Where to start!!
Washington DC is the US capital, a beautiful city on the Potomac River. It is defined by imposing neoclassical monuments, buildings and museums - thousands of them – including iconic ones such as the White House and Capital building. I love museums and macarbly, grave yards, so I was excited to explore this city.
We had 2 days to see as much as possible, if we had 2 years, I still don’t think we would have got through all the places of interest to visit. We thought the best place to start was the Big Bus tour. The red line took us around the buildings and museums and the blue line to Virginia - the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. We ran out of time to do the yellow route.
The buildings are really very beautiful, I think my favorite was the Capital building with its large dome topped with the lady freedom statue. Arguably, the most ugly building was the FBI building. In between are large buildings housing everything from the Red Cross to the Pensioners Department, to the Navy and so on, it is a town filled with civil servants. There are also thousands of statues, some of famous people but most we had no clue of what their claim to fame was.
The museums are mind blowing and most you need at least a day to explore. There are museums for everything from the Bible Museum to the Smithsonians, which are all free and amazing. We loved the Air and Space Museum, voted one of the top 5 museums in the world. Another interesting museum was one on the White House, conveniently situated across the road from our hotel.
A memorable stop was at the Lincoln Memorial, everything is so big here and the iconic statue of Lincoln, sitting in his chair, is no exception. From the memorial you get a great view of the obelisk like Washington Monument across the long rectangular reflecting pool. This monument is said to be the tallest free standing structure in the world, it is still however, shorter than the Eiffel Tower (useless fact). From there we wondered down to the Vietnam Vet memorial – a semi submerged wall with the names of all who died in that terrible war. My favorite statue was a giant one of Albert Einstein in front of the Department of Science.
I think the most most profound of our visits was the Arlington National Cemetery. We went on a guided tour around this pristinely kept property, the final resting place for over 400 000 active duty service members, veterans and their families. Steeped in history, the scenic landscape is a living shrine or honour the fallen.
The Big Bus companies have been a great way to see the cities we have visited. They also come with frustrations, at times. In New York our driver went through a red robot and slammed on brakes, narrowly missing a car. In Washington, a car side swiped us at a busy intersection, the driver had a cracked side mirror and there was no damage to the bus. The driver however insisted that we stay on the bus and wait for the police to arrive. After a 45 minute wait in the boiling sun we were allowed to board another bus. Also, the promised 15 minute wait at a stop, can be a whole lot longer.
On our second night in Washington we decided to eat at the restaurant of our hotel, it was on the side walk and we had a really pleasant evening watching the passing parade. Before dinner we had drinks at the roof top bar. This trendy place was definitely a meeting place for young professionals and the place to be seen. The views over Washington were spectacular. At first I was a little reserved about this trendy hotel with its funky murals, bright lights and discretely packed sex item among the nuts and chocolates in our room but it has turned out to be wonderful – it was fun, hip, the staff were amazing and best of all it was in a great location.
On our last night in DC we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant and on our stroll home we stopped for ice creams. We ordered small tubs and these contained 4 scoops. Everything is BIG here but my choc chip/cookie dough/peanut butter cup Ice cream was delicious. We walked passed the South side of the White House as the sun was setting.
Washington was a great place to visit.
Washington DC is the US capital, a beautiful city on the Potomac River. It is defined by imposing neoclassical monuments, buildings and museums - thousands of them – including iconic ones such as the White House and Capital building. I love museums and macarbly, grave yards, so I was excited to explore this city.
We had 2 days to see as much as possible, if we had 2 years, I still don’t think we would have got through all the places of interest to visit. We thought the best place to start was the Big Bus tour. The red line took us around the buildings and museums and the blue line to Virginia - the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. We ran out of time to do the yellow route.
The buildings are really very beautiful, I think my favorite was the Capital building with its large dome topped with the lady freedom statue. Arguably, the most ugly building was the FBI building. In between are large buildings housing everything from the Red Cross to the Pensioners Department, to the Navy and so on, it is a town filled with civil servants. There are also thousands of statues, some of famous people but most we had no clue of what their claim to fame was.
The museums are mind blowing and most you need at least a day to explore. There are museums for everything from the Bible Museum to the Smithsonians, which are all free and amazing. We loved the Air and Space Museum, voted one of the top 5 museums in the world. Another interesting museum was one on the White House, conveniently situated across the road from our hotel.
A memorable stop was at the Lincoln Memorial, everything is so big here and the iconic statue of Lincoln, sitting in his chair, is no exception. From the memorial you get a great view of the obelisk like Washington Monument across the long rectangular reflecting pool. This monument is said to be the tallest free standing structure in the world, it is still however, shorter than the Eiffel Tower (useless fact). From there we wondered down to the Vietnam Vet memorial – a semi submerged wall with the names of all who died in that terrible war. My favorite statue was a giant one of Albert Einstein in front of the Department of Science.
I think the most most profound of our visits was the Arlington National Cemetery. We went on a guided tour around this pristinely kept property, the final resting place for over 400 000 active duty service members, veterans and their families. Steeped in history, the scenic landscape is a living shrine or honour the fallen.
The Big Bus companies have been a great way to see the cities we have visited. They also come with frustrations, at times. In New York our driver went through a red robot and slammed on brakes, narrowly missing a car. In Washington, a car side swiped us at a busy intersection, the driver had a cracked side mirror and there was no damage to the bus. The driver however insisted that we stay on the bus and wait for the police to arrive. After a 45 minute wait in the boiling sun we were allowed to board another bus. Also, the promised 15 minute wait at a stop, can be a whole lot longer.
On our second night in Washington we decided to eat at the restaurant of our hotel, it was on the side walk and we had a really pleasant evening watching the passing parade. Before dinner we had drinks at the roof top bar. This trendy place was definitely a meeting place for young professionals and the place to be seen. The views over Washington were spectacular. At first I was a little reserved about this trendy hotel with its funky murals, bright lights and discretely packed sex item among the nuts and chocolates in our room but it has turned out to be wonderful – it was fun, hip, the staff were amazing and best of all it was in a great location.
On our last night in DC we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant and on our stroll home we stopped for ice creams. We ordered small tubs and these contained 4 scoops. Everything is BIG here but my choc chip/cookie dough/peanut butter cup Ice cream was delicious. We walked passed the South side of the White House as the sun was setting.
Washington was a great place to visit.
Hope you were able to keep your composure at the cemetery? I cried!!!
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