Washington DC

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So we have now established that Washington DC is a district, not a state. We saw lots of number plates 'Taxation without representation' -'Go figure' as the Americans would say!

We loved this city. We were so excited to get to see how it was all laid out and it really feels like a capital city-like Paris or London where there is so much to do and see and you can just walk for miles and miles.

We had booked accommodation through airbandb.com where people either offer a room in their house or a seperate apartment for less than a hotel or motel. We managed to get an apartment about 5 miles out of the centre and only a 10 minute walk from the subway. The house was ina lovely, if a bit of a hippy, neighbourhood, but it was really safe and had nice bars and coffee shops. This was pretty good as the apartment had no TV or Wifi, in fact it only had an LP player and a TV from the 60s with a picture of the man on the moon on it!! Oh, and we had a little mouse for company the whole time we were there too!

We set about exploring the city and managed to get in pretty much all the sights, from the Washington monument, to the Lincoln Memorial and the World War 2 memorial and then we went up the Capitol Hill. The heat was a killer, as ever for us on this trip and we felt worthy of those hotdogs we got from the stand at the side of the road. Capitol Hill was amazing to see and it was cool that we could see it all from the Washington monument in the middle. It was great to imagine what it must have been like when Obama was being inaugurated and all those people were in front of the buildings.

We decided to save the White House for the next day and went to rest our feet in some of the bars on Seventh street. It was a city that was different from the other southern cities and had more of a vibe about it and the bars were all pretty busy with an after work crowd and other tourists.

The White House was worth the wait! Especially, as you can see from the picture, meeting the Obamas was a real treat (ha ha). It was great just to see it, though we wished we could have got a bit closer. I heard that they do tours but you have to arrange it in advance through your congrssman or the British Embassy. This day was notable for its thunderstorms, the first of which started upon our departure from the Museum of American history! At least the museum was worth the visit, especially the section on American presidents. After another day of walking for miles and miles we decided to have an early night, with chinese takeaway, and prepare for the long journey to Canada the next day-we were going back! And the car was going well...

The guy was waiting for us at check out the next morning, playing a nice Irish jig on the piano for us-weird at 8.30 in the morning, but friendly I suppose. An interesting host but it suited us perfectly to get a good bargain.

Our next stop, Niagara Falls...

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Comments

[Chris and Nikki]

This picture is fantastic, one of the best I've seen on Travelblog!