Day 16 - Washington to San Francisco

All good things come to an end, and we finally had to leave Washington.  Our stay there was most enjoyable, and we were both a little sad to leave, still onward and westward.  If you like Canberra you'd probably like Washington as well -and we can't recommend the AKA White House too highly.  We spent the early morning finishing our packing and then travelled to the airport in a Lincoln limousine - for less than the cost of a taxi in Australia for a comparable journey.

The airport was a bit confusing at first - the self-check in wasn't overly intuitive.  With assistance we were able to complete the process, and, $50 later for our suitcases (apparently our tickets, flying with United Airlines, didn't include checked luggage).  Our seats were at the very back of the plane and we weren't initially seated next to each other.  Thankfully a very generous lady swapped seats with Rhonda so we could sit together.  Rhonda thinks the lady just didn't want to spend an entire flight sitting next to me - I understand that.  The Steward looking after our section of the plane was fantastic, a great sense of humour and he was very engaging - apart from trying to hit on Rhonda (in jest, although I understand his motivation).  Rhonda got a coffee, which was undrinkable, so she took it back and he gave her two complimentary bottles of wine.  The flight lasted about five and a half hours.

We got to our Hotel in the late afternoon and felt very relieved.  It's rather grand, as you can see from the pictures below.  I'm here for the 34th International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, which is being held at the hotel (as it is every year) so we get a very good room rate (less than the hotel in New York).

The Claremont Hotel Resort and Spa

Feeling pretty happy at this stage

I stayed here just over three years ago, and, frankly, had a better room (with views over San Francisco Bay), but we have no complaints.  We wandered down the road (and when people in San Francisco wander down the road they wander DOWN the road - it's very hilly here), had dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant, bought some groceries and staggered back up the mountain to the hotel.  Tomorrow we're off to the de Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park - apparently you can't visit too many museums.  See  you all then.
 

Day 15 - Botanicus perfectus

Our last full day in Washingtown DC (dirty clothes), and I have to say that we started the day with all of our clothes clean - Rhonda excelled.  The plan for today was the National Botanic Garden, some more museums, and a stroll to Georgetown.  The Botanic Gardens were beautiful.  They are not large, but are filled with small sections on themes, such as: Hawaii, deserts, jungle, medicinal plants, endangered plants, and other stuff (or, to give it its correct Latin name, otherus stufii).  A series of shots of the outside and inside are shown below.



I'd hate to have to clean the windows

Orchids

A steaming pile of jungle

I never knew cactus could be so pretty

A king-sized planter

After the Botanic Gardens,  we strolled up the National Mall and visited the Hirshhorn Museum (also called the donut - since it's a circular shape with a hollow centre.  The building is great and there was an amazing piece of sculpture outside - a column built from tubes of steel and wires that just seems to float in the air.

The outside of the Hirshhorn Museum

Inside the donut



You can't see too many Henry Moores 

The amazing column

Then it was on to the Smithsonian Castle and a couple more art galleries.  The Castle is not a museum, but is an interesting building. 

The Smithsonian Castle

It is, however, sadly devoid of punctuation. 

Apparently you can enter staff as long as you enter other people as well

The other art galleries, the Sackler and Freer Galleries featured Asian art and the work of James McNeill Whistler.  Fabulous collections and beautiful buildings, most of the galleries are actually under ground.  Below is a photo of the staircase in the Sackler Gallery.

After that it was back to the hotel for a short rest, before walking to Georgetown and having a final dinner in Washington.  On our way we saw the Mexican Embassy, which features a couple of preserved houses.

The plaque shown below was fixed to the front of the Embassy.

Georgetown is a beautiful, older area of Washington, full of interesting eateries and shops. 

The "Old Stone House", the oldest house and property in Washington

We had dinner at an interesting restaurant called "Thunder Burger Bar".  It was yummy, and, to be completely honest, probably did not provide a balanced diet.

Anyway, that's enough for today's blog.  Rhonda raised a martini to you all during our Thunder Burger Bar dinner.

