Love Thursday: Rocky & the City of Brotherly Love

As you may recall, on my trip to the States I stopped in my old stomping grounds, Philadelphia, to catch some LOVE in LOVE Park.

But you didn’t think I could come all the way from Italy and *not* stop in to pay my respects to one man every single Italian LOVES, did you?

Just in case you weren’t sure this was really the right statue:

And while I was snapping photos, guess what I spied?

After that, I jogged (Mom as my witness!) up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps just like Rocky so I could check out his footprints:

And stand in them:

FYI: My best guess is that the Italian Stallion wears a size 8.

‘Scuse me…gonna fly now!

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

Happy Love Thursday everyone!

12 Beans of Wisdom to “Love Thursday: Rocky & the City of Brotherly Love”
  1. Gil
    01.07.2010

    Boy are you right about Italians loving him. I’ll never forget my wife and I and our son and daughter staying with my fathers 80+? cousin at his beach house and the only night he didn’t have something for us to do was the night that Rocky IV or something like that was on!

    Gil, Rocky V was on last night I think! It’s a rare night when you can’t find *something* on with Stallone….

  2. 01.07.2010

    When O and I went to Philly we had to visit the statue too. i didn’t know about the footprints though.

    Actually I had only known about them because I literally stumbled across them many years ago…I had trouble finding them this time and actually thought maybe they had been removed for a few minutes until I found them!

    .-= Mary´s last blog ..Twins =-.

  3. Nicole
    01.07.2010

    The first picture is so cute. Love it! I’d like to do a trip to Philly this summer. Lots to see and do…..and LEARN for the girlies.

    Oh definitely let me know if you go…so much great stuff, especially right near the Art Musuem…Franklin Institute, Museum of Natural History, then there’s the Camden Aquarium which is surprisingly pretty darn amazing….

    Thanks for commenting here, btw πŸ˜€

  4. 01.07.2010

    Philly is my old stomping grounds too! Love the art museum, and although I loved Rocky (the first one), I’m not crazy about the statue there. I think it belongs in the old Italian neighborhood around 9th and Christian St.

    I was always torn about its placement, to be honest. Of course when I lived within walking distance of the Art Museum, it was in South Philly!

    .-= Ciaochowlinda´s last blog ..Dinner at Le Bernardin =-.

  5. 01.07.2010

    That was fabulously cool! I have all the Rocky movies!
    okay “Gonna Fly Now” haha couldn’t resist either!

    We’re definitely big Rocky fans here; I also love the backstory…Sly writing the movie for himself because no one would hire him…then winning the Best Picture Oscar (’76), the year I was born. LOVE it πŸ™‚

    .-= lucy´s last blog .. =-.

  6. 01.07.2010

    What a fun post! Looks like you had fun visiting your old “friend.” πŸ™‚ Happy Love Thursday!

    Hah, yes it’s been a long time since I’d seen him! Thanks for coming by, Katie!

    .-= Katie in MA´s last blog ..Love looks high and low. =-.

  7. 01.07.2010

    *LAUGH!!!!*

    That’s wonderful! How much fun is that? I had no idea any of that was there!

    Very cool. Did you sing the song?

    XO

    Scarlett & Viaggiatore

    Actually I believe “Eye of the Tiger” was in my head all day….

  8. 01.08.2010

    Fun post, but now I have the Rocky theme earworm! ;-(

    Sorry ’bout that πŸ˜‰

    .-= jen of a2eatwrite´s last blog ..2009 Year End Meme =-.

  9. 01.08.2010

    Cute! Never really gotten to see much of Philly, maybe some day soon.

    Oh you must! I love it πŸ™‚

    .-= Maria ´s last blog ..Tyrokafteri / ??????????? =-.

  10. 01.08.2010

    I’m from Philly….I can’t tell you how many times we’ve run up the Art Museum stpes pretending to be Rocky!!

    Just never gets old, does it?! Love it!

    .-= The Food Hunter´s last blog ..Black Garlic Review & Recipe =-.

  11. casalba
    01.09.2010

    Re. your question: No problems whatsoever arriving via google. Am going to try the linking way now. Wishing you a very Happy new Year, Sally

    Yay! Happy to see you back here Sally πŸ™‚

  12. 01.10.2010

    And the thing is – I just don’t get it. He portrays such a horrible stereotype of Italian Americans. It would be like African’s loving Fat Albert or Dave Chappelle or something.

    *sigh*

    Interesting, indeed. I can’t speak to Fat Albert or Chappelle, but for Italians: Many Italians just don’t tend to think that way–that’s more of an Italian-American thing (for some like the Sons of Italy who are always fighting Mafia portrayals). For instance, Il Padrino (The Godfather) series is on TV here ALL THE TIME; I guess they don’t seem to think about the portrayal of Italians when nearly everyone they meet is Italian? (Although this is changing a bit.) I think what they like about Stallone/Rocky is that he’s a hometown boy (kind of) done good…made it for himself in America despite prejudice against the way he looked, talked, etc. The true underdog! ROCKY! ROCKY! Aw, you feel it Pete…. πŸ˜‰

Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

Calabria Guidebook

Calabria travel guide by Michelle Fabio

Recipes

 

Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins
Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake