Bitter Sweet... tweet! tweet!

Two winters ago I was wandering around Barcelona, one of my favorite cities, with one of my very favorite girls, Abby Hyslop. I was sick and sad and Abby took great care of me all day long. As we were wandering for food, we stumbled upon these candy colored birdcages in a back alley. It was so cute at first glance with the lovely fabrics and the beautiful birds inside. The sad thing was that they were there in the hot sun caged up all day, just wanting to get out and explore the great city of Barcelona themselves. Poor guys. I will never forget these caged birds for as long as I live!

The Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia

My favorite museum in Philly so far is The Wagner Free Institute of Science. It is a museum that was started by William Wagner (pictured above) in 1855 to provide free science education to the people of Philadelphia. The most fascinating thing about the museum is that it has essentially gone "untouched" since 1891. All artifacts within the natural history collection are original to the institute and haven't been rearranged in over 100 years. Aside from the collection, the building alone is worth the visit. The architecture is beautiful and being inside makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. When I visited the Wagner this past weekend I attended a great lecture on the Bee Crisis and the disappearance of commercial bees, except I could hardly concentrate on the lecture itself for the beauty of the auditorium. It looks just like the black and white photo below (taken 100 years ago) and the gorgeous wooden theater seats are complete with a little metal rack under each one, originally meant to hold the top hat of a Victorian era gentleman. The lectures held at the Wagner have been a part of it's history since the beginning. Go here to find out about week nights at the Wagner and other fun events.

note: personal photos are not allowed in the institute to encourage hand drawn studies and to keep the curiosities about the museum alive, these photos are borrowed from the institutes website.




p.s. Amy Merrick, this place was made for you!! Add it to your list of things to do (if you haven't been already).

p.p.s. Thank you, Jesse Schlabach for recommending the Wagner to me so long ago, and to Maura Grace for informing about the Bee lecture. I had a blast with you girls and Katie I. too!!
xoxo