Washington DC - Museums and The Mall

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As I made my way to the William Penn House, I was unsure what laid instore for me. I knew before I booked this accomodation that it wasn't your average hostel. This hostel was run by Quakers - now I am not really knowledgeable about the Quaker religion.....but their office hours were 8am to 9pm, they have morning prayer (silent meditation) at 7.30am and quiet hours from 10pm to 8am. As you can imagine it wasn't really a hotbed of sin and debauchery. I was expecting a recruitment drive, but fortunately, none was forthcoming. The building and garden had anti war slogans dotted around the place, and it was obvious that there were many religous bods around, but to my surprise, all in all it was a pleasant stay - with one drawback..... What I did find extreme was the 12 female beds to 1 bathroom......Criminal :-)
Because of my early arrival I was unable to check into my room until midday.....so with matchsticks propping open my eyes I set about exploring Washington DC. Fortunately the hostel was only 4 blocks from the Capitol building (the big dome you see on all the news reports) so pretty central and safe to walk around at night.
The first thing that struck me was how small the Whitehouse is....it's titchy, and you can almost walk up to the front door....admittedly if you did that, you would probably be shot by the rooftop snipers and questions would be asked later!. I also spotted the odd sniffer dog with hunky policeman.....hmmmn wonder if you would get arrested for stalking a policeman????? Didn't see George W Bush though....phew what a relief!
Also, because Regan International airport is a short distance away there is a constant stream of aircraft flying over...and low over - you can almost see the people sitting on the plane....it's that low - which again is very strange especially after 9/11.
Washington is a great place to stay because all the museums are free (not much good if you don't like museums) so excellent on the old budget. I did splurg out on 1 museum entrance.....I went to the Spy Museum.....it was soooo cool. They had gadgets and gizmos from CIA and KGB days, radio transmitters, bugs and believe it or not rectal tool kits (I will leave you to imagine the rest). I spent 3 interesting hours there and even bought the t-shirt (I know....I'm a geek).
Oh I forgot to mention May is the month when all the school children from all over America visit Washington on their school trips......As you can appreciate there are literally hundreds of the little darlings.........and me hmmmmn!
The Mall which extends from the Capitol building to the Lincoln Memorial is 2 miles long, which doesn't seem long....but if you walk this 6 times a day for 3 days.....it begins to play havoc with your feet!!!!!
It appeared that Washington was geering up for their equivilant to the Norfolk/ Suffolk show - there were marques being built all along the Mall. For our shows we have sheep dog demonstrations and tractors. In true Washington style they have....attack helicopters, tanks and rocket launchers!!!
Washington is a very serious city......all suits and business. Protest is accepted here, so long as it is a comfortable distance away from those in charge. American's are not happy people, especially with George Bush.....I listened to 3 women whilst waiting for my bus to Savannah. The price of petrol is going up and the middle class are being penalised....so the gap between upper and lower class is growing.....sound familiar????? It was funny to watch those women talk....giving at all with the arm movements, the 'hmmmmms, that's what I'm talkin about' and 'you go girl'......I felt I had just walked into a Shaft movie....
The bus to Savannah was the worst yet, not because I felt unsafe.....(I did have some teenager try and hit on me - I just ignored him and he finally got the message) but because I had to change buses 3 times and once at 3 in the morning.....they don't tell you that when you book!

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