which one is the White House?

We left New York in the mist. The skyscrapers hidden from us, pretending they never existed. As if we had dreamed it all. The bus rattled down the turn pike and we caught a glimpse of the Hudson in all its vastness. Today we were off to the ‘Capitol’.

We arrived in Washington D.C around twelve. We decided to pay at the bus station so we could walk ‘packless’ for the afternoon. If anyone has ever tried lugging such a weight around for an extended period of time then they will know you take any chance you can get to lose it for a day! And I’m so glad we did. The weather was the hottest, stickiest and closest that either one of us had ever felt. We were constantly bathing in a muggy wetness that drowned you in it’s intensity. Ollie and I both agreed that a storm must be coming. There was no where else this weather could lead.

When D.C‘s famous mall is shown on T.V I had never quite realised how long it actually is. Well it is 4hrs of walking if you take the round trip...which of course we did...because we love walking...

But what we saw on the way was totally worth it. Beginning at the Congress building end this was the first great piece of architecture we saw. Well actually I was wildly taking pictures because I thought it was the White House and Ollie and I had an argument because of this fact. I thought the White House had the dome on top, so much so that I was having none of Ollie’s protests until he pointed out a sign that read ‘Congress’. Yes I felt more than a little silly. ‘Well they always show them together and I thought they were the same building’ was my only defense.

We saw the Washington Monument towering beyond us and decided we had to walk the mall. As we walked along we saw fabulous old buildings that held all sorts of interesting and historic things. Some were museums, some were government buildings and some we had no clue what they were! When we reached the monument I saw in the foreground the giant white marble pillars that housed what I had really come to see today. The Lincoln Memorial. Pleading with Ollie to let us walk on he finally gave in. We only had four hours in D.C and trying to fit everything in was proving very difficult unless we walked liked lightening everywhere. 

We reached Mr Lincoln and he was every bit as impressive as I had hoped. Seated in his giant marble chair with his right food raised a few inches. I looked up at his face and got goose pimples. He was such a great man and somehow his statue manages to convey his strong will. Ollie and I asked a nearby woman to take a picture of us in front of Mr Lincoln which I have posted below. Please note that we did ask her to cut off Abraham’s head because we did only want a picture of us and his torso...

Losing time Ollie and I turned around and headed up the opposite side of the mall to catch a glimpse of the White House before we left. After I exclaimed ‘here it is’ four times, Ollie finally led us to the real White House where I pronounced ‘Oh yes it does look like that doesn’t it!’ In real life it is even more elegant and I’ll even go as far as to say pretty. We couldn’t quite believe it’s positioning though. It wasn’t off to one side or on the outskirts of the city surrounded by miles of lawns and gardens. No. It was smack bang in the middle with only a road separating it from the rest of the city. I couldn’t quite believe that the most important man in America was willing to live in such an obvious spot. Talk about facing adversity in the face! There were a few protestors in residence and I picked up a free book entitled ‘The I hate George Bush reader’ from a Korean woman living in a polystyrene igloo. There was police everywhere and loads of men with wires. The press were all over the place too; I think Mr Obama was giving a press conference today. So although we didn’t get to meet the President he wasn’t too far from us!

One thing we noticed in particular about this city was the number of homeless people about. Nowhere else we had been so far had they been so blindingly obvious. Huddled under bridges lots of the men were in wheel chairs. Later we passed a Homeless Centre. I know every city has homeless people but to me this seemed a little more than usual. I wondered why. Perhaps they come because they hope the Capitol can save them. Or are they angry soldiers that have been injured in the many pointless wars and want to show the Government just what they’ve done. I don’t know. But it was difficult just to walk on by. I felt almost guilty and I think Ollie did too although neither of us quite understood why.

Ollie and I enjoyed D.C far more than we thought we would. It was actually a really interesting and historically marveling place (not sure if marveling works here but hey!). We both admitted we could have spent far longer here but time is of the essence in this little flash across America. There were lots of memorials we could have seen that lay between congress along the mall towards the Lincoln memorial. I wondered if when they constructed the ‘mighty mall’  they made it so long on purpose in readiness for lots of awful things to happen so they could fit in memorials dedicated to them! Just a thought...

13/10/11