12th March 2011
Today we woke up at about 6.00am because we had to catch a train really early in the morning. After getting dressed, eating breakfast and getting what we needed from the RV, we said goodbye to K and she took us to the station. There we caught a train to Washington DC.
The train trip took 2 hours, and we entertained ourselves by talking and reading. At 9.45am we arrived at Union Station in Washington DC. We hopped out, and set off.
The first thing we did was to check in our bags so that we didn't have to carry them everywhere, and after that we went onto a tour bus. On the tour bus we went past many famous sights and places, and our bus driver told us about them. We hopped off the bus near the Smithsonian Museum of American History and from there we walked to a street corner where our walking tour was going to start. It was absolutely freezing, and the strong wind didn't help. Soon enough, our tour started.
The first thing we did on our walking tour was to go to the Washington Monument which is a really tall white tower of stone. As we walked there our guide told us heaps of stuff about it. The Washington Monument is for George Washington, who was the first President of the U.S.A. The tower was actually planned before George died but was not begun until much later. The monument is actually 2 different colours, because of the different coloured stone they used over the many years of construction. You can see the monument from heaps far away because it is so tall.
We then spent time looking at the White House from there. The White House wasn't always white though. It was originally sandstone in colour. It was painted white much later (after the English burnt it down in 1813 and it was rebuilt), it was then called the White House. After taking lots of pictures we walked further along the Mall to the WWII Memorial, which had heaps of water fountains and even a wall filled with more than 4000 gold stars (each star represents 100 Americans who died in the war).
We walked on further through the parks on the Mall to the Vietnam Memorial. When this was built there was a competition in the USA for what the Memorial would look like, 2500 people entered designs. In the end a college student won, even beating her own teacher who had only given her a "B" for her design in class. The memorial was a smooth polished black wall with the names of all the Americans who were killed or "missing in action" during the war.
We kept on walking and next was the Lincoln Memorial. Inside there was a huge statue of Abe Lincoln sitting in a chair. The Lincoln Memorial is the place for many rallies and the "I have a dream" speech was said there by Martin Luther King Jnr. The memorial is directly across from the Washington Monument, and from the Memorial you have a perfect view of it. We took heaps of pictures, and walked around looking at all the detail on the memorial. There are 56 steps, to signify the 56 years of his life.
Our final point of the tour was at the Korean War Memorial. It had 19 men "creeping" through the forrest. Behind the men there was a wall with lazer etched photos on it of the American support services who went to Korea. This wall was also reflective so when the 19 men are added to the 19 reflections it becomes 38 symbolizing the 38th Parallel. Our tour then ended.
After having lunch we kept on walking around. In the distance was the Capitol building with its statue on top of the dome. We had learnt that the statue was Lady Freedom and no other statue in all of Washington is allowed to be taller than it (19.5 feet) so that freedom is never overshadowed. As we moved around we saw Police and FBI and CIA officers everywhere - police with guns were on top of the White House because the President, Barack Obama, was home.
After catching a tour bus back to Union Station we had Subway for dinner and after a long wait in the absolute freezing cold, we caught another bus to the apartment where we were staying. We went to bed as soon as we could because we were really tired. Daylight savings was due to change overnight so we all switched our watches forward one hour.
Here are some photos I took :
Today we woke up at about 6.00am because we had to catch a train really early in the morning. After getting dressed, eating breakfast and getting what we needed from the RV, we said goodbye to K and she took us to the station. There we caught a train to Washington DC.
The train trip took 2 hours, and we entertained ourselves by talking and reading. At 9.45am we arrived at Union Station in Washington DC. We hopped out, and set off.
The first thing we did was to check in our bags so that we didn't have to carry them everywhere, and after that we went onto a tour bus. On the tour bus we went past many famous sights and places, and our bus driver told us about them. We hopped off the bus near the Smithsonian Museum of American History and from there we walked to a street corner where our walking tour was going to start. It was absolutely freezing, and the strong wind didn't help. Soon enough, our tour started.
The first thing we did on our walking tour was to go to the Washington Monument which is a really tall white tower of stone. As we walked there our guide told us heaps of stuff about it. The Washington Monument is for George Washington, who was the first President of the U.S.A. The tower was actually planned before George died but was not begun until much later. The monument is actually 2 different colours, because of the different coloured stone they used over the many years of construction. You can see the monument from heaps far away because it is so tall.
We then spent time looking at the White House from there. The White House wasn't always white though. It was originally sandstone in colour. It was painted white much later (after the English burnt it down in 1813 and it was rebuilt), it was then called the White House. After taking lots of pictures we walked further along the Mall to the WWII Memorial, which had heaps of water fountains and even a wall filled with more than 4000 gold stars (each star represents 100 Americans who died in the war).
We walked on further through the parks on the Mall to the Vietnam Memorial. When this was built there was a competition in the USA for what the Memorial would look like, 2500 people entered designs. In the end a college student won, even beating her own teacher who had only given her a "B" for her design in class. The memorial was a smooth polished black wall with the names of all the Americans who were killed or "missing in action" during the war.
We kept on walking and next was the Lincoln Memorial. Inside there was a huge statue of Abe Lincoln sitting in a chair. The Lincoln Memorial is the place for many rallies and the "I have a dream" speech was said there by Martin Luther King Jnr. The memorial is directly across from the Washington Monument, and from the Memorial you have a perfect view of it. We took heaps of pictures, and walked around looking at all the detail on the memorial. There are 56 steps, to signify the 56 years of his life.
Our final point of the tour was at the Korean War Memorial. It had 19 men "creeping" through the forrest. Behind the men there was a wall with lazer etched photos on it of the American support services who went to Korea. This wall was also reflective so when the 19 men are added to the 19 reflections it becomes 38 symbolizing the 38th Parallel. Our tour then ended.
After having lunch we kept on walking around. In the distance was the Capitol building with its statue on top of the dome. We had learnt that the statue was Lady Freedom and no other statue in all of Washington is allowed to be taller than it (19.5 feet) so that freedom is never overshadowed. As we moved around we saw Police and FBI and CIA officers everywhere - police with guns were on top of the White House because the President, Barack Obama, was home.
After catching a tour bus back to Union Station we had Subway for dinner and after a long wait in the absolute freezing cold, we caught another bus to the apartment where we were staying. We went to bed as soon as we could because we were really tired. Daylight savings was due to change overnight so we all switched our watches forward one hour.
Here are some photos I took :
The White House with 2 snipers on the roof
The Korean War Memorial
The Washington Monument
The Lincoln Memorial
The Capitol Building
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