This is my travel blog!
Documenting my trip across the USA and Canada in June/June 2011.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

DAY 3 - NY to Washington D.C.

Day trip to Washington DC


* Got up before 7am to catch a taxi to Penn Station (34th and 8th?, next to Madison Square Gardens) so I could get the Bolt Bus to Washington DC. Got my first glimpse of the Empire State Building. The bus was half an hour late so it didn’t leave until about 8:30. It took a while to get out of the city, but it was alright once we got on the freeway.

* Arrived in Washington DC about 4 and a half hours later - first impressions were really nice from the houses to the monuments and national buildings. The houses on the way in were all Victorian style (Charmed) houses and the architecture and scale of the buildings in the main city were pretty amazing. We arrived at the station which was all marble and sculptural and pretty amazing.

* Started walking up to see the sights (only had four hours before I had to leave for NY). First stop was the Capitol Building which was pretty incredible. It was massive and grand and the architecture was so detailed - makes quite a statement.

* I walked around for a while - didn’t realise how big the place actually was. Decided to take a hop on/hop off tour bus around so I would be able to get to all the places I had planned, as well as get some info/history on the places I was seeing. I rode around on the bus for a while to get an idea of the place, then hopped off at the Museum of Natural History, the American History Museum and the Whitehouse (plus walking around in between stops).

* I managed to see everything on my list, from the monuments to the buildings, from the bus (except for the Lincoln Memorial which I was pretty bummed about), but I didn’t have the time to be able to go inside everything. The museums were pretty cool, although they were way to packed with kids and were really noisy so I didn’t stay long.

* I caught the bus back at 5:30 and arrived in New York at about 10:15. I did a bit of shopping (at H&M and Duane Reade supermarket) then caught a taxi back to the hotel. Packed my bags then went to sleep.

Everything I saw in Washington DC was really amazing. The marble architecture was so extravagant and detailed and grand - reflective of how Americans see/want to portray themselves. In comparison to Canberra especially, Washington DC was really amazing and a great way to represent America.

It was good to go to a more relaxed part of America because NY was so overwhelming and full on the first day. Definitely worth the long trip, but glad to be back in NYC.

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