Washington, D.C. is a fairly unbelievable place. It is home to both SO much past history and where new history is made every single day. The buildings are stunning with so many to look at in every direction that it can be a little overwhelming.
The long:
Monday:
We arrived at our hostel at just gone 2pm and quite literally dropped our bags off before turning around and heading straight back out of the door again. I had booked Thomas and I on the last tour of the day of the U.S. Capitol, starting at 3:10pm, and it was a fair sized walk to get to where we needed to be. We walked along the National Mall to the Capitol, taking in the various beautiful buildings that we passed, which aren't even meant to capture your attention or draw any kind of crowd.
The U.S. Capitol is incredibly impressive, in terms of both its exterior and interior.
Unfortunately it was just our tourist luck and the infamous dome was under construction (and will be for the better part of the next 2 years whilst it is refurbished and repainted). Once we actually managed to get inside the building (they tried to confiscate my figs creating a bit of a stand-off, which I'm more than pleased to say I won), the tour was very insightful and fairly interesting, although I may have zoned out once or twice (slightly too historical, and dare I say arrogant, for me). The Capitol was once where every presidential decision was made, and its incarnation of past presidents is remarkable to say the least.
^ There is literally a room just filled with statues of them. I was, however, fairly taken with this room, as it has a "parabolic" sound effect, meaning that you can hear someone speaking from the other side of the room but you cannot hear a word that they are saying if they stand just 10 feet away from you, which is something I have never experienced before. Apparently it used to be referred to as the "echo chamber".
I was very engaged when it came to the decor though, so I can tell you all about that.
^ Corn and gold leaves were engraved into the pillars to represent America's unique exports of corn and tobacco, which is something you definitely don't see in most great architecture.
My favourite room was "the rotunda", which has layers of different art climbing up the walls telling stories from various historical events.
The large paintings around the base mark momentous events in America's history, such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence; the end of the war, and George Washington handing the constitutional government over to Congress, marking the start of a democratic government run by the people.
All of the statues commemorate governors of state, bar 1, which is that of Rosa Parks, who is featured by congressional commission. Her statue is there to remind us of when she famously refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in 1955:
I think it is very powerful that she is included amongst all these other "greats", yet is totally the odd one out.
The Capitol also provides a gorgeous view overlooking the Mall, with the Washington Monument as a backdrop.
We proceeded to start our walk along it, with our first stop being the Supreme Court of Justice, which it seemed only fitting that I have a photo in front of,
as well as the Department of Justice (seeing as I'm gonna be a high flyin' maker of the law and all that).
We rocked up to the White House and got in line for the obligatory photo opp,
which we got from both the front and back of the building:
We circled Washington Monument at dusk,
before continuing our walk alongside the reflecting pool towards the WWII and Lincoln memorials.
^ I thought we were very lucky to the see the reflection of the Washington Monument at sunset, with all of the pinks and blues bouncing back off the water.
The WWII memorial was definitely among my favourites. The fountains and wreaths are spectacular and you certainly feel humbled when walking within its circular pillars. Of course, the Lincoln memorial is in a league of its own though; its size and grandeur alone are enough to leave you speechless.
^ Us with our mate, Abe.
The light was not on our side and we were fast slipping into darkness. We took the executive decision to save the rest of the memorials for the following day when we could truly appreciate them, rather than rush around with growling tummies in the night trying to take half decent photos. Plus, don't even get me started on the blisters. Oh, the blisters. Thomas and I looked like cripples hobbling around with our sore feet.
Thus, we jumped in a cab to 14th street, chosen for its variety of restaurants and (very, very) quickly settled on a reasonably priced Thai place. Thomas and I shared some edamame and prawn tempura, before he indulged in seafood with rice noodles and I had stir fried chicken and vegetables.
I had serious food envy as mine was fairly bland, whilst Thomas got to chomp on my absolute favourite noodles that you just can't create the same flavour from when you cook yourself, but I had known what I was getting myself in for and was pleased I had chosen health in the end. We took another cab back to the hostel where we hobbled upstairs into our 8-bed mixed dormitory (kill me), and climbed onto the world's lumpiest mattress (I kid you not, I could feel every spring like a dagger) to watch an episode of Orange is the New Black, before calling it a day.
On a side-note, I would just like to say that snorers should under NO CIRCUMSTANCES be permitted to share rooms in hostels. I was literally on the verge of snuffing another person to death with a pillow last night.
Tuesday:
After a peaceful, rejuvenating, and deep, night's sleep we rose early to continue our historical tour where we had left off. First stop, the Iwo Jima memorial, which Thomas was particularly keen to visit having studied it in history at school.
We then wandered through Arlington Cemetery, which is an incredibly beautiful and well-kept graveyard.
By accident we stumbled across the Women's memorial:
I actually couldn't really believe just how many memorials there are and how lovely they all are, too. The Vietnam War memorial was next:
Followed by a quick picture in front of the Washington Monument and reflecting pool
en route to the Korean War memorial:
We then began our walk along the Tidal Basin, passing through the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial,
and the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial,
^ The quote of the day for me.
before finishing off our grand memorial tour at the impressive Jefferson memorial.
Both Thomas and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the numerous memorials and I think it's really wonderful that Washington, D.C. remembers such momentous historical events in such a special way. It is truly unique and there is nothing quite like it anywhere else.
To be able to tick every tourist box on our whirlwind tour of the city we had to visit a museum. We chose "Newseum", highly endorsed by myself, as I remembered it fondly from my school U.S. politics trip (this fact alone meant it had to be good). Thankfully Thomas enjoyed it just as much as I did. The museum is one of a kind as far as I'm concerned and dedicated to displaying news from around the world. questioning the meaning of news and the modes by which it is delivered. I particularly enjoyed one quote, which stated "people that read tabloids deserve to be lied to"; funny, but true.
The exhibits Thomas and I found the most fascinating were the FBI; Berlin Wall; 9/11; News of the World, and Page One exhibits:
^ Actual parts of the Berlin Wall.
^ Hello Denmark.
The Crown Jewels of the museum for both Thomas and I, however, was the Pulitzer Prize photo exhibit, which displays each award-winning photo since the prize was first awarded and explains what the picture captures. Some of the stories were absolutely heart-wrenching, but as this photographer accurately states:
The Pulitzer Prize winning photos from 2014 are these two; one for groundbreaking news,
and one for purely capturing a magnificent shot:
Both Thomas and I are firm believers in the phrase "a picture's worth a thousand words", so were totally transfixed by the mass of incredible photos and their stories. As time was not on our side we had to leave earlier than either of us would probably have liked, but it is for sure my favourite museum in the world and Thomas even agreed with me, so I'm glad I suggested it!
We raced back to our hostel, collected our belongings and hopped in a cab to Union Station to catch the train to NYC; SO excited. Washington, D.C., it was an absolute pleasure.
