Thursday 25 October 2012

Washington - 25th October 2012





This morning I had prebooked a tour to the Capitol Building at 11.00am. We took the metro the opposite way to Capitol South, which was a short distance from the entrance to the Visitor Centre. There was not so much security here – no official ID required even though this is the equivalent to our Houses of Parliament. The Capitol building is home to the US Congress and its two legislative bodies, the House of Representatives and the US Senate. After going through security we were in a huge hall called Emancipation Hall, where everybody congregates before going on tours. And there were hundreds of people going on tours. School groups, private tours and just the general public like us. We were taken into a theatre initially, where we learned a little on the history of the building and how the American system works. From here, we were given ear phones that were connected to our guide’s microphone, so everyone could hear perfectly.


The building is full of statues and works of art. It was explained how many artists and how long it took to paint all the different parts of the building. Inside the actual dome is a beautiful painting by an Italian artist called Brumidi. The guide was extremely knowledgeable – saying more than once that the English burned the place down at one point in history. Oh dear! We went into the original room that the Senate used to meet in, but because of its rounded ceiling there were spots in the room that sound didn’t travel to. Would do for those MP’s that fall asleep then! All rooms are exquisite, and I felt very honoured to have been able to visit.

As we were leaving, the guide said that we may be able to get passes to visit the gallery of both the House of Representatives and the Senate – so we did. We went and sat in the balconies of the empty houses – the house is in recess until after the election in a couple of weeks time. I shall watch with interest the swearing in of the president now I know where it is taking place.

We went and grabbed a quick bite to eat before making our way to the Library of Congress, just opposite the Capitol Building. There is a tunnel that links the two which we could have used. This featured in the film National Treasure, and I felt I knew it already. The film didn’t do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful. There were free tours, and we joined the next one. A volunteer explained that this is the biggest library where there are no books on view – all books have to be requested and got for you from a member of staff. This is the biggest library in the world – and is being added to at a rate of 13,000 items per day. Wow! And it must be the most beautiful as well. There was a private party being prepared for this evening, so the library was shutting early and ours was the last tour of the day. Wonder how much that is costing?

The last place we went to was overlooking one of the reading rooms where members of the public who are registered with the library can request books. I knew this room – it was in the film. And apart from a few little additions that the movie director made, it was exactly the same. Great! We then had to leave as tables were being laid – and an ice skating rink was going to be laid in the main hall!

We walked from here towards the White House. Paul had been itching to go there, and now there was no stopping him. He didn’t want to stop anywhere on the way – he just wanted to get there. On the other hand, I did want to stop and see things on the way. So he sat whilst I went and looked at the Senate Fountain and reflecting pool (another one!) and then over to the Taft Memorial. There’s that man again! And there were squirrels everywhere. I have never seen so many squirrels. We had seen an odd one every day we have been here, but here there were eight or ten of them all hopping about burying their nuts. They are quite tame.

I reckon the White House was probably a couple of miles walk. It was cloudy this morning, but now the sun had come out and it was lovely. We got to the White House, back or front not sure – the bit where there is a half circle of pillars – and took a few photos and that was it. A bit of a let down really from what we had done already this morning. Might have been different if we had managed to get on a tour here. From here we picked up a cab to take us back to the hotel. A couple of quick drinks, an hour to let the feet recover and then out again on a walking tour entitled “The Most Haunted Houses”.

We, again, grabbed a quick dinner on the way. We met at a house called “The Octagon” and decided to walk. It was virtually next to the White House, so you can tell how compact this city is. It really is good to walk around. We heard various stories as we made our way round of the houses, and the area, and people that used to live here and some still visit – apparently! The bit I wanted to do was around Lafayette Park – an area that features strongly in David Baldacci’s Camel Club books. We walked around the side of the White House, and had various houses on the way explained as to their history. It was quite busy with people and traffic, so it wasn’t really scary at all. The stories were interesting though – and the guide was obviously a believer! Paul was not, and thought the whole night was a load of baloney. The guide did say that 70% of the time, someone got something “unexplained” on their photos. One chap looked at his on his camera, and there was a ghostlike woman’s shape in one of the upstairs windows of Stephen Decatur’s house. Spooky!

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