Philadelphia Travel Facts & Trivia
Ghost tours, cheese steak, Congress, Civil War Library & Hanks
Pennsylvania, USA: Information and statistics on the Museum of Art, Rocky's steps, Declaration of Independence, Liberty Hall, Italian market, oldest zoo & more.
The historic city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, has plenty of tourist attractions with which to keep visitors amused. If you are planning to travel there, here are some facts, trivia and information snippets which may come in handy.
- Fans of iconic boxing movie Rocky are practically obliged to take a run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, just like Sylvester Stallone’s character does in one of those interminable training montages. Anyone caught humming Eye of the Tiger will probably get a few funny looks, however.
- The city’s most famous dish is Philly Cheese Steak. It’d be rude not to.
- As you’d expect from a place with so much history, Philadelphia is supposedly very haunted. If you want to go phantom hunting, then never fear, as there are ghost tours available for visitors.
- Philadelphia’s city zoo is the oldest zoo in the United States.
- Independence Square was where the Declaration of Independence was first read, while the Independence Hall was where the (then) 13 colonies agreed to break their ties with Britain. Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten version of the declaration can be found in Liberty Hall.
- The Congress Hall was where Congress met in the brief period in which Philadelphia was the US capital.
- Those who like their shopping to have historic edge should head to the Italian market – it is the oldest outdoor market in the whole of the States.
- If you’re a megalomaniac with delusions of power, or simply think you could do a better job of bungling your way across world politics than the much-loved George W Bush, then head to the National Constitution Centre. Admittedly, the exhibitions are a little earnest and forthright, but you can sign yourself in as president. You’ll not get your own room in the White House or a private jet, though – it’s not legally binding…
- Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of a lawyer with AIDS in the film named after the city. The main song from the film, Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia, was a major hit for The Boss worldwide.
- Philadelphia’s Philosophical Hall has attracted the likes of Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Benjamin Franklin as members over the years.
- If you’d like to learn more about that little tiff between Generals Washington and Lee from a few years back, then head to the Civil War Library and Museum. This has plenty of information on the scrap between the Union and the Confederacy.
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