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Published: November 21st 2006
God Bless America...
The Boys taking in the size of the Washington Monument, or according to Agent Frost "The Needle with which Bush F#%*'s America!"We arrived in Dulles international airport on Wednesday afternoon after an 'awesome' flight in on Virgin. 50 movies to choose from! Then onto a rather stressful time passing through 'Homeland Security' as Jona had left all his tickets on the plane, which was no longer accessible, so we had to wait 4 hours before we thankfully and luckily got them back.
We stayed in the International Hostel, $29 a night but 5 blocks from the White House and comfortable, free Showers. On our first day we were escorted around by a nice, enthusiastic US citizen, ex-pentagon, agent Frost... But you can call me AJ...
This was until we got separated after a failed rendezvous in the National Gallery of Classical Art. Sam went off with AJ on a tour of Congress and the Jefferson national congressional library whilst Alec and Jona sensitively waited for Sam, thinking that he probably wouldn't wonder off on his first day. Anyway we re-united later in the day and had a heated discussion about being punctual, about
loyalty and things like that.
The
Salute
A bit of a stereotypical american pose in front of an iconic American landmark.. Jefferson library by the way is fairly awe-inspiring. It charts the development and pre-eminence of western culture in sculpture, paintings and mosaics. All in a rather American and sensational, perhaps a little hokey way. But nevertheless still pretty 'awesome man'.
For example around the dome of the reading room are pictured 'former' great civilisations upon which the U.S. now stands; Egypt, Judea, Greece, 'The Middle Ages' (strange, I know), Italy, England (not Britain - sorry Scotland), France and America.
Later in the evening we joined a tour of the Adams-Morgan district. A culturally diverse community which apparently was at the heart of the American Civil Rights movement. Everyone else on the tour was quite a bit older than us which was perhaps the reason why we pealed off from the group in search of a beer.
After several rejections, 'I.D. 21 or over' we eventually got served, milking off our British accents. They're really strict about the alcohol thing. We felt like under-age 14 year-olds once again.
The following day we went back to the Mall and visited various dead Presidents. We all really enjoyed the Jefferson memorial. Then over the Potomac to the Arlington cemetery.
Chilling by the lake
across which lie the graves of dead presidents While we were there another dead soldier was being brought in on horse-back. Great views from the top. Long walk though. Everything is so big and far apart.
On the way home we passed by the White House which I (Sam) found particularly splendid. Such satisfying classical architecture, it looked both impressive and still house-like. It was a good day.
By the end of the second day we had got to grips with the lay-out of the city as here in D.C they don't use street names they just assign a street a letter of the alphabet, it is very much like a grid reference.
Yesterday we parted, Alec and I down to Richmond to stay with my Uncle Paul and Jona off to Vienna to see his Uncle Jerry. Alec and I had the pleasure of riding the Greyhound welcomed by 'Alphabet J (the driver) who welcomed us onto his 'Big Dog' heading all the way down to Charlotte, Georgia.
The coach was full and other than one other guy we were the only white people on board. En route someone's 'Cell' started ringing and big scary Alphabet J pulled the coach over and laid
A view along the Potomac River
That is the Washington monument on the left and Jefferson's on the right. down the law: "Hell no dog, you ridin the big dog with Alphabet J and I will not tolerate phones ringing. You got that got that cos if not you can get off right now n start walkin your ass back home. You got that punk! No turn it off! God Damn...."
We liked Alphabet J... He was authentic. We're living the dream...
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Deborah
non-member comment
Brilliant
Brilliant descriptions and photos. Keep up the good work!