The Wonders of Washington DC

Washington DC was an amazing surprise for us - a city that we had wanted to experience, but we really had no idea how wonderful it would be. We were blessed with the most beautiful winter day, with the bluest sky and the brightest sun, the perfect backdrop for the sights we were to see.

Although we did start on a slightly different note at the hotel the night before (in the brilliantly named area of DC known as Foggy Bottom, home to The George Washington University!)

...They double charged us for our booking fee (Sup kicked ass!) and then put us first in a room with a seriously dangerous hissing heater and then in a room below freezing. They paid the price though as they made the mistake of having breakfast included, so my sneaky robbing of bagels, muffins, bananas, bread, jam (including our first try of delicious grape jelly!) and Philadelphia pots subsidised our lunch and dinner for the next few days! No one messes with Nic and Sup!

We started our whirlwind tour of Washington with the White House of course, and were very impressed by the sight of such a prestigious building, particularly with the 2 agents on the roof carrying AK47s...

backing slowly away, we headed for our next destination - The Washington Monument, a giant memorial to the 1st President of the United States and his military leadership.

But not before admiring the lovely Christmas tree and toy trains around the grounds facing the house.

After marvelling at the sheer size of the monument,

we made our way through the National Mall area to see the World War 2 memorial and the frozen solid reflective pool.

It was a lovely area and an impressive memorial to the men who lost their lives fighting.

The Lincoln Memorial was next and we got some great photos of the giant statue of Lincoln, as well as standing on the same steps as Martin Luther King where he had delivered his famous and influential 'I have a dream' speech.

We also stood on the 14th Street Bridge with a fantastic view of the Pentagon across the water.

Walking back through the National Mall area, we stopped to admire the memorials for both the Korean and Vietnam wars, with tributes both to the soldiers who fought for their country

and to the women who made such a significant contribution.

We learned that a staggering majority of the men who were injured who received care from the women working in hospitals survived - over 90%, which is incredible considering the injuries they would have sustained.

Another lovely walk through the park area brought us back to the waterside and into the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. This place was mindblowing - completely devastating and yet utterly compelling. After spending a couple of hours walking through the vast museum and learning the terrible details of the evil Nazi regime and their frighteningly ingenius propaganda, the museum was closing, so we agreed that we would return the next day before we left Washington to finish the tour.

A long walk through the town brought us to a destination I had been very excited about - the museum for Crime and Punishment. Unfortunately, we learned that the price was more than we had anticipated and it also appeared to be perhaps a little more suited for children. The good news was that the gift shop had more than enough for us to play around with,

and the ticket office had lots of information that kept us entertained for free for about an hour!! We had watched a brilliant film with Johnny Depp in called Public Enemies some time ago, based on the life and death of the notorious criminal John Dillinger - in the ticket office for the museum they had the actual car that Dillinger drove so that was pretty cool!

Discussions soon started resulting in the eternal argument between me and Sup about capital punishment, but I'll leave it at that, as it would dominate a whole blog just by itself!!

The rest of the evening was spent walking back through Washington towards our hotel and vising some Christmas stalls, having a look outside the Spy museum, taking a shortcut through a bizarre sculpture garden, taking pictures of The Capitol building

and walking through the beautiful Law Enforcement Officers memorial garden. The sheer number of names on the memorial were a testament to the dangers in America and the risk the Police take on a daily basis to keep the public safe.

On a more positive note, I did manage to get a photo of Sup with his nose up against a brass lion statue and kept him there for a whole 3 minutes in the freezing cold while I got a good photo..!! Cheeky!

That night our room was so cold that we both went to bed fully clothed - and I mean jumper, jeans, socks, and I even wore my hat..!

The next day we woke up to a more soggy, foggy day, but with plenty of time to spare we completed our tour of the US Holocaust museum as promised, before one last wave at the White House and the Washington memorial, both of which looked very different in the rain. I came across a real Sorority building

which was awesome coz I was always fascinated with the idea of them when I was younger and wanted to be 'American' when I grew up..!!!

We then packed up our belongings once more, and headed out on our journey to the land of Philadelphia to see what other adventures were in store!

written by

SupandNic on December 26, 2009 from Washington, United States

from the travel blog: Sup and Nic's World Tour!

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