Baltimore City Culture Tour - Photos by Melina Pizano - 10/27/12

Baltimore. A city full of culture. I seized my first day in the city by sightseeing downtown. My first stop was Antoine-Louis Barye's Seated Lion Statue, a replica of his original in Tuileres Gardens in France. I was quickly drawn to the architecture of the First & Franklin Presbyterian Church nearby. The steeple, completed in 1879, is the tallest in Baltimore at 273 feet. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, a 289-foot skyscraper, had me looking up (and of course photographing it) like every other tourist. Next up was a stop at the Walters Art Museum, which was hosting a "Day of the Dead" festival with baile folklorico performances and art activities for families. That night I stopped by the Halloween Lantern Parade in Patterson Park. I was amazed by how creative and resourceful the artists were. A majority of the lanterns were made of repurposed plastic bottles! And yes, the lantern of the swan in the water was created with recycled materials. Needless to say it was an exciting day in Baltimore.