Washington, DC

Why hello, Mr Obama

Our two short days in Washington have probably been the most jam-packed and exhausting days yet. But so very worth it. Upon arriving (in the early hours of the morning) we met two nice guys at the hostel, one from Germany & one from Singapore. They came along with us to the Mall (main downtown area)- where we got our first look at the White House. We wandered around, trying to get a bearing for where everything was, and getting a bit of a taste of the city.

Vietnam memorial
point out towards
Washington monument

One of our new hostel friends informed us of a FREE walking tour. And we’ll take almost anything that’s free! It’s basically a retired teacher (history teacher, I presume) who takes you to all the major monuments & memorials, and tells you absolutely everything you could ever wish to have known. He was incredible.

Two major highlights for me were:

--The Vietnam War memorial- mainly because of the thought that had been put into the design. It’s angled the way it is so that each end points to a significant monument. The name of every person lost in Vietnam war is on it, in order of when they were taken. It’s incredible.

Lincoln Memorial

--The Lincoln memorial- because it’s so famous, it’s just awesome to see! Also, outside of it you can see right where Martin Luther King stood for his “I have a dream” speech, and where Forrest Gump was in the reflecting pool (which is currently just mud!)

On the tour he also told us about the Martin Luther King memorial that will be officially opening with a special service this Sunday. It is designed around his “I have a dream” speech. It’s meant to be a rock that has split in two with the gap symbolising hope for a way through. We saw it from a distance, but obviously we couldn’t go in.

After this tour, we spent most of our remaining day and a half in the museums- the Smithsonian is a bunch of museums..which are all FREE! We went to three of them: American History, Natural History & Air and Space. Natural History was by far the best (if you’ve seen the Night at the Museum movies, apparently one is set there). It is huge, you could spend hours upon hours there. We saw dinosaur skeletons, and animals from all over the world and all periods of time. We also spent a lot of time in the “Race” section; which looks in detail at how race and racism has affected America. It was a lot of individual stories, really really interesting.

We also we to Arlington (which is across the river in a whole different state!) The Arlington Cemetery is administered by the Army, and is where the Kennedy’s are buried. It also has the Tomb of the Unknowns. It’s got stunning views over the city as well.

JFK's gave, Etenal Flame,
and the Arlington House 

Luckily the weather has also been much kinder! Though its still about 30 degrees most days, there’s not as much humidity. Loving it.

Philadelphia tomorrow, then NEW YORK the next day!!!!