Washington D.C – Capital of the world
Nehru once said “Washington is an inspiration to people world over. The memorials here are the real temples to which each generation must pay tribute and, in doing so, must catch something of the fire that burnt in the heart of those who were the torch bearers of freedom not only for this country, but for the world”. Well, what do I say, I felt overwhelmed and humbled, to be frank, when I visited this place. I had different set of expectations. OK, I shall visit this place and finish off in 2-3-days. Go to the white house, go to the capitol and some museums. I am done. Well, I was wrong. I was totally wrong. This place beat all the favorites thumbs down.
If I get a chance to go to one place and one place only, I would go visit these monuments. Although they are Americanized to certain extent, they are indeed tribute to the humanity. When we were traveling through the national mall my friend was playing Bryan Adams
“Here I am, this is me; There’s nowhere else I would rather be”.
Though it was meant for another context, I took my own.
How could a city inspire you so much? Is this just a small city (69 sq. miles) with dense population having daily routine life? No my friends. This is a city with rich history, albeit being around for 300+ years. Which one do you thing is the most impacting company, IBM or Microsoft? Well, you can ask the same question about Washington DC too. This is a mammoth in epitome of humanity and justice. “Justitia Omnibus (justice for all)” is the motto. Well, how well it is executed is in the hands of the people who rule. : ). Oh man that was a narrow escape from political mudsling.
Anyways, as I always do, let me delve into the history of the city, attractions and personal musings about the city.
HISTORY
Washington DC, was originally part of Maryland. When the US Congress approved a plan to secure land for Federal Government, Virginia and Maryland gave 10 miles of land for the same. The first and great US president George Washington commissioned Pierre Charles l’Enfant to build a layout for the city in 1791. The Government moved in at 1800. Virginia reclaimed its half in 1846. Washington has two rivers running namely Potomac and the Anacostia.
An Irish Architect James Hoban rendered the chosen architectural drawing in 1792, which came to be known as “The White House”. This was mutilated by the British in 1812 and was rendered after a damaging fire. From then onwards there was no turning back. Washington glorified the world with some great monuments. After that so many presidents have come and gone. The glory of the city is its monuments (not the people who come and go.). Nothing can replace that. This most widely secured and protected city is the pinnacle of mankind as we speak. There are so many known things as well as unknown things about this city.
I shall stop at this brief introduction.
ATTRACTIONS
As we all know, the main attractions are the Governmental building and the presidential palace. There are so many museums available. In my opinion, the list of star attraction is
===> The Capitol building (The domed one many mistake as the white house)
===> The Whitehouse (The presidential palace)
===> Smithsonian Institution
===> National Mall
===> Lincoln Memorial
===> Washington Memorial (The tall erect monument, in front of the capitol)
===> Jefferson Memorial
===> Vietnam, Korean War memorials
===> Library of Congress (World’s largest collection of books)
===> Supreme Court
===> Smithsonian museums
====>National Air and Space Museum
====>Museum of Natural history
====>Museum of Art
====>Gallery of Art
====>American History Museum
====>Hirshhorn museum
====>Among others
===> You also have
====>Chinatown
====>MCI Center
====>Adams Morgan
====>Historical Georgetown district
====>National Geographic Society for other attractions.
====>Union Station
Since Virginia got a part of DC under its wings, few important monuments are located one the other side of river Potomac namely Arlington National cemetery, the Kennedy center and the Iwo-Jima monument. The Pentagon is also on the other side of the river
The time consuming attraction in Washington DC is the Smithsonian institution. The national museums, which come under the aegis of Smithsonian institution, are some exceptional things. Mind you! Some of them are just too much for feeble minded. Some are overwhelming. You may not be able to overcome the excitement, information and shock overload. Just be aware of that. I was able to spend one full day in National Air and Space Museum alone. They have originals of almost all the path breaking artifacts of the air and space history. I ended up spending two film roles here alone. Wherever you go, you can see a lot of school kids on educational trips.
PLANNING AND TRAVEL
The best way to cover these places is using a bus trip. You can visit all the Governmental monuments in an orderly fashion in a day or two depending upon your choice. You may then have to choose the museums you want to visit and visit them at your own pace. Believe me, you got to have a lot of patience and energy to walk a lot to really enjoy these places. The IMAX experiences in these places can be quite some experience.
I would like to mention about “International Spy Museum”. This is a private enterprise and not under the control of Smithsonian Institution. This was a mind-boggling place and you are given with so much of information about spy, in a non-conventional way that you will learn so much about this conniving art of spying.
You can cover most of the Washington by the metro trains. This is an awesome, fast, effective and efficient transportation system I have seen anywhere in the world. It takes you to all the attractions in Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland (The connecting parts). You just need to get a daily pass and travel to all the places in and around DC.
TRAVEL TIME
I had this dream trip as a part of two-week business/training trip in DC. I was at DC at the wrong time (I mean the cold winter. Oh boy it was so chilling). I happened to see the No-war March conducted at that time (Around president’s day, I presume).
The best time would be to visit during summer, as you would have one less thing to worry about.
FOOD
If you are keen about food, you have plenty of places in and around Georgetown, Adams Morgan and all. There is quite some hip shopping places too. You have some great restaurants from all over the world. There is this Indian restaurant frequented by Bill Clinton in Georgetown.
EMBASSIES
Naturally, you will see embassies of almost all the countries in the world. This is quite a scene to see national flags in front of all those mansions
STAY
There are some great places. There is this Willard Hotel (Where MLK Jr “I have a dream” speech) and the standard chain hotels.
FINAL WORD
In my opinion, this city is of great heritage, history and impact in the past and present. It will be the pinnacle of mankind for the rest of the future. If you have a chance to travel to only one place, you can be pretty sure, this is the place you want to be.
Just trust me!
Comments are welcome
Kalil
