Washington DC

Road to DC
The best way to travel USA is by road. The roads are sexy and you don�t have to ask no one if you got your maps ready. The roadsigns are user-friendly and the road design itself allows for recovery from mistakes. The highways are peppered with rest areas that have the rest rooms, eating joints and phones. Well, we reached Washington DC around 2300 hours, and we were searching for our hotel for three hours.And we had a busy day ahead of us.
City of DC
�When Pierre Charles L'Enfant gazed northward along the banks of the Potomac River in 1791, he envisioned a "pedestal waiting for a monument." Since that day, Washington, DC has evolved into a fascinating, lively city combining grand, neoclassical government buildings, monuments, memorials, museums and the National Mall with colorful neighborhoods, art, theater, music and culture.� -From Washington.org

�From its celebrated symbols of patriotism to its undiscovered neighborhoods, the sites and sounds of the nation's capital inspire millions of visitors every year. Packed with famous sights, free attractions, and an endless calendar of special events, Washington, DC offers year-round inspiring experiences.� -From Washington.org

What left me breathless were the roads and the buildings. Every official building is an architectural marvel. Simply breath taking. When you can, take a stroll down its wide roads. Listen to the hustle and bustle of it. And tell yourself �I am in the capital of the world�s most powerful country�, and take a deep breath. Consult a doc if you don�t feel good after that. :wink: Kidding man!
So we set out to visit the Smithsonian museums. The hotel shuttle dropped us at the Rosyln Metro (underground rail) station. My first ride in these trains and I have no words to describe it. You get my point don�t you? What I liked is the fact that you don�t have to stand in a counter where a bored clerk would issue tickets. Here it is all machines baby. Automation rules. So we got on the train and we reached the Smithsonian station. We enter the campus and were greeted by a few men selling maps. �They are yet to find the people who got lost last Christmas!� they were yelling. Well, it is not true. It was only a cheap sales pitch for their maps. You can�t get lost in the Smithsonian museums. If you are reading this that is. Not even if you are suman, trust me. (Well, ok, greatness is ALSO about not taking yourself too seriously) Just follow the maps and signs and you�ll find your way around.

Smithsonian Museums
Imagine. All you had to do to see and experience a piece of history is to walk down 7th and Independence Ave, SW. This one road has museums on both sides and is situated between the Capitol building and the Washington memorial. I had the opportunity to visit only the Air & Space; and Natural history museums. I was awestruck, knocked off my feet by the sheer grandeur, efficiency, and technology of the place. We watched �Space station � 3d� at the Lockheed Martin IMAX theater. Picture this: a 65ft by 65ft (approx.) screen and world�s best sound system. I was not watching the movie but I was in it! I mean the 3d effect is so natural and real� a wonderful experience for young and old alike. And I had to eat after the movie as I hadn�t eaten since morning and Rajaram and I set out looking for a veggie restaurant. No such luck for us. We had to settle for French fries and milk shakes. My sincere advice is: if you are a veggie USA is gonna be tough on you. So convert now! To non-veggie.

After lunch we went to the museum of natural history. Dinosaurs, people, insects, plants� you name it, the history is there. And to top it all they got IMAX here too. We watched a dino docu: "T-REX: Back to the Cretaceous slices through the mysteries and the millenia to bring dinosaurs to life with the awesome size and thrilling feel of IMAX 3D." Need I say more?
Most informative is the way they display different cultures like red Indians or Africans. I had good fun experiencing and reliving it all. A must for your kid (you don�t have one now? So what! You are gonna make one someday. Somehow!)
For more information: http://www.si.edu/

It was a tiring and a hectic day; and by the time we wound up and headed to the hotel, darkness had DC in a hug. Only after I reached the hotel I realized I had to forego dinner or eat non-veg food or live on chocolates from the vending machines. I was lucky. I found a Chinese takeaway place bang opposite to the hotel�s parking lot and I got some spiced up veg fried rice. So, if you are a veggie, you know what to look for now, don�t you?

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
The next day we were visiting the residence of the most powerful man on earth. For the uninitiated (duh!) that�s the Whitehouse. Well, what can I say! I saw kids playing in front of the white house gate. People were taking pictures. I mean it looked too innocuous for being the home for the president of USA. I recollected my working days in Chennai: how I had to wait in the traffic signal for 45 minutes so that the CM�s convoy could pass through. You know chief minister? As against the world�s powerful man! I heard they used to have whitehouse tours, but they stopped it post 9/11.
And hey nothing�s perfect. Ask Bill Clinton about it. So don�t feel bad yet. People are people. America or Somalia.
Capitol and Washington memorial
From Whitehouse it was a long walk to the Capitol building. I�d advise you walk if you wanna experience DC. I forgot the walk and the pain in my knees as soon as I was standing on the edge of the pond in front of the Capitol building.

The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is among the most architecturally impressive and symbolically important buildings in the world. It has housed the meeting chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives for almost two centuries. Begun in 1793, the Capitol has been built, burnt, rebuilt, extended, and restored; today, it stands as a monument not only to its builders but also to the American people and their government. The Capitol is located in Washington, D.C., at the eastern end of the National Mall on a plateau 88 feet above the level of the Potomac River, commanding a westward view across the Capitol Reflecting Pool to the Washington Monument 1.4 miles away and the Lincoln Memorial 2.2 miles away. the Capitol covers a ground area of 175,170 square feet, or about 4 acres, and has a floor area of approximately 16-1/2 acres. Its length, from north to south, is 751 feet 4 inches; its greatest width, including approaches, is 350 feet. Its height above the base line on the east front to the top of the Statue of Freedom is 288 feet; from the basement floor to the top of the dome is an ascent of 365 steps. The building contains approximately 540 rooms and has 658 windows (108 in the dome alone) and approximately 850 doorways. � More info on http://www.aoc.gov

The sea gulls that live around the Capitol are friendly and at times intrusive. I caught a bunch of Japanese tourists feeding a gull and within no time there were dozens scrambling for the tourists� attention.
There are quite a few memorials but I managed to catch a glimpse of only the Washington memorial. The phallic monument majestically stood there. How many movies have shown this? How many magazines have printed its pictures? But to see it live from a distance, standing in the lawns of the capitol, is an experience that you�d cherish forever. The most captivating site is the air-planes that land-in against the memorial�s back drop. The two faculties that stand as symbols of human achievement -architecture and aviation- seemed to greet each other.
We left the capitol and headed to Caf� Delhi in Arlington for lunch. The food was great. Especially the samosas; they were too good. And it was time to go to the mother of all cities. You guessed it baby. It is NY. The most visited city in the world.

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