A day with Washington

From the state of Pennsylvania we enter the odd arrangement of Washington D.C. It's not really a state, the D.C. stands for District of Columbia, and it is tiny. You could drive through the area in half an hour to one of four surrounding states. The car registration plates read 'Taxation without representation' which refers to the former British taxes imposed on the American colonies for which they had no representation in British parliament.
The capital of the U.S.A. has another couple of oddities that we haven't come across anywhere else. For one, the museums here are free. This is good news for the tourist as there's plenty of museums here relating to the history of America and huge collections of items that were gathered by the government funded Smithsonian Institute.
The rain has increased to a constant downpour and the streets are filling with deep water. We drive from our expensive but very dire motel, that feels like it's probably seen numerous murders, into the centre. The night draws in as we catch glimpses of the White House, the Capitol Building, the Pentagon, the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.
I'd heard a few things about D.C. but the main thing that stuck in my mind was that it was once known as the 'Murder Capitol' as it was just behind New Orleans in yearly murders with nearly five hundred in one year during the early nineties. We even read an article about the Governor of D.C. boasting about the district's tough reputation for murder and violence claiming 'If you can't stand the heat then get out of Washington'. Further boasts about D.C. being the 'top dog' when it comes to being a tough city made the guy sound like a complete knucklehead. Imagine if Gordon Brown had come out and said something like that!?
But for all the hype Washington D.C. seems a very decent place around the centre. Grand Greek style architecture is everywhere and large parts of the centre are lush green park land. Splitting swathes of green are wide boulevards from which you can see the various monuments to former figures of the U.S.A. We cross grand bridges that seem to echo London, but without the people, and make our way eventually to our motel. We can only afford to stay here one night as it's more expensive than New York so we make the most of the next day.
Unfortunately the rain hasn't stopped. We start out at the large Lincoln Memorial which is a huge seated statue of the famous man within a Greek columned round building. His famous Gettysburg address speech is etched inside the high ceilings. A bit of information about the civil war and the racist split of America at that time is read by us and a good number of tourists braving the weather. In fact, it seems every one's a tourist.
Looking straight from the entrance of the Lincoln Memorial you see the large Washington monument, which is like the Cleopatra's Needle in Paris and London. Beyond that is the long Reflecting Pool and a the World War Memorial and beyond that is the Capitol Building of the Untied States. Walking from the Lincoln Memorial to the Reflecting Pool and beyond takes some time. On the way we wander past the excellent memorial to the Korean war veterans and those who died.

Flanking the reflecting pool are the many museums that make up the Smithsonian collection. We've no time to visit any but have a quick look in the visitors centre which looks strangely out of place as a red church. Nowhere else in America other than Central Park have I seen such large plots of land given away to green areas and monuments right in the heart of the city. The rain has thoroughly soaked us so we dry off in our favourite fast food establishment.
The downtown area of the city is like any other but seems to be bustling with restaurants and adverts for various nightlife activities. There's a healthy amount of students here too and it's all seems a bit cooler than I'd predicted. It's an attractive place too. The White House, not that you can even get close, and the memorials are just part of the attraction. The distinct neighbourhood of Georgetown is upper market and well kept in white board buildings and boutique shopping along fancy terraced streets of European brick. All very chic.
The river separates the city from the states around which means you're never far from anywhere else. I unexpectedly like Washington D.C. Only the high prices and bad weather put a bit of a dampener on things. In summer the place is supposed to be red hot. I thought it would be similar to Canberra in Australia. A sort of fake capital that was chosen so as not to favour one city over another, such as Philadelphia, Boston or New York. And although that was the case the Americans have made Washington D.C. a far more interesting city. The hordes of tourists help keep the streets alive as they could have easily been deserted at night as the max exodus of government workforce head for home in a neighbouring state at the end of the day.
I would definitely say that if you're ever in the area visiting Washington D.C. for a couple of days was worth it, even if it doesn't stop raining.