Day 14 - Segways rock

Another day, another great experience.  Rhonda and I had a great experience almost two years ago on a Segway ride in Canberra with our nephew Regan, so we thought we'd have a Segway ride in Washington.  Because this is the USA we upsized the experience and booked a two-hour ride (plus half an hour of training).  Anticipating a good time we set off on the Metro and then had a short walk to the Segway office.  We'd have had a shorter walk but we took a wrong turn.  On our way we saw what are possibly the worst laid cobblestones in the history of cobblestones.  Thankfully we didn't have to ride over them at any stage.

THE SEGWAY RIDE WAS BRILLIANT!  The training was well run, but we both surprised ourselves with how much we remembered - a bit like bike riding, once you can do it you never really forget.  A total of eight of us assembled and watched a short video on some key safety aspects, then we went out for training.

Our leader Sarah (on the right) giving us an extra safety briefing and demonstration

 We set off and the whole trip was fantastic.  Sarah took us to a lot of places around the National Mall, stopping every now and then to tell us about the significance of the sites.  Our first big stop was at the Capitol, where we could pose for photos.  Unfortunately, but for obvious safety reasons, we couldn't take photos while riding.

Intrepid riders

I think we were all amazed by how far we went during the two hours, but given that the maximum speed of the Segways was about 20kph we shouldn't have been surprised.

Taking a break near the White House - note how well we lined up the Segways

Highlights of the ride were Sarah's commentary, the scenery, and feeling smugly superior to people walking.  Sadly, all good things come to an end, and we finished feeling very happy, but surprisingly tired in the legs.  On our walk back we discovered how popular food truck are here (for those of you who have seen the recent movie 'Chef' you'll have an idea of how popular they are).  We saw the line up below outside some office buildings.

Then it was time to take the Metro back to the hotel.  One of the enduring memories we'll have was how many people are addicted to their 'smart' phones.  Connected and yet paradoxically disconnected at the same time.  The art of conversation is sadly dwindling.

We were too tired for much sightseeing in the afternoon, but we did manage to find Macys, a large department store.  Rhonda bought some lovely tops, and I got a beautiful Pierre Cardin tie for $30 - somebody in Australia is ripping consumers off.  I'll finish with a sign today.  They don't encourage short-term parking in Washington.  The prices on the sign below are fairly typical of parking costs in car parks (metred parking on the street was cheaper for short-term parking).

First hour $12, each hour after that (on average) less than $0.62

 

We'll be back later with our next instalment, covering the National Botanic Garden and a walk around historic Georgetown.

Day 13 - Original number of states in the Union

Another day in beautiful Washington - with a visit to the Capitol building (the seat of government).  We caught the Metro to the National Mall and visited the National Museum of the American Indian.  The museum covers indigenous people from throughout the Americas, and is a fantastic looking building.  The collection seems a bit sparse, but what they have is well laid out and very interesting - providing lots of insights into the culture of the people.  Some shots are below.

Beautiful building

Bronze statue of a Buffalo dancer

Rhonda viewing a pop-out drawer of exhibits

Love the building

We then walked up the National Mall towards the Capitol, and it is both huge and impressive.  Up to now we'd only seen it from a distance - up close is a whole new experience.

View from the front

Closer view from the front - visitors enter from the rear of the building - glad we had plenty of time to walk around

View of the back of the Capitol

Inside the building was a different world - it seemed almost normal size.  The tour was very interesting and we both admired the grandeur of the building.

Emancipation Hall - where visitors enter and register for tours

Richard in the exact centre of Washington, one floor below the central dome of the Capitol

Typically (this seems to be happening to us a lot), they were renovating the dome!

Close up of decoration below the dome - it's painted not carved

It looks carved - very well done

The great man

Rosa Parks - Google her if you don't know who she is

 

Beautiful statues and decorations

We were able to get tickets after our tour to visit the House of Representatives to see democracy in action.  Unfortunately we couldn't take photos.  Both of us were struck by how modest the House of Reps was, and by the fact that all members are arranged in a semicircle facing the speaker's chair.  The arrangement seems less adversarial than in the Australian parliament.  We walked back after our visit and admired more epically grand buildings.

Library of Congress

Supreme Court

National Archives

Final shot of Capitol - threatening skies but thankfully no rain

In case you are tired of seeing columns on buildings (they do love their columns) here's final shot of a squirrel - because we could.

Vermin

Tomorrow we do a Segway tour - see you then (actually we won't see you, but you know what we mean).