Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. is typical of the patrotic United States of America that is portrayed in Hollywood movies. The 'bigger is better' atitude, the wide open boulevards packed with gas guzzling cars, the 'throw away' society, the extravagance, the shear size of everything and the near worshipful reverance of fallen patriot Americans. Frightening at times? Certainly. But, boy, is it impressive!

I had four full days in Washington D.C. Whilst I was staying with my distant Canadian cousins, the Theilmanns. They were superb hosts and I can't thank them enough for their exceptional hospitality. This is a photo of (from left to right) Mike, Maren, Kate and me (elder daughter Lily was away at university).

I arrived late Saturday night and on Sunday I was allowed to indulge in my personal interests and so was taken to see the very impressive, nearly 7km long, Chesapeake Bay Bridge! =D

As we were out that way already we also visited a beautiful nature reserve on the shores of the Potomac (CHECK) River and wandered through the rather nice, historic, town of Annapolis.

The next day I slept in and so only arrived at Arlington Cemetery at about midday. This is a national cemetery where thousands of American 'heroes' are buried.

Mostly this means those killed at war but I also saw the eternal flame at John F. Kennedy's grave and the memorials to those who died in the tragic ends to the space shuttles Challenger (YEAR) and Columbia (YEAR). Also here is the well known Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I must confess that I didn't actually like Arlington Cemetery. Whilst no grave site is a happy place it seemed to me that the whole place is less about 'lest we forget' and more about glorifying those buried there. To me that's glorifying war and that just makes it even sadder.

Putting that all behind me I then went to see the Pentagon, just cause. No photos allowed and surprisingly enough I wasn't allowed in either. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and so didn't ask anyone which bit the plane hit =P

Next up was the Smithsonian Museums. If you're not already aware, the Smithsonian museums are probably the largest collection of stuff in the world! Spread over about a dozen or so buildings, most of which are individually bigger than the Auckland Museum, they cover everything housing masterpieces of art to complete dinosaur skeletons to the re-entry pod of Apollo 11! If you like Museums and have not visited the Smithsonians then you've not lived. Oh, and did I mention that they're all free? I indulged my inner child by visiting the Natural History Museum and checking out the dinosaurs =)

To put things briefly out of chronological order, the last thing I did was visit the Smithsonian National Aerospace Museum. It was soooooo awesome!!! I only got halfway through the museum when all of a sudden it was closing time and I'd been there for five hours. Not to mention the fact that there's a second part of the museum out by the airport where the have a whole bunch of stuff in a big hanger. Fantastic!

Whilst the Museums are fantastic, Washington is, of course, most famous for being the Capital of the USA. The government buildings, memorials and monuments are incredible. With a mild obsession with neo-classical architecture the Americans have constructed some magnificent, albeit unorigional, buildings. Photos are always the best descriptions in this case and here's a summary of some of my favourites:

Capitol Hill (where the Senate sits etc.) also shown in the first photo of this blog entry.

The reflecting pool (as seen in Forrest Gump!) with the Lincoln Memorial at the back and the WWII memorial at the front.

If you don't recognise this one you've obviously been living in a cave for the last 100 years. (Which begs the question how come you have access to this blog if you've been living in a cave?)

The Washington Monument.

Washington is a really interesting place to visit and I had a great time there. I'm glad I've been but I don't think it's a must 'revisit' kinda place. Well, perhaps to go and see more of the Aerospace Museum! =)