DC Pt II

So Thursday came and we had a day off from the culture, and went for ome retail therapy and a daypass on the buses ... which lead to us seeing a bit of Alexandria at the start, and Langley (CIA) on the bus back to our favoured Metro station after Metro Centre (our closest stop to the YH) of Rosslyn.

So I indulged massively with craft purchases, but when items are the price in $ that they are in £ in the UK and you have pretty much $2 to the £ you'd stock up!

We also got some clothes shopping in, mainly at Old Navy (oh I love that place for it decent length for work tops).

Friday was a day appreciating things on Pennslyvania Ave & off The Mall. We started the day with National Geographic (which was a bit of a disappointment), followed by view of the rear of the White House (and seeing The West Wing), then popped opposite to The Renwick Gallery. Most impressive of the rooms there was the one full of 'American Indians' which filled a huge room at the top of the stairs.

Next on the list was a trip up the Old Post Office Tower, a short trip up in the lift, then more views of Washington, this time a bit lower than Washington Monument. We then headed for lunch, in Chinatown with a yummy lunch special. Onwards, to The Postal Museum (another bit of the Smithsonian) and a view of Union Station. Then it was back to the Hostel to put the feet up.

Saturday was a bit of a mixture day, we spent the morning walking around Arlington National Ceremony, we saw all the major memorials/ graves, walking past the ordinary (although that sounds wrong) servicemen buried there. It seems the more stars on the uniform the bigger the gravestone. Mind you some of the high stared souls also had the basic gravestone.

We had lunch together than parted our ways, I finished off the retail therapy for me, and Tom went to the Smithsonian National History Museum (its Dino collection isn't as good as the British version, and the Hope Diamond isn't all that special, we have bigger ones!).

Sunday was back on The Mall with Hirschorn Art Gallery, which the Smithsonian Modern Art Gallery, then a lunch at Capital City Brewery for lunch. The temperature had risen so the walk from the Mall back to Metro Centre Metro area, was hot. But the Air con in the restaurant & the only beer of the holiday (grr Amercians, DC YH doesn't allow alcohol in ... unlike the UK & European ones) from the micro brewery in the restaurant was good (as were my ribs!). We then spent the afternoon, like many of the locals it seems in the shade between the trees on the grass of The National Mall, before a wander around the National Botanical Gardens, it was fairly near to closing so we did a bit of a quick route around the gardens, but like many others appreciating the misting of water going on plants (& us).

We finished the hot day off well .. with a tub of Ben & Jerry's ... Tuesday we'd had a B&J Cone, as it had been free Cone Day so free ice cream! (mine was Triple Caramel, New York Fudge Brownie for Tom)... after lots of pondering at the supermarket just up the street we settled on Caramel Sutra ... but sat on the bench outside the YH we opened the lid and it wasn't what we thought ... d'oh Dr T had picked up Vanilla Heath Crunch (known over here as Vanilla Toffee Crunch) ... it was good and the ice cream was appreciated! (heck I've ended up with a bit of a B&J love since DC ... so I swallowed hard (as the price is more in £ than it was in $) and treated myself to a tub of Bohemian Raspberry this weekend ... its yummy :)).

Last day had come, so after a bit of a packing session and then finishing it off in the morning we piled the bags into the YH lockers in the Basement ... and headed out for the day.

So Monday was spent in the The National Gallery of Art (not part of the Smithsonian ... but on The Mall). It wasn't anywhere near as good as the Smithsonian Art Galerries we had seen (Renwick & Hirschorn) ... and the bit I really wanted to see was closed :(. A lunch sat in the shade on The Mall eating up the remains of our food (the rest was dinner at the airport!) .. before properly finishing a walk around the Botanical Gardens (with many pictures of the flora).

So finally we had 'done' DC. Lots of walking, lots of sights, and a very enjoyable, if busy week away. Hopefully I'll see a bit more of the US in a few years ....