McDOnalds at the Museum also did still lemonade, which made a pleasant change.

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Strangely, I seemed as tired in Washington DC as all the cyclists and Rob who had done plenty of driving before we got there. On the first full day there, as Neil and Leo rested at the motel the rest of us headed into the centre. I was hoping to steal a load of useful information about where we went and what we did from Rob´s blog but it would appear that I am now ahead of him so these details may be a little sketchy. I walked around in a daze on the first day, sleepy from the sun and a long fortnights travelling. To sum up the group attitude, Andy said, ´all I want to do is go back to the Motel and read Harry Potter´. Al had finished his copy by the morning of the second day. The first day was a Sunday and on weekends DC is dead. Museums and stuff were open and you could look at all the things that didn´t require you to go inside anything but there were few real people around and tramps seemed to outnumber cars. On Monday more things were open and the city was much busier in general but the gents all stayed in bed until about 1pm whilst I sorted out all the bits I needed to do for my next leg of the trip. We walked past the Capitol Buildings, where Congress meets, saw the High Court (or whatever it is called) and popped into the Library of Congress which had a few very dull exhibitions on, one of which was about Bob Hope. The expanses of ceilings were quite impressive however, all mosaiced and full of snippets from wise men. Unfortunately I was too dopey that day to have picked up my notebook or I would have written some down but I don´t want to repeat any now for fear of misquoting which would be a crime indeed.

All these buildings, up at one end of a big crusifix like cross were quite impressive. They were all in the classical style and pretty big and white. Statues, pillars, grand old staircases etc. I´m sure Rob will put some photos of them online. At the other end of the cross, nearly two miles away past the pond thing where they have a protest in Forest Gump, is the Lincoln memorial. Lincoln, for the unenlighted, was the man who saved the union, beat the southern states and abolished slavery. Martin Luther King made a famous speech from the steps of this memorial. Lincoln is sitting on a big seat looking ominous. It was worth a look. Nearby are the WW2, Korean and Vietnam war memorials. The veterans had to raise money for the Vietnam memorial themselves becuase the government refused to build one which I thought wasn´t very appreciative. The Korean one was best because it had a load of lifesize model soldiers and a wall of marble with pictures etched in to it. The Vietnam one was a bit dull but more moving as all the names of the dead were listed on one wall. There were lots - I´m sure Rob knows the exact number. Now I no longer have quite so much time to waste waiting for the others in one place or another and I have less time on computers and no guide book on the USA and no Rob to consult on trivia, may blogging may well become less informative I am afraid. The World War Two one did not impress my companions but I quite liked it. It was suitably big, had a lot of nice fountains, important in any memorial, it listed every state or US colony that took part, listed various different fronts and honoured other allied powers too. It was all set out in a vauge geographic way as well, with different fronts or different allies clustered together. The White House looked like at does on telly.

We visited the massive Smithsonian complex of museums briefly. I was with three engineers so we visited the Museum of Air and Space but thankfully they were all feeling too lazy to pursue it´s depths for all that long. They had a couple of massive nuclear missles, one Soviet and one US. Rob popped into McDonalds for some Chicken Nuggets, having passed up on the wrap the other engineers and I had for breakfast/lunch. We were in Union station, which was a grand old station, more like a Greek temple than a station. Indeed it was based on one and had statues of soldiers high up at the top of pillars. It also closely resembled a shopping centre with parts dedicated solely to shopping. The wraps were fantastic. I had about half a chicken in mine along with spinach, swiss cheese and lots of other tasty bits. It was about as fat as a clenched fist viewed side on and there were two of them. The McDOnalds at the Museum also did still lemonade, which made a pleasant change.

The only other thing of note that I can remember is the Galludet University which we discovered on out post Wendy´s exploration was very close to our hostel indeed. It is the only university in the world (or at least in America) where they teach in sign language and there is a lot of research done into deaf issues here. I didn´t get a proper look at the campus but it didn´t like as nice, or as big, as videos and pictures of it had made it out to be.

The District of Columbia has a strange status. It is the capital of the United Stated but as it is not actually a state (and therefore impartial within the federation) it cannot vote in elections for either the Senate or the House of Representatives. Many of the number plates have the slogan´taxation without representation´ written on them.

More will follow on my leaving the states soon, thanks to all those of you who have wished me will for the next leg of my trip including Mrs Cowen, Mr and Mrs Creamer and Lynn, although I can assure the latter that I have not been entirely abandoned and am in contact with family and friends by email, facebook etc. Mr and Mrs Crimes, Sanders and Good have been struck off my Christmas card list.

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Comments

[Kate]

Gosh
Gallaudet!! Was there a protest still?

[Ed of the Americas]

Galludet
To be honest, I really didn´t get a proper like. But I imagine not as they are all on their summer vacation. I thought that was sorted out a while ago though? Let me know if I´m wrong I don´t have time to look it up realy.