Philly Fun

Another weekend, another adventure! This Sunday we decided to take a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art: except that, well, we didn’t actually go into the museum. I was actually there to photograph some of the sights around the museum. I had a great time shooting, since the weather was perfect and the crowds were relatively small. I finally managed to get a shot of Boat House Row (click here to see one of the shots) behind the museum, although, as is usually the case, I got shots that were almost what I wanted, so now I’ll have to go back and try again. I also got some fun shots of some geese on the Schuylkill River, which will be posted on my photography blog tomorrow. That wasn’t the whole adventure though.

While taking a break on the front steps of the museum, I kept hearing cheering. A cheer would arise from the top of the steps, and then a larger cheer would erupt from the street level. I turned to see what was up, and saw a bus load of Italian tourists doing what nearly everyone feels compelled to do when visiting Philadelphia: making the Rocky Run. One by one, a member of the group would make the run up the steps (of which there are many, by the way), letting out the mandatory victory whoop at the top. The rest of the group, waiting at the bottom of the steps, would then cheer like someone had just won an Olympic gold medal. I grabbed my camera to record the fun. Here’s a shot of what everyone looks like at the top: 

This guy happened to be one of the Italian tourists, but nationality has nothing to do with the enjoyment people seem to get out of accomplishing this feat. We’ve seen people from around the country and around the world all involved in the same activity. Here are more shots of Sunday’s atheletes:

The Sprint

 

The Dash

The Victory

Yep… Just another Sunday afternoon at the Philly art museum…

Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not poking fun at anybody. While I don’t understand why someone would want to run up a bazillion steps just because a guy in a movie did it, I know there is an appeal there. I know this for sure, because when Adam visited us last fall, he wanted to do the Rocky Run. By the time we got him there night was falling, there was a brutally cold wind blowing, and the temperature was dropping fast. However, that didn’t dampen his desire to do the Rocky Run. He was luckier than most Runners, though, because he had his photographer mom there to document the whole thing. Afterward, I compiled the whole thing into a slideshow to commemorate his accomplishment. Would you like to see it? I thought so…