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Published: November 24th 2006
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Achtung, baby.
nearest the camera is our German friend, Sebastien. There you go Seb, I gave you a shout out! Great blogging Chris, well done.
Of course, not all of DC's sights are so well known. The nearby towns of Georgetown and Dupont Circle, for example, exhibit some fine architecture, not to mention a few bars. They also provide a (temporary) home to some colourful characters. Let me explain...
Keen to sample some nightlife after uncharacteristically ODing on history and culture, Veg and I signed up for a couple of tours of said villages with the promise of a drink in a local bar afterwards. There we were, trotting around after our tour guide with Australians, Koreans, Germans, the whole kaboodle. Without our special "energy juice" (alcohol) the strength to lift our heads and admire the scenery on yet another bunyan-inducing trek escaped us. In fact, the only exciting bit of goss in Georgetown was a recent sighting of the Iron Lady Maggie Thatcher in town (perhaps there for one of Diddy's sick parties).
But material began to present itself during our tour of Dupont Circle. When the group stopped to admire a sculpture of the iconic Mahatma Ghandi, a nearby photography enthusiast latched onto us. He wasn't from the hostel, or any other fixed abode judging by
Muscles like Atlas
Veg propping up the monument with all his might his general level of hygiene. He was a heavy set gentleman with a big-ass beard, one might liken him to Santa Claus, only not such a snappy dresser. I first noticed him taking snaps of an attractive young lady without her permission...oo-er, alarm bells started ringing in my head! No sooner had the hapless victim made a hasty and disgusted exit than old boy clocked me and made a beeline straight for the group! He stood and waited patiently for our tour guide Mark to finish his short speech about the Ghandi statue before piping up with:
"I saw someone in Prague who looked just like him, maybe he has children - God willing, I hope he does."
Whether he was talking about Mark or Ghandi is a mystery but unfortunately some of the magic of this moment will be lost in translation due to much of the humour lying in his unique voice. It was kind of like a strained mix between Bill Cosby and the squeaky-voiced teen from the Simpsons. Better yet, when Mark was telling us about the legacy of Dupont Circle's most expensive building and it's owners, he asked
"By any chance were
Iwo Jima
Yes, I know there's one already but it's just such a rad shot they related to the Cincinattists?"
This flummoxed Mark, who was obviously not used to getting questions from the drobes that had turned up solely for the post-tour booze, and he reasoned that he always believed Cincinatti to be a city. Beardo was adamant, going on a 30 second rant explaining who they were and what they did without pausing for breath. I wikipedia'd it and can't find diddly squat...maybe I'm spelling it wrong? If anyone has any clue what he may have been drumming on about please get in contact and enlighten me. But in short, this guy was barking. He followed the group as we continued and genuinely was taking snaps of members of the group (as opposed to the sights), saying crap like "Wow! What a great shot! Pity there's no film in this camera." After about ten minutes he had had his fill and moved on. Some disagree that he was homeless but either way he was very entertaining. Unfortunately though, I didn't have the wherewithall to bring my digital camera along so this blog will include no pics of him or the night in question (mate - if somehow you're reading this, add a comment
Inside the Capitol Building
we found this guy...is it just me or does he bare a striking resemblance to Rio Ferdinand? on how to get access to those pics. I'll make it worth your while with a shiny nickle.), so you'll have to make do with further pictures of the capital's sights and a few shots of one of the other nights out - enjoy! Over to you, vegy...
Not much to say Leo son. Went to a lil district called Adams Morgan after a gruelling walk around Georgetown, here we indulged in a few sly ale's. Of course a night isn't complete without someone making a fool of themselves and im happy to say that on this night it wasn't me... well i wasn't the biggest fool. After being stood at a bar in a club that none of the tour group wanted to be stationed at a few of us were beginning to get bored. The usual mish mash of R 'N' B and 'Gangsta Rap' blazed out of the speakers and the club was empty, myself and Liam were stooped over the bar laughing anda joking with a guy from Oz and a bird from Oz. The convo started drifting towards the subject of dancing, uh oh. Id had a few drinks and was feeling probably a bit to confident, then it happened, the guy from Oz ordered me and the girl from Oz to have a dance off. Obviously she thought it'd be a piece of cake, i mean look at me im a 6ft 5 gangly white english giant with no apparant skills. Little did she know i was feeling brave (and pissed). She starts off with some simple body popping and some other stuff then hands it over to me. Wham i hit her with some better body pops and a brush of the shoulder. Poor girl wasnt expecting it and she now realised she had leaped feet first into the deep end. Obviously in a state of shock she gives it her best shot performing all her best moves (which included big fish little fish cardboard box ... oh dear). The rest of the group are watching now, half of them with a looks of mild interest, the other half with looks of disgust. So i issue a bit of the old straight-out-of-the-the-not-so-distant-future-of-1999 robot followed by the simple yet classic 'driving the bus'. However i put a new spin on the classic by reverse parking the bus, this sent shockwaves through the now gathering crowd of 10 tourists. The girl (i think her name was Sarah) was lost, she repeated some previous moves and went for the male vote with a chest wiggle. If i killed her with my last routine then i certainly put the nail in the coffin with the finale. Sticking perfectly with the beat i strolled up to her, paused .... then done the most perfect gliding moonwalk of my life back to the bar and downed my beer. Im not joking, some of the crowd cheered and clapped and i swear i heard one say "oh shit, did you see that shit, he floated man!". All in all a good night out, she lost the dance off and despite winning i lost some respect (mainly from Liam). We moved onto the next bar and had a jolly ol' knees up. Night time walking tours are actually a perfect way of meeting people who you'll never see again and making a complete tit out of yourself.
See you next time kids
Liam followed by Chris
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