Thursday, April 13, 2006

Washington DC

On April 9, Palm Sunday, I finally headed south from Baltimore to Washington DC with Greg, my colleague. This was my first trip out of the state of Maryland since I arrived in USA. The weather was sunny unlike the previous day which rained for the whole day. A perfect weather for an outing.

The drive took about an hour and half before we reached Washington. The Washington monument was the tell tale sign that we had reached our destination while travelling on interstate 395 highway.

We thought that finding a car park slot would be difficult with so many streets cordoned off because of security. A good thing we asked a cop on duty where could we park the car. He directed us to a road in front of the Capitol Building and parking was free. What a great blessing.

From there, the photo taking session began. I was impressed at the grand architecture and huge buildings. Greg was my tour guide, explaining the history and interesting details of the place.

Directly opposite to the Capitol Building was the Washington Monument which stood erected like a giant sundial. In between these was a long stretch of field called the National Mall. Both sides of the mall were lined with museums ranging from the Natural Museum of Natural History to National Air and Space Museum. I have to come back on several weekends to finished touring all the museums. By the way, all museums in Washington have free entrances.

This place is filled with memorials, commemorating important events like World War II, Vietnam War etc. and outstanding people such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. You just cannot help feel solemn and awe at this place.

On our way back to Capitol Building, we also visited the White House. It was exactly like what I saw on TV except that I was physically there.

You can have a look at my pictures taken at DC at this link.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice photos.
After a critical reading of your article, we get a better understanding of the following words: sundial, dial, Capitol, cordon off.
and I think in one of your sentence, there is a grammar mistake. "You just cannot help but feel solemn and awe at this place."
should you use " You just cannot help (but??) feeling solemn and awe at this place."
zimin

Paul said...

Wow, you spotted that?! Great, I have grammar and spell check from now on. The blog I am using does not have a spell check option. Smile.

Thanks for scrutinising it so detailing. Will write better next time.

Anonymous said...

heh. they have free entrances. .. but charge at the exits? *p