Sorry about no blog yesterday (it’s below this one now), you’re getting two in one night because I refused to pay the Hilton’s extortionate internet charges (and they’ve somehow stopped laptops connecting to the unsecured networks in the area). Anyway, I’ve bit the bullet and paid for half hour use to upload these two blogs ($5 straight into Paris’s pocket no doubt).
Anyway, headed straight to Union Station to pick up some sightseeing tour tickets and after parting with a fist-full of dollars quickly realised that we’d booked the shittest of the three available. Instead of a human tour guide, a pre-recorded CD blurted out the landmarks (telling us every three minutes to remain seated at all times) completely out of synch with what was happening out of the window. Quickly got fed up of that and jumped off at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
After the brilliant USS Intrepid back in New York, we found this one a little tame, although the space rockets and artefacts from various missions was pretty good. The place was again full of kids like The Franklin Museum, so couldn’t get my hands on any of the interactive exhibits. There were a lot of war-related exhibits in there which severely undermined the role the R.A.F played in the skies during WWI and WWII. That’s America for you though, but you still can’t help but be impressed with artillery and machines they put together. By the end of it we felt a little exhausted of aerospace museums for one holiday, so waited for the shitty bus to get us again.
This took a while and when it finally came we managed to get a seat upstairs. Big mistake really, the wind chill factor here is something ridiculously low and we froze. Never mind eh? The bus took us past a number of amazing sounding museums (mind you they could have been four miles down the road with the dodgy commentary) and then on to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Another amazing looking statue encased in a Greek styled pantheon was to be found, set in the grounds of the pretty cherry blossom trees (there’s some big cherry blossom festival on at the minute everyone’s getting excited about). We’ll take a closer look at that tomorrow I’d imagine.
Grabbed some lunch in the heart of the city in a huge food court and then made the short walk to the White House where the President had just arrived back to today. You can’t get anywhere near the place, although I did get some good shots through the fencing. A policeman then ordered everybody away from the gates and across the road as something must have been happening in there. We hung around for ten minutes, but no sign of ode Barack. Poor love must be knackered from all that travelling he’s been doing (know the feeling boss).
We then made the walk around some of America’s most famous monuments. Firstly we trekked back up to that Washington Monument again (you need tickets to get up it though which were all gone, but got some nice shots of the White House from a distance and the Lincoln Memorial to the other side. We then made the famed walk along the Reflecting Pool and up those famous steps where Dr. King made that speech, also taking in the impressive World War II Memorial. Got some brilliant shots of the National Mall monuments from here before going into see old Abraham himself, who was sitting majestically on a chair – one of the most stunning statues you’re ever likely to see. The adjoining Korean War Memorial was my favourite of the lot; a bizarre and transcendent scene set by life-size statues of alert soldiers about to step into combat.
As part of our sightseeing passes, we were allowed to go on a night-time tour of the city’s sights. Although it was cold, we were up for it; that was until the first bus we needed came to get us. We waited what felt like an eternity (the two other company’s buses arrived five times before one of ours) and sat on the back seats on the lower deck. The audio commentary was still completely out of synch with the surroundings and the petrol fumes were massively intoxicating, so much so it put me to sleep and made the poor Irish one physically sick in the Union Street bogs! There’s no point in complaining to staff at these places (they don’t understand our accents or care) and anyway, how can smokers complain of dirty air eh!?
I felt completely knackered after inhaling half a tanks worth of ‘gas’ and suggested an early night and a good drink up (which is what I’m doing now). Don’t think myself or Small Irish are completely endeared to Washington D.C. It’s very formal compared to New York and Philadelphia, but that was to be expected I guess and all the tourists and overly spoilt American children are starting to get on my nerves! Bit moany this entry isn’t it? Don’t let that fool you, we’re having the time of our lives.
