Washington DC

We got into Washington DC on Friday night, well it was more Saturday morning really. We left Dublin at 9 in the morning and got to JFK eventually. Then it all went pear shaped. There was bad weather in New York so we were delayed for 6 hours!! Its never easy. We were actually lucky to get out because a lot of flights were cancelled including all the other flights to Washington. But anyway we got there eventually and had a good nights sleep!

Had a good sleep in on Saturday morning and after a great breakfast we went for a walk along the canal that runs beside our hotel. It was really nice and really well kept in comparison to Dublins canals. From there we walked onto M street (such a cool name for a street). There were tonnes of really nice shops all along this street so we stopped and had a look around.



That night we went on a nightime tour of the city. This was a really cool way to see the sity and all the sights when they were lit up. We were taken to most of the memorials like Roosevelts, Lincoln, Korean War, Vietnam War and the World War II memorial. The only problem was that it was hard to take good photos at night. Anyway here are the best of the photos.


The Lincoln Memorial


Me and Dad inside the Lincoln Memorial


The Korean Memorial.


The Roosevelt Memorial was a series of waterfalls, fountains and ponds. It was beautiful at night when it was all lit up.


More of the Roosevelt Memorial.


Mum and I at the lake beside the Roosevelt Memorial. It was still about 90F at 10 o clock at night!

So the next day we went for a walk around the city. The White House was a short walk from the hotel so it was a good place to start.




We seen some intersting buildings along the way as well. There were so many big buildings like the Treasury Department etc that I lost track of which was which.




Later that day we went down towards Chinatown and stopped into the International Spy Museum. Unfortunatly I couldn't take photos inside sut it was a really interesting place. It showed all the gadgets and techniques they used during the two World Wars and the Cold War. They also showed the influence espionage had on popular culture in the form of movies and TV shows etc.


On our last day in Washington we took a bus tour to see the city in daylight this time. Our first stop was at my favourite statue. The memorial to the Marines just beside Arlington Cemetary.









When then moved onto Arlington Cemetary and luckily took the shuttle bus tour. 5 people had collapsed during the day from the heat while walking around so we were all for the bus tour!


JFKs Grave






Bobby Kennedy's grave

We were just in time as well for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. I really felt sorry for the guy because it was around 100 degrees and he was in full uniform. the tour guide said the tomb hasn't been unguarded since the 1920s through snow, hurricanes and 365 days a year. Not an easy job!










We then moved onto the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. We had seen these already only at night so we visited the two war memorials again but skipped the Lincoln Memorial.




















Theres an intersting story to this wall. When the memorial was being designed, the creators wanted to have 38 statues of soldiers to represent the 38 degree latitude that marked the border between North and South Korea. However Congress wouldn't give them enough land to build on. So instead they built 19 soldiers and placed them beside the granite wall so when you looked ath the wall you could see the reflection of the statues and therefore there were 38. Genius!

So thats it really. I'm back at work now for the next week and a half or so and then its off to Chicago for a few days. Madness.