Washington

The FL Washington is a city full of memorials and we managed to visit many of them. Our hotel was well located and on the yellow bus route which we used on the first day to do a complete loop. In fact when we got footsore and weary, we got on the bus for a bit more sightseeing and a rest! We did have to get off and change buses on the first day, when one went out of service and finally got off and walked after a collision with a car! We explored Georgetown which was an attractive district by the river and on Sunday was full of rowers with lots of activity on the river. From here we visited the Kennedy building, the cultural centre, full of works of art, with theatre, opera house and concert halls where we had a guided tour of all the spaces including the presidential boxes.

Ceiling of the theatre.

We also visited Grand Union Station and the Jefferson building, which is the Library of Congress.

Grand Union Station main hall.

The library of congress had amazing interiors and was next to the Supreme Court in an interesting neighbourhood. There seems to be some dissonance between the expressed principles and messages and some current statements by aspiring presidents! We watched some of the Trump/Clinton debate on TV.

Arlington cemetry was particularly moving as we were there at the changing of the guard. We also visited the Kennedy memorial.

Memorial to the Unknown soldiers which looked stunning in the sunlight.

We also saw the Capitol, the White House, did a quick look through the botanical gardens. We observed some of the celebrations for the opening of the museum of African American History, as a result of which Sunday was extremely busy in part of the city, and our Big Bus was rerouted causing some confusion. 

At the Space museum we saw the lunar capsule, docking station, as well as the Wright brothers' aeroplane. Nearby there was an interesting sculpture garden with many modern works of art. This one being a Henry Moore.

As we had Tuesday morning before flying to Buffalo, we revisited the Lincoln memorial and went inside to see the statue of Abraham Lincoln and the exhibition, and were able to see the spot where Martin Luther King gave his famous speech.

We were quite surprised at how close you could get to the White House, a bit like Buckingham palace really. 

Not only did we use the Big Bus but we got the measure of the metro too using a variety of forms of transport to get around and back to the airport!

And Apples latest update is causing considerable frustration as now my blog is shutting down when I press certain keys, so keep saving and restyling. Oh joy!!

So if my blog is spasmodic, that is why!