Last week I had the opportunity to spontaneously join my husband on a trip to Washington. A few months ago I had silently and rather stupidly promised myself not to go there again for the next eight years ... so much for sticking to decisions when the temptation is called travel!
I had not been to Washington for more than ten years, and definitely never with a digital camera, as I could not find any files on the city in my digital archives. Enough reasons to go! So I ended up with 48 hours in Washington with just one compulsory dinner and lots of free time - perfect!
I had not been to Washington for more than ten years, and definitely never with a digital camera, as I could not find any files on the city in my digital archives. Enough reasons to go! So I ended up with 48 hours in Washington with just one compulsory dinner and lots of free time - perfect!
When planning the two-day-visit I decided to do a "monuments tour". I planned a route beforehand - "Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude" - , looking up the best views and situations from the web's flickr, 500px and 1x.com images as I usually do. A tour from the hotel, which was in Georgetown, to Lincoln Memorial down the National Mall to Capitol Hill and back around the Tidal Basin for some more monuments, then across Arlington Bridge to the cemetery and Teddy Roosevelts Memorial on the island in between, seemed just the right programme for a day. The whole route according to Google was only 10 km. The weather was supposed to be fine.
I set out from the hotel in Georgetown early in the morning. Spring was in the air, the sun was coming up in a blue sky, so I decided to walk. The route from googlemaps started with a "Rock Creek Trail" which sounded exciting, like a nice nature hike along water, bird song, a creek ....
I should have known that American inner-city trail names can be somewhat misleading euphemisms. These are some "wishful-thinking pinhole-views" of Rock Creek trail. Reimagine the time when George Washington came through here on his horse ....
The trail continued along the Potomac river, a few people passed by jogging or on bikes, park benches appeared and dotted the trail, which became nicer and greener on the banks of the river.
At some point I realized, the Americans still measure in miles, and I decided to take it slowly, sit in the sun on one of the benches, doze off the jet-lag and enjoy the Washington wildlife around me that share the city with us.
along Rock Creek Trail
The trail continued along the Potomac river, a few people passed by jogging or on bikes, park benches appeared and dotted the trail, which became nicer and greener on the banks of the river.
At some point I realized, the Americans still measure in miles, and I decided to take it slowly, sit in the sun on one of the benches, doze off the jet-lag and enjoy the Washington wildlife around me that share the city with us.
Canada goose on the Potomac
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Living on Capitol Hill next to the Senate Fountain: an early easter-bunny - sorry - easter-squirrel!
These live on National Mall next to the Reflection Pool
Get off my turf!
European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
American robin (Turdus migratorius), much larger than the European robin and not related.
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
I did get as far as the White House and Capitol Hill:
- the kitchen garden is on the left behind the wooden stakes
busy in front
not yet spring here
The next post will be about the rest of the walk and the monuments!
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