Washington DC

The Capitol Building,
see all photos »

We arrived in Washington DC at 7am after a 9 hour train journey. We both managed to get about 5 hours sleep each which was a bit surprising as we weren't expecting to get any.

We had some pancakes for breakfast, (neither of us were great fans of them) then we rang around a few hostels and found one quite quickly. Again we decided we could walk to it! This time we didn't get lost but it did take a long time. It was about 30 degrees C with big bags on our backs so it was hard work. We got to the hostel, dumped our stuff, had a bit of a rest and set off again to get some lunch and see the sights of Washington.

Washington Monument.
see all photos »

Without the bags, it was really nice walking around Washington for two days. We saw the Capitol Building, Washington Monument and Lincoln memorial along with a few museums and zoo.

On Wednesday morning we got the 9.30 train to New York, New York!

(Photos to follow)

H

World War II Memorial, with the Lincoln Memorial in the background.
see all photos »

Washington is nice place, and definately worth the visit, the monuments to Washington and Lincoln are all very impressive, but you can't help feel something is missing. DC has the hallmarks of being one of the worlds great cities, with monuments and museums everywhere (all of which are free), but there is no city to go with them. There are no skyscrapers because it is law that no building can be higher than Capitol Hill, so all the big businesses have gone elsewhere. Whats left seems to be smaller businesses and lots of government buildings, there seems to be no main streets, a limited number of shops and restaurants, altogether a bit weird.

Lincoln Memorial.
see all photos »

Anyway, as Hannah says, photos to follow, as well as a report on New York!

J