Washington (District of Columbia)
On Monday the 30th of June we caught an early morning flight to Washington-Dulles International Airport. Though it is the main airport servicing Washington DC, it is actually situated in the state of Virginia.
Washington DC is bordered by the states of Maryland and Virginia and only has a total area of 68 square miles which means the bulk of its metro area spills into these two states.
Being rather large, the airport requires special vehicles to transport passengers between terminals. Instead of using a train system like other airports it uses very high busses which resemble something out of Star Wars.
There were at least 50 of these bad boys bussing around the tarmac at any one time
The drive to DC was actually quite long so we managed to see a fair bit of Virginia.
The city of Roslyn is pretty much a Washington suburb
The decent into the subway at Roslyn
From what we've all seen on TV and in the movies, we had preconcieved notions of what Washington supposed to be like, however the reality was quite different. You see, Washington is a city of contrasts. On one hand, the city is filled with beautiful monuments and old stately political buildings but on the other, the streets are filled with the homeless.
Washington DC has the highest murder rate in the US and is mostly unsafe to travel around after dark. Every ten minutes we could hear police sirens going off and even when we tried to walk around town we were warned by locals that it was dangerous. People are begging in the streets at every corner and some are even quite agressive if you don't give them "enough" money. It's a city that really highlights the extremes of the USA.
Our first stop was naturally the White House.
The front and back views of the White House
Looking tough outside the White House.
Protesters ouside the White House. This guy obviously wants something he's not getting.
Parks throughout the city are filled with the homeless who are mostly black. Apparently 87% of the population of the city is black.
A homeless man's makeshift tent to shield him from the elements
We took a trip to see the Pentagon which is actually located in Virginia (just out of DC). It was only a few stops away from downtown on the subway. Taking photographs of the building is prohibited - if you are caught, your memory card will be confiscated. We tried to sneak one from the train as we left but funnily enough the camera jammed so we can't show you one in this blog. The side of the building we saw was really unremarkable though- just a grey walled building without many windows.
The strangest thing we saw was while we were waiting at Pentagon Station was when an "empty" train with tinted windows pulls up with a "Not In Service" sign. The doors of the front carriage open and men with machine guns step out while other men in dark uniforms wheel metal cabinets onto the train. The whole procedure takes about 3 minutes after which the machine gun-wielding men step back on, the doors close and the silent train departs. Some classified rendevous no doubt!
Pigs in Washington
We spent lots of time seeing the monuments and Washington has a lot to offer.
The Lincoln Memorial was eerie. Funny how statues might be offended if you make noise.
The Washington Monument which took 40 years to build due to the American Civil War. No building in Washington is permitted to be higher.
How to say "Stay off the grass" in America
The Capitol building, where the US Congress meets
The US and Canada use these strange looking but extremely cool school busses, just like on Sesame Street.
We pose outside the Capitol
One of the best things about Washington DC is that almost all the attractions are free. The monuments, the museums, heck even the zoo! We spent way too much time at the Smithsonian Institute's various museums.
The Smithsonian "Castle" which was the original site of the institute
A T-rex skeleton at the Museum of Natural History
The original Apollo 11 capsule at the National Air and Space Museum
The Eagle has landed!
The land of the hot-dog and patriotic cups
A shot of the financial district of Washington.
The headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Chinatown in Washington DC and our menu at the place we went.
"After that Chinatown menu, I'll stick to McDonalds thanks!"
Philadelphia, Pensylvannia
A blurry shot of the Pensylvannia skyline (taken from a moving bus)
After our interesting DC experience, we decided to make our way to New York City via Philadelphia (aka Philly), the birthplace of American Independence.
We decided to try out the greyhound bus, thinking it was going to be similar to the greyhound busses in Australia which have excellent standards. What we didn't realise was that ex-convicts are given greyhound tickets when they get out of prison. Also in the US, it's a first-come, first-serve basis for busses. So just like the airlines, a ticket doesn't guarantee you a seat. This means you have to line up for about an hour before your bus leaves. There was this guy on our bus who must have been high on something coz he was abusing everyone and swearing his head off. The driver did nothing to stop him.
We passed through Baltimore in Maryland on the way to Philly.
After our interesting DC experience, we decided to make our way to New York City via Philadelphia (aka Philly), the birthplace of American Independence.
We decided to try out the greyhound bus, thinking it was going to be similar to the greyhound busses in Australia which have excellent standards. What we didn't realise was that ex-convicts are given greyhound tickets when they get out of prison. Also in the US, it's a first-come, first-serve basis for busses. So just like the airlines, a ticket doesn't guarantee you a seat. This means you have to line up for about an hour before your bus leaves. There was this guy on our bus who must have been high on something coz he was abusing everyone and swearing his head off. The driver did nothing to stop him.
We passed through Baltimore in Maryland on the way to Philly.
The Baltimore skyline.
Downtown Philly
I was tempted to get another tattoo
The subway in Philly was very clean
The subway in Philly was very clean
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the USA. It is where American Independence was declared in 1776 and was a candidate for the capital of the new country at the time. It is now the 5th largest city in the USA.
As we only had a day in Philly, we needed to find somewhere to leave our backpacks while we explored. We resorted to leaving them in the cloakroom of this place called the National Convention Centre, which meant we had to each buy $12 tickets. We still don't really know what the NCC is - perhaps some sort of museum or exhibition centre dedicated to the USA and its constitution.
The National Constitution Centre - there was a 1 hour light show about the US Constitution but we gave it a miss.
Bronze statues of men present when the US Constitution was drafted. I'm butt-tapping this bloke.
Philadelphia Cheese Steak
An original copy of the Declaration of Independence
The inside of 30th Street Station
The original building where Congress first met.
The Liberty Bell
Candice in downtown Philly
New denominations out soon!
After brushing up on our US history, we took the Amtrak train straight to New York City!
For more photos (with commentary), click on the following links:
1 comments:
hey pigs!
Looks like you're having a great holiday so far. Hey, you go to London next!! We just got back from London. Let me know if you want some contact details for our very nice friends who live in London! We told them all about you and they said that they'd love to meet you!!
Love Claire and Kris xo
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