Washington

We started early this morning, with breakfast in the hotel's dining room at 7:30am.  I had porridge (or "oatmeal") with raisins and brown sugar, juice and green tea, while the others had eggs & bacon, bagels & cream cheese and coffee.  Then we walked one block and caught an open-topped double decker bus to tour the city.

First stop was Union Station ...

Then Capitol Hill, where the US government sits ...

Then the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where we hopped off the bus.  This was a fantastic collection of all the different flying machines there have been in (or out of) the world!

Then we hopped back onto the next open-topped bus to come past and on to the US Holocaust Museum.  This was quite a moving experience for us all.

Then back on the bus to pass the Jefferson Memorial ...

... and hopping-off again at the Lincoln Memorial, where we had lunch.

We were a little disappointed that the Reflecting Pool (made famous in "Forrest Gump", when Jenny ran through it to return to Forrest) had been emptied for repairs.  But with everything else we had seen, it wasn't that important.

Then we were back on the bus and travelling over the Pontomac River to Arlington Cemetery.  This is the most famous cemetery in the US and only those people who have died in military service, or who have received a major service medal like the Purple Heart can be buried there, and their spouses and dependant children.

We saw the grave of John F & Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert & Edward Kennedy and a lot of other famous military personnel.

We also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the changing of the guard and a wreath-laying ceremony.

 

There was this group of elderly military people there, many in wheelchairs, who had made a special trip there today to lay this wreath and many of them were openly crying during the Last Post.  It was very moving.

After that we were back on the bus again to travel past the Pentagon, the seat of the US Military.  Then to the White House, where we finally departed our bus trip for the day.

After taking quite a few photos, we walked to Ford's Theatre, which is where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated ...

... and then finally back to our hotel for dinner, a bath and early bed after a very long, fascinating and exhausting day!  One of the most pertinent comments made today was by Lizzy ... "Washington is a lot more serious than Disney World!"