Welcome to the Capital!
Washington can learn a lot from drug addicts.
A quote from an advertisement on TV, it highlighted the amount of debt that the government was piling up, borrowing predominantly from China, the so-called ‘drug pusher’. The ad warned that the addiction could be detrimental to the country’s state of health.
Washington is a city of such; where anyone who has a cause would come and say it here. Being the capital of administration – home to the White House, Pentagon and Capitol Hill, Washington is the centre of authority, or “seat of power”, where policies are written and critical decisions are made. No wonder one of the first things we saw upon arrival was “Occupy DC” – a demonstration camp at McPherson Square in protest of capitalism.
Coming from NYC, Washington feels so much calmer and peaceful. The transportation system – buses and metro – is much easier to understand and the ease of commute is much appreciated after the chaotic rush in NYC. One only difference that we found was in NYC, one can use one metrocard for 3 persons while in Washington, every passenger needs to have his own card.
The location of our accommodation (Residence Inn Vermont Avenue) is a plus as it’s in downtown DC and only 10 minutes walk from McPherson station while 15 minutes from the White House.The first two days in Washington have been cold and wet. We spent Tuesday at the National Air and Space Museum and Wednesday in Georgetown, a nice neighbourhood with many shops and boutiques. On coming back to the city, we were stuck in a huge traffic stop for almost 20 minutes. Police were everywhere and vehicles weren’t allowed to move on, as the enforcement officers cleared the road for the President, who sat in one of the 15 cars that drove pass after that. Quite an experience to witness such scene!
The Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts offer a free one-hour performance every evening at 6pm. We managed to catch one on Wednesday evening and it featured a female hiphop violinist, Miri Ben Ari. She’s one sexy lady! And one that plays the violin and makes hip hop music, what a combo! Some of the pieces she played were way too hip for my taste but there were also some pretty good songs. Later in the evening, we took a stroll to see the White House and Washington Monument as we’ve been told that they’re nicely lit up at night.
Our last day in DC was blessed with sunny blue skies – just perfect for the Thanksgiving celebration. It’s still cold at about 8C but the sun is very much welcomed after two gloomy days. Roads were almost empty as many people were away for the holiday. Museums nevertheless are still opened and we took the opportunity to check out Capitol Hill and National Mall – most of the major monuments and buildings are located from here all the way to Lincoln Memorial (distance: 2.5 miles), such as the Capitol Building, National Art Gallery, Smithsonian Museums, Washington Monument, Memorial of World War II and Lincoln Memorial.
Awesome day, calm walk, warm sun, what a way to end our trip in Washington 🙂
