The origin of the US

After coming to the US, I knew that federal government was created in Philadelphia, not in Washington DC.

Actually I came to the US without learning American history or geography.

Umm, how odd I am!

So today I was in historical area mostly.


Well, I saw the Liberty Bell first.

It is used with the speech of the Declaration of the Independence in July 8th, 1776 .

It is about 250 years old, and it is obviously old because it has slash.

People around the world seem to come to see this bell for freedom~~



After that, I attended Independence Hall tour (free!).

Here many guys like Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson gathered and thought about first US Constitution.

There are also a original Congress and Supreme Court in this building.

Compared to current Congress, this is much smaller!!

Although this is designated as a World Heritage site, it is repaired a lot and I can see a lot of new material, sad to say.

At the opposite side of Independence Hall, there is a National Constitution Center!

This exhibition about Constitution was interesting for me, but a little difficult.

Later, I went to Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I was surprised about this huge building.

There I found Japanese tearoom. 
♪

I could smell tatami-mat. It reminded meabout Japanese style room.

Oh, I haven’t sat down on tatami-mat for along time…

Tatami-scent always makes me calm and comfortable.

Because this museum is such a big museum and attractive for me, I spent long time here, so I had to hurry up for the bus bound for New York.

I arrived bus stop just before bus leaving....



Now I am staying at a hostel in the west of Central Park.

I will stay in New York until Sunday!