Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Quick trip to Philadelphia

Monday was a day off for me and I went to Philadelphia with my friend, Margie. She had a gift card to Anthropologie and it was a good excuse to visit with Mary Ellen, a former student at our school, who is my eldest son’s age. Caroline, another former student, came along too.

It was a beautiful day – a little cold, but it’s January and to be expected. We walked from Mary Ellen’s apartment to Rittenhouse Square, had lunch at Di Bruno Bros., and then walked across 18th Street to the flagship store of Anthropologie, housed in the old Fell-Van Rensselaer House at 1801 Walnut.

 

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Taken standing in the center of Rittenhouse Square.

 

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One of the urns that stands at the entrance to the park.

 

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We walked through the park and so much caught my eye. There’s a really cool HDR photo of this little kiosk {here}.

 

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The Evelyn Taylor Price sundial, near the southwest corner of 18th & Walnut. The bronze sculpture was created by Beatrice Fenton, a Philadelphia sculptor. I want to go back and take my time and really explore this park.

 

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I have no idea what these little birds are – some sort of sparrow, I imagine – but they were quite tame, letting me come right up to them with my 18-70mm lens. There was a multitude of them chirping away in the sunshine as they perched on top of the bushes that lined the park along Walnut Street.

 

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What sweet little birds.

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And tomorrow, I’ll show you a few photos I took inside the old mansion that’s the home of the Anthropologie store. Very cool place. Emily – why did you never tell me how cool this place was when you were working there during your college years? Or maybe you did and I just was too self-involved to listen to you. Bad Aunt Katy.

 

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Here’s a small peek.

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Hope your day was a pleasant one. We’re so busy at school, entering grades into the report card system, along with everything else that has to be done at this time of year. But busy is good sometimes.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

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27 comments:

Rain said...

Glad you had such a nice visit! Love love love the little sparrows-beautiful pics!!~~Rain

Ann On and On... said...

I can't wait to see more or your trip. You have captured each moment beautifully.

Kerri Farley said...

Wow......what a wonderful place to visit! That ceiling is amazing!
PS I think the little birdies are house sparrows.

Caroline said...

I was just at Anthropology..you may recognize the china egg holder on my blog :)

OMG...the stained glass in the last photo...wow...breathtaking!

Nellie said...

What an amazing place to visit! Glad you had a good day on your day off.

Anonymous said...

awesome! It looks like the dome of a chapel!

Annie said...

wow, what a fantastic place, and park...one day I might get there!
;-) Your photos are fantastic as usual Kate.
Sitting here being very bring watching the Australian Open tennis on tv.
Think they are most likely sparrows, look like the ones we have here...they are quite a pesty nuisance here!

Annie said...

oops...I knew there was something else I wanted to say...how much I LOVE your new Header!

JC said...

I like it when you travel. Makes me feel like I've been somewhere other than my woods.

Denise at Autumn Sky said...

Very nice photos. I'm glad you had a nice day away. Those little birds are probably very well fed by people like you.

JaneK said...

my brain is tired so nothing clever to say.... but will post b/c I can :) love hearing about your excursions; nothing exciting within driving distance where I live...

beth said...

WHAT???......an 18-70 lens for birds? i know what kind they are....they're called "killing me softly with your love birds"....and now i want some :)

xo

ps....you know that full mouth kiss love i talked about before....well that's how i feel about anthropolgie, too

Cloudia said...

Yo!

Philly!


Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral

> < } } ( ° >

mrs mediocrity said...

Sounds wonderful!

That last bird looks like he's posing for you.

And oh my, that ceiling!

remote control cars said...

Wow,It so beautiful.These all pics look really amazing.High buildings and there historical places are so famous.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

If that last shot is any hint at what else lies inside that mansion, I can't wait to see more. Beautiful.

Jamie said...

I have been talking about visiting Philly as I've never been there (and it's so close really so I'm not sure why I haven't been). As always, lovely photos (and those birds are house sparrows).

Mental P Mama said...

What a nice respite...and I am loving those birds!! I miss youuuuuu!

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

I can finally leave a comment again! Blogger has been squirrely lately. I believe that's a common house sparrow, male. We have alot of them around here and they are also fond of city living.

Anthropologie in a Mansion? How very cool!!...

Daryl said...

Lovely little sparrows all puffed up to keep warm .. and that ceiling, oh my ... the link to the HDR photo showed me what NIK plugins can do .. Reena just got some and now I am itching .. but I wont scratch

Anonymous said...

They are sweet birds aren't they. What beautiful architecture too.

CJ x

Country Gal said...

Wonderful photos and post . Looks and sounds like you had a great day ! Those little birds are Common House Sparrows we have lots of them here in Canada . Have a wonderful day !

The JR said...

Monday was a day off for me too. I didn't do anything nearly as exciting. I did go to the big town of Hazelhurst, MS.

Lili said...

oh the birdies, the birdies! So sweet, love how you captured them with the backdrop of that bldg. And just ignore me, I hadn't read this post when I made my comment about the location of the Anthro store! xo ~Lili

Deb said...

beautiful place...thank you for sharing...

Brenda said...

Yes, they are house sparrows. We have loads of them here in South Africa too. Native to Europe and Asia, and introduced to SA sometime around 1895. One of the 11 official languages of South Africa is Afrikaans (derived from Dutch), and the Afrikaans word for sparrow is "mossie". The word 'mos' in Afrikaans means 'just' and adding -sie on the end makes it a diminutive. So, these are "just birds" as in, "What's that bird?", "Oh, just a bird". :)

Reena said...

Love the ceiling shot! And of course, those little puffed up sparrows!