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Published: July 11th 2010
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I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia
Moving words from Bruce Springsteen. We certainly walked the avenue! Natalie gave us an early morning ride into the city so our first port of call was for caffeine to keep us going!! Then we went out to Penn's Landing to get a view of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge which was shrouded in mist. Nearby we studied the monument to Irish immigration. Next up we found ourselves in Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continually occupied street in the USA, or so they say. It was very nice there. The museum was closed though, we were just too early, quite unusual for us!! The same was so at Betsy Ross House where good 'ole Betsy had made the first US flag.
Luckily the US Mint opened its doors to visitors a little earlier. It was a very interesting place to visit but the "no cameras" restriction inside is strictly enforced so you'll just have to take our word for it. We were able to see how the coins and medals are made, as well as adding a few more bits of useless knowledge to our US history!!
We called into the visitor centre to get our timed tickets for
Independence Hall and opted for a 2.30 visit so we could fit in lunch beforehand. Then we walked over to the Liberty Bell where we queued for about 15 minutes to get in. It was packed! There was a large group of Anabaptists in there but we're not sure if they were Mennonites, Amish, or what!! The information displays were good, but there were too many of them. Instead we browsed a couple and went to see the bell which we thought was a bit on the small side!
On our way to City Hall we called in to the old Reading Rail Terminal which is now a conference centre and houses a few shops. It was nice in there though with information about the demise of the railway and a wonderful mural on the walls.
Around City Hall we saw a few strange sculptures, admired the statues and fountains, then made our way back to the Reading Terminal where we ate lunch in the market. Philadelphia is famous for its cheese steak sandwich so we had to try one. Thinly sliced beef cooked with onions and mushrooms (on the side for Russ!) topped with melted cheese. Delicious!!
Independence Hall was up next where after a quick bag search we were soon inside listening to a very funny park ranger talking about the signing of the constitution. Your US history really does improve when you tour these sights!! We were shocked to hear that one of the first things to happen after the declaration of independence was the burning of the British flag. For a free tour it was excellent and really unmissable on a trip to Philly.
Our final destination of the day was the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Not that we wanted to go in and see the artwork, but Russ wanted his photo taken with Rocky Balboa and to run up the famous "Rocky Steps", all 72 of them!! From the top we got a wonderful view of the city and the sun even came out to lighten up the buildings for us.
Then Natalie picked us up and we went out for a great Greek meal before returning, exhausted, to their house in the woods in Atco, New Jersey.
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