I began my trip in Washington, DC in the middle of June. No-one told me it would be so humid. The 30-35C heat was bad enough, but the humidity made it so awful to walk around in. As i waited for the bus at Dulles International Airport, I wondered what the hell I'd gotten myself into.
My first full day in DC was spent with a fellow traveler at the hostel, A Brazilian named Gusto. He and I walked around the Mall, went into the Holocaust Museum (which is not as good as London's Imperial War Museum's Holocaust section), the American History Museum, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial (which had a distinct sense of hypocrisy about it in regards to Native Americans) and walked to the foot of the Washington Monument.
Afterwards, being a Brazilian, Gusto had to watch the Brazil-DPRK football game. We went to the now-closed ESPN bar a few blocks away from the Mall. It was amusing to watch him panic as Brazil failed to get a goal in the first half, and then see North Korea score against them in the second. But, Brazil won in the end so it was business as usual...
The subsequent days were spent doing much of the same, albeit by myself. I visited the Air and Space Museum. That was most interesting, especially considering my particular academic interest in space politics. The museum had a gallery section, full of stunning photos taken by space craft traveling to the far reaches of our solar system. I was there for quite a while studying these photographs, particularly the well known picture of Io in transit across Jupiter taken by Cassini:
Whilst there I went to the museum's IMAX 3D cinema and watched Hubble 3D, a 40 minute documentary film narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio which showed a space shuttle crew's mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space telescope. That movie was certainly a spectacle in 3D, particularly when it took you on a 3D tour of a star nebula.
I also visited the Library of Congress, which was lavishly decorated inside. Quite a fine example of (free)masonry and 18th/19th Century architecture.
The Native American museum was interesting, but also very very deep and tough going for a complete outsider such as I. All the myriad tribes and nations of the indigenous people of the Americas had their own sections in this huge museum. It is a place where an extremely proud nation should feel its guilt, like so many others. The museum had a lovely cafeteria which featured food from five different American regions, with their own delicacies and recipes. Certainly a must for unique food when you wish to extend your life a bit by not having another greasy burger.
I also paid a visit to the Natural History Museum. Not exactly my cup of tea but it was interesting to walk around. I did notice, however, a complete absence of religious zealots leading children around in this museum. Whereas in the rest of the Mall I saw hordes of children and leaders from who-knows-what religious sect or denomination. The slogans on the backs of their t-shirts made for amusing reading. Perhaps these groups didn't want to expose the children to evolution and Earth's fossilised history...
They say that the design of Washington, DC, was meant to be large to impress the individual. It didn't. It annoyed. It took ten minutes to walk one block.
That pretty much covers the highlights of Washginton, DC. I was exceedingly happy to leave that climate as soon as I possibly could. I shall leave a few more photos below, and stay tuned for the next installment - Boston, MA.
0 comments:
Post a Comment