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| Breakfast: | At hotel | | Morning: | We will depart at 8:30 am to attend the 2013 Flower Show, the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world, who's theme this year is, “Brilliant!” – a celebration of the contemporary culture, design, gardens and landscapes of Great Britain. You are on your own at the Flower Show to leisurely view the floral displays or to participate in demonstrations and lectures that are offered. | | Lunch: | Lunch is on your own and many inexpensive options are available either at the flower Show food court on the terrace café or at the Reading Terminal market adjacent to the convention center where the flower show is exhibiting. Today, the Reading Terminal Market, considered by many as the best farmers market in the U.S., Originally opened in 1892 as a city market situated in a building owned by The Reading Railroad Company from which the Reading trains would come and go from the city to the suburbs. It’s not only a popular hometown attraction, but also the most popular Philadelphia tourist destination after the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Eighty-six merchants including Amish Farmers have food stalls that offer patrons fresh produce, meats, fish, groceries, flowers, baked goods, crafts, books, clothing, as well as hard-to-find specialties and ethnic foods. Shopping and dining become a pleasure in this warm, inviting, and unique atmosphere. The Reading Terminal Market, like it did over a hundred years ago, is reminiscent of personal, neighborhood shopping, and still offers something for everyone. A trip to Philadelphia would not be complete without stopping here. | | Afternoon: | At 1:00 pm we will take you to The Philadelphia Museum of Art to view the exhibit Van Gogh Up Close. In 1886, while living in Paris, Vincent van Gogh dramatically altered his manner of painting landscapes and still lifes. By experimenting with depth of field and focus and using shifting perspectives, he produced some of the most radical and original works of his career. Dominated in the foreground by close-up views of grasses, wheat sheaves, or tree trunks, van Gogh’s canvases in this period suggest a detailed study of nature and a concern with representing the sensory experience of being outdoors. Contact with Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters including Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Paul Signac, and others inspired van Gogh to lighten his palette and to try different kinds of brushwork, as seen in his still life works and in landscapes painted in gardens near Paris that stress an abundance of grasses, flowers, and branches.
The museum has the world's most extensive collection of the works of Marcel Duchamp, including the world-famous Nude Descending a Staircase and The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even. Also worth seeking out is a fine selection of the works by 19th-century Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins, including The Concert Singer and some notable portraits. The most spectacular "objects" in the museum are entire structures and great rooms moved lock, stock, and barrel from around the world: a 12th-century French cloister, a 16th-century Indian temple hall, a 16th-century Japanese Buddhist temple, a 17th-century Chinese palace hall, and a Japanese ceremonial tea house. Among the other collections are costumes, Early American furniture, and Amish and Shaker crafts. An unusual touch -- and one that children especially like -- is the Kienbusch Collection of Arms and Armor.
The bus will return you to the hotel by 4:00 | | Dinner: | Dinner at Davios | | Evening: | Evening lecture on Gardens and The Brandywine Valley | |