Time for the next breakfast, an opulent meal for almost $100! The French toast was good, the omelette average. The fruit platter was generously priced at €19.

Hot tea @ 10USD is nuts!

And that's a very friendly and restrained description. There's probably a $9 contribution margin in there.

On my last visit to Philadelphia, there was a major drawback. I actually wanted to visit the Barnes Foundation, which is considered one of the most important museums of impressionist art. At that time, however, the museum was in the process of moving and it was only open to members. Today I would just pay the membership fee for one year, but we didn't do that back then.
But this time it worked.






As always, there were security checks at the entrance, with a particular focus on the sunglasses. I like to use the phrase “keen for a bag check”. But of course it's super secure, and the guys at the entrance could do a lot to prevent weapons from getting in. I also like to say: “If a terrorist came, who would be the first to fall and not get anything done?”
But anyway, let's talk about the museum. Somehow, I have no luck with visits to the Barnes Foundation. This time, the upper floor was closed and opened a day after our departure.
But the lower floor was already very impressive, seemingly disordered, one masterpiece hangs next to the other. In addition to practically all known impressionists, there is also a little medieval art.

I still remembered the Philadelphia Museum of Art quite well. Many people know it because of the famous Rocky steps and the statue.





There was a long line in front of the statue and people were taking stupid photos.


The museum impressed me again. There are probably only a few museums in the world that offer such a high-quality collection in so many different areas. Of course, the Met or the Louvre come to mind, but that doesn't detract from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Next, we went to Rittenhouse Square, probably the most famous square in Philadelphia.

Ice cream is a must. This time it was an ice cream at the van Leeuwen chain. They have the kind of ice cream you would expect to find in America. Three scoops for $10 plus tax, so it's not too cheap. The ice cream tasted quite good, you could eat it.

Philadelphia's City Hall is quite an eye-catcher.

On our last evening in Philadelphia, we went to Jean Georges. The waterfall walls lead down to the dining room and bar, and together with the view, it makes for a memorable experience.




I had taken an extra jacket with me for the evening at the special request of my GF. If you then look at the guests at the table in front of you, you are naturally annoyed that you didn't take your tuxedo or at least a dark suit and tie with you.

Honestly, how can you go to a restaurant looking like that? I don't even look like that when I take out the trash! Since especially Americans seems to love dress codes (I say they some are horny for them), there is of course one on the Jean Georges website. It reads “SMART CASUAL ATTIRE IS REQUIRED. COLLARED SHIRTS, SPORT COATS, LONG PANTS AND COVERED SHOES ARE ENCOURAGED. SPORTSWEAR, OVERLY REVEALING ATTIRE AND HATS OF ANY KIND ARE NOT ALLOWED.” I hope everyone understands why I find these dress codes and the constant inquiries about them so ridiculous.
But let's take a look at the menu:

Very positive: A good selection of non-alcoholic beverages.

We took the menu with a few changes, a glass of “real” wine for GF and a bottle of Naughty Rose from South Africa. Plus a mocktail.



























The food was good, no question about that. The restaurant has a AAA 5-diamond award, unfortunately Michelin does not rate in Philadelphia. I would say 1 solid star. But then my “problem” arose:

Without the obligatory 20% “tip” (actually, they wish for 22% or even more – after all, the guests have it and with the low restaurant prices, the staff can hardly be decently paid), we were at $635, with it was then around $762. For that money, I can eat in many 3-star restaurants in Europe. Even though the food was good, the price-performance ratio was simply not right.

Last breakfast and a "very cheap" one this time.





Especially the toast was generously priced. Now I mentioned that they didn´t bill the hot chocolate! Perhaps I should call them?

The museum of art looks interesting and wide ranging. I found the display of seating strangely appealing but I couldn’t work out what that vast array of items on the floor was?

I can see why you’d be underwhelmed at the price of that meal. The food at the Jean-Georges didn’t appear to have the finesse in presentation I’d expect at that price point, it sll looked, well, boring.

We went to the Museum of Art for a second time, it's really beautiful.
I didn't really think the JG dinner was boring, but I think that's a very accurate description. All good and nothing to complain about, but nothing exciting either. Solid cuisine and enjoyable, but nothing you would want to pay over 300$ per person for.

They went to the Rodin Museum.






At the entrance stood a guy who would have fallen over with a light puff, who carried out a thorough bag check. You can only laugh about it. The museum itself was pretty, if not particularly large.

Before we left Philadelphia, we went to the Museum of Art again. This time with a slightly different route to cover what we hadn't seen before.