We arrived in Washington at about 11am on Friday morning. It was such a relief to be off that bus. Rather than take the metro to our hostel, following the direction we had been given, we took the lazy option and paid for a taxi instead.
We were glad for the decision, because our driver was a pool of knowledge. He told us which metro stops we should use, where to go for food, where to go for attractions- pretty much everything you could think of about the capital of the United States of America.
After getting to the hostel which although located in the outskirts of the city, and appeared to be a home for down-and-outs, wasn’t too bad for the price we were paying. It was just over the road from the metro into town, and the beds weren’t too uncomfortable.
On the first day we just went for a wonder around. We got off at the Union Station metro stop, and were bowled over with the grandeur of all the buildings. As we stepped out of the massive train station, and admittedly into the rain, we could see Capitol Hill. I was a bit building-struck (like star-struck but for famous buildings) and it was even more impressive as we got closer. We would have stayed longer to admire the architecture, but the weather was a problem.
As the rain kept pummelling down, we braved a quick look at the White House, where I was in awe once again, and also took some photographs of the Washington Memorial, which was striking with the lights and angry sky as a backdrop.
We stayed inside and tried out the American movie theatre experience. Apparently it isn’t rude to keep talking through films over here, and shout things at the screen like “dang!” and “oh no she did not just do that!”
We had an early night on our first evening, because we had so little sleep the night before.
Day two was more of the same. Finally we had some weather which wasn’t freezing or snowing, and we loved it! We revisited the Capitol, admiring all the spectacular government buildings along the way. We sat for coffee in garden of the National Gallery of Art, which left us in a relaxed mood with the sounds of jazz in our ears, and calm from observing all the sculptures in the garden, which surrounded a quaint ice-rink.
For the rest of the day we took in the entire Mall. It is the vast stretch of grass, monuments and lakes between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. It doesn’t seem much when you can see from one end to the other, but it took us hours! The World War Two memorial was a sight. It had only been created in 2004, and symbolised all those lives lost in the war of 1939-45. We made our way up to the Lincoln Memorial, passing the pool of reflection, which looked like stormy seas in the wind.
We observed President Abraham sitting in his seat, with the words of the Constitution to his left and his own speech to his right. The view from the steps of his Memorial was enough to take in almost the whole city. It was a stark contrast to the high rise of New York, with no skyscrapers to be seen at all.
After we had seen all the memorials and buildings, we had to eat. As we sat with our ridiculously large portions of chicken wings, hummus, club sandwich and Caesar salad, we were amazed at what happened next. Wave after wave of policemen went past, closing off the road that was running next to the restaurant. And then there were black jeeps, police motorcycles (in pairs) and then a particular Presidential motorcade! It was quite a feeling to be close to the most famous (or infamous) man on the planet for just a brief moment!
We were glad for the decision, because our driver was a pool of knowledge. He told us which metro stops we should use, where to go for food, where to go for attractions- pretty much everything you could think of about the capital of the United States of America.
After getting to the hostel which although located in the outskirts of the city, and appeared to be a home for down-and-outs, wasn’t too bad for the price we were paying. It was just over the road from the metro into town, and the beds weren’t too uncomfortable.
On the first day we just went for a wonder around. We got off at the Union Station metro stop, and were bowled over with the grandeur of all the buildings. As we stepped out of the massive train station, and admittedly into the rain, we could see Capitol Hill. I was a bit building-struck (like star-struck but for famous buildings) and it was even more impressive as we got closer. We would have stayed longer to admire the architecture, but the weather was a problem.
As the rain kept pummelling down, we braved a quick look at the White House, where I was in awe once again, and also took some photographs of the Washington Memorial, which was striking with the lights and angry sky as a backdrop.
We stayed inside and tried out the American movie theatre experience. Apparently it isn’t rude to keep talking through films over here, and shout things at the screen like “dang!” and “oh no she did not just do that!”
We had an early night on our first evening, because we had so little sleep the night before.
Day two was more of the same. Finally we had some weather which wasn’t freezing or snowing, and we loved it! We revisited the Capitol, admiring all the spectacular government buildings along the way. We sat for coffee in garden of the National Gallery of Art, which left us in a relaxed mood with the sounds of jazz in our ears, and calm from observing all the sculptures in the garden, which surrounded a quaint ice-rink.
For the rest of the day we took in the entire Mall. It is the vast stretch of grass, monuments and lakes between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. It doesn’t seem much when you can see from one end to the other, but it took us hours! The World War Two memorial was a sight. It had only been created in 2004, and symbolised all those lives lost in the war of 1939-45. We made our way up to the Lincoln Memorial, passing the pool of reflection, which looked like stormy seas in the wind.
We observed President Abraham sitting in his seat, with the words of the Constitution to his left and his own speech to his right. The view from the steps of his Memorial was enough to take in almost the whole city. It was a stark contrast to the high rise of New York, with no skyscrapers to be seen at all.
After we had seen all the memorials and buildings, we had to eat. As we sat with our ridiculously large portions of chicken wings, hummus, club sandwich and Caesar salad, we were amazed at what happened next. Wave after wave of policemen went past, closing off the road that was running next to the restaurant. And then there were black jeeps, police motorcycles (in pairs) and then a particular Presidential motorcade! It was quite a feeling to be close to the most famous (or infamous) man on the planet for just a brief moment!
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