eclectic community.
Back outside, standing in the civic square, where public art is dotted everywhere, all you need to do is stand in one spot and turn 360 degrees to see a whole range of architectural styles flash before your eyes, from the ultra- modern flash- drive of the shimmering Comcast Tower to the ornate, elaborate Victorian facade of the city hall with its 22- foot thick masonry walls.
In the lobby of the 58- storey Comcast Centre, there is yet another gesture of Philadelphia’s generosity — a wall that appears to be made of elegant wood panels that magically transforms itself into the world’s biggest and cutting- edge 3D video screen presenting free entertainment to passersby all day long.
It is a mesmerizing spectacle. There is a constant stream of people entering the lobby just to stand and stare at the giant waterfalls or whirling galaxies or humorous performances up on the giant screen.
History was not my favourite subject at school. It can be very dry and boring, but the historic sites in Philly are full of energy and vitality. It was, after all, where the U. S. revolution started, where the Americans found the guts to stand up and tell the English where to go. The spirit of independence and struggle for freedom still resonates in these places where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was drawn up.
I even get a kick out of the symbol of this triumphant push for freedom, the Liberty Bell, which although silent and cracked beyond repair continues to ring out a message of hope and freedom.
Philadelphia appears to have rejected everything Georgian when it gained its independence, but it was smart enough not to damage the beautiful Georgian architecture of its great historic buildings, such as the Carpenter’s Hall, City Tavern and Independence Hall. These buildings still have immense charm and elegance. As does Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest residential street in the U. S., where the Union Jack still flies.
You can still pop into the nation’s first post office, started by Ben Franklin, or into the house of Betsy Ross and get a sense of these exciting times with actors performing the key roles.
When I am in the old town neighbourhood, I like to check out the Belgian taverns and amazing Iron Chef restaurants, but in the new town area my favourite place to spend time is the Reading Terminal Market, one of the oldest farmers’ markets in the U. S., dating back to 1892.
Here you can find an excellent version of the famous Philly Cheesesteak plus all sorts of food and craft stalls run by local Amish people, dressed in traditional outfits.
The market is a lot like Granville Island, only livelier and more diverse with more restaurants and a wide range of foods from Asian and Middle Eastern dishes to authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.
Berlin may have its fabulous “museum island’ but Philadelphia has something equally outstanding — its own row of art galleries and museums along Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
At the Museum of Art, where you can run up the steps and do a victory jig the way Rocky did in the famous ’ 80s boxing movie, you will find exquisite room after room of art treasures, including top works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Cezanne.
During my recent visit, I fell in love with a set of four paintings by Leon Frederic called The Four Seasons, each one depicting cherubs surrounded by the flowers and foliage of each season.
In an adjacent room, I also found an exciting collection of flower plantings by Henri Fantin- Latour.
Down the road, the Rodin Museum contains the largest collection of works by the French sculptor outside of Paris.
Especially engaging is the Gates of Hell, a monumental work at the main entrance. This dark and disturbing piece includes Rodin’s most famous creations, The Kiss and The Thinker, but also The Shades, three gloomy spirits pointing to the agony of the damned below.
I never knew that the lovers in The Kiss ( Francesca and Paolo) ended up in hell for their crime of passion. It was a revelation to me to realize how badly that initial beautiful, celebrated first kiss turned out.
It did, however, set the mood when I left the Rodin and wandered over to the Eastern State Penitentiary, a derelict 19th century prison that once was home to such famous criminals as Al Capone and the tunnel- digging escaper Willie Sutton.
But even here, in the dreariness of a crumbling prison block, it was possible to see Philadelphia in a more noble light.
The prison was, in its day, the model of creative rehabilitation with prisoners kept in light and airy cells built on a revolutionary, easy- to- manage wagon- wheel design.
Ben Franklin had his hand in the design of this institution which became the model for others around the world. There is no denying the terrible pain and suffering that went on there, but I came away preferring to think about the desire of people like Franklin to find a more humane and creative solution to punishment, if such a thing is possible.
Time in the prison cells makes you only more appreciative of a Philly Cheesesteak, the city’s most famous invention with its thinly sliced sautéed rib eye beef and melted cheese. But the city is also home to dozens of top notch restaurants.
Amada and Buddakan are two of my favourites in the old town district along Chestnut Street. Amada is one of Iron Chef Jose Garce’s chain and Buddakan is a Pan Asian restaurant that serves up everything from seared Kobe beef Carpaccio to miso tuna tartar and roasted Ponzu chicken.
I also became a fan of the classic Italian fare served up at Maggiano’s or the stylish decor and sliced meats of the Brazilian steak house- style of Fogo de Chao. You might also like the quirkiness of the reservoir location of Waterworks, another popular restaurant spot on the banks of the Schuylkill River.
You won’t go wrong at any of these restaurants, but Buddakan and Amada are top recommendations.
Anyway, the next time you hear Elton John singing his old 1975 hit Philadelphia Freedom think on this: He’s a lot closer to the truth about the heart and soul of the city that you might think.
I never used to think of Philadelphia as a city of light, but now I must say I totally agree with Elton when he sings, “Shine a light shine, shine a light, Philadelphia freedom shine on me, I love you, yes I do.”