If you enter a city center by subway, it’s always a surprise what you will see when you pop your head above the ground. While Philadelphia’s subway is a story to itself, the first impression of Independence Hall isn’t too grand either. I turned my head around and saw the visitor's center and blinking skyscrapers. So where’s Independence Hall? Ah, it must be that little brick building with the bell tower!

These ‘tiny’ colonial buildings are completely dwarfed by later constructions. Clearly no building restrictions here. There’s also a huge modern terminal to hold … one bell!

Free tickets to visit Independence Hall can be picked up at the visitors center. These will include a specific time slot, as the tours fill up quickly. My visit was scheduled for 1 pm, and I was bundled into a group with about 80 others. We first had to sit through a speech by a park ranger (a park ranger at a historic monument? Yes – this site is managed by the National Park Service). Then we went into the Hall itself. On the ground floor, there are two rooms. They are filled with period furniture. One was the former courtroom, and the other the assembly room. This is where it all happened, the discussions among the Second Continental Congress and the signing of the documents.

The area now called Independence National Historical Park has a couple more relics from the same period. Liberty Bell of course, and the pretty Library Hall. In all, it’s an important site in the US and World History but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I visited the National Mall in Washington a couple of days before and felt that Philadelphia really lacks that grand atmosphere of a (former) capital.