USA Day 5 Washington

This trip was not similar to others I had experienced with the same company. It was more like having a driver to take you from place to place and the rest was up to you. I don't think this is how it should be but anyway this morning 7 of us met after breakfast to take the hotel shuttle to the nearest metro station. Buying tickets took us much longer than was necessary mainly because some of us were advised to get a Senior metro card which sounded a good idea but we had to find the distribution desk where all these forms were produced. As we were only in Washington for the day we decided this was not the best idea ever. We eventually got to the Capitol building which is having some renovation  done at the moment as you can see from the scaffolding. We went in via the visitors centre and then decided to split up. Trying to please all seven of us wasn't going to work so  we each moved off in twos and threes .

We hadn't pre booked a tour but one of the very helpful attendants got us onto the next one which started with a video. The content of the video was not what I was expecting. Being British I thought it would be similar to a short documentary on how the American Democratic process works but no, it was about patriotism and how all the States are different but share the same American ideals.

From there we were taken on an interesting walk around part of the building. The guide was very informative but as usual I am hopeless at remembering the facts.

The Hall of Columns with its numerous statues and 28 marble columns. Each State can donate two statues of their own choosing.

This is Rosa Parks who was instrumental in ending segregation.

Overlooking the Hall is Liberty with the Eagle

We were not taken into the Senate or House Chambers as I believe the public only enter the galleries of these when the either body is in session.

After the tour we walked across to the Congress Library. A truly magnificent building.

No building in Washington can be higher than the Capitol building. Stretching from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial is The Mall, a 2.5 mile grassy park. Alongside the Mall are the key symbols and memorials of the City. Only having one day to look around it was impossible to see everything so it was a choice between a Museum or the memorials. We chose the memorials and hopefully I will return to spend more time here one day.

It wasn't all about history and strolling through the sculpture park we admired some of the temporary modern  sculptures on display.

Stacking chairs

Red Horse

Graft

One place we had to see was of course the White House

Needless to say a photo was a must. This is myself with Doris from Switzerland. 












Security was high with police everywhere. 




(Don't tell anybody but I'm with the Secret Service!)

We walked a couple of blocks from the White House to get some lunch and noticed this older building totally surrounded by new high rise blocks.


After a large salad for lunch at the Founding Farmers we returned to the Mall and the Lincoln Memorial. Inside this memorial is a 6m high statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln.

Looking along the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial you can see the towering spire of the  Washington Monument. It is 155m high and surrounding by 50 American flags representing the 50 States.

This is the WW2 memorial

We then cught the metro to Eastern Market but unfortunately it was closed. It looked an interesting area.

This was away from the tourist spots and into the residential are. We had a brief look round then a stop at a coffee shop for tea and cakes before getting the metro back. Once back at the hotel we met up with the rest of the group in the bar and caught up on where everyone had been during the day.