ODDEST THING I SAW TODAY: three uniformed members of a high school marching band, carrying clarinets and running down the Mall, with no sign of the rest of their band or where they might be headed. Perhaps they were just out for an overdressed, peculiarly-equipped jog... (erm, I didn't manage to get a photo of them, so here's one of us!)
I was determined to avoid the omnipresent Starbucks on our Bagelhunt, keen to put my dollar in the pocket of a nice small local coffee shop instead of an evil mega empire. We happened upon a little place called Cosi that did a nice line in inventively-flavoured bagels and stocked up there. However, as the day went on, I realised that Cosi is a massive chain with more outlets even than Starbucks and that it really would've survived without my measly dollar.
Anyway, we caught a cab to the monument (that's how we roll) and our driver was from Pakistan. Our driver from the airport had been from Afghanistan and both had been here over 20 years. Had I had my journalistic wits more about me, I would've asked them about whether it's weird that they're living here while there's so much conflict in their homeland - in the airport driver man's case, inflicted by the US itself - but I mostly looked out of the window to soak up the sights of DC.
Seeing the huge statue of Lincoln was really exciting - a real catch-your-breath moment, like when I first saw the Statue of Liberty or Hollywood sign. It's kind of odd to think that this grand monument, housed in a distinctly grecian temple is so relatively young, having been built in the 1920s.
Surrounded by many school trips, a determined squirrel and many plump sparrows (erm, I think), we had our picnic of bucks fizz and bagels (with the champagne studiously and cunningly concealed, as we weren't able to establish what the laws about consumption of alcohol in public are in DC, despite frenzied googling before we left the hotel. We ARE rock n' roll!). It was very exciting and we were very happy. It was just a shame that it was crummy weather - really overcast and grey.
Our bellies full of booze, bagels and excitement, we headed into the memorial to read the engravings of Lincoln's speeches. It occurred to me that no politician makes those great sweeping statements anymore, that warrant being immortalised in stone, but that I reckon Obama is as close to being that person as the world has seen in ages. I very much hope he's the next president.
appropriately, considering what day it was, we stood where Martin Luther King made his 'I Have A Dream' speech
We got our first, albeit fairly gloomy, glimpse of the Washington blossom as we wandered along the Vietnam memorial and down to the WWII memorial and then walked over to the White House, which just looks like a really nice big home. Far more homely than Buckingham Palace, I reckon. It's just sad that it has amazing gardens that the people living there can't really make much use of with barbecues and paddling pools and stuff.
With the hazy morning tipsyness wearing off, we walked uptown to the BBC Bureau, so Max could get his introductions over and done with. En route, I popped into Gap for some socks, as it'd surely be easier to buy new ones than to find the ones I've packed somewhere in our luggage. Alas I forgot that, thanks to the exchange rate, America is the Land of the Very Nearly Free, and emerged from Gap with two dresses (extremely kickass, both) and a top as well as some socks (the socks were on sale!). At some point, I'm sure I'll realise I'm not a) on holiday nor, more crucially, b) working and will resist the temptation of the oh-so-sweet shops. The really weird thing about the shops we walked past in the kind of downtown (I think) area is that there are no shop fronts. All restaurants and shops are just the ground floor of office buildings, so there's really nothing in the way of spangly, individual shop fronts - the whole area looks quite beige and homogenous. Max says that's what the City is like in London. I'm starting to realise that, before moving to the US, I should probably have explored my home town slightly more.
Max was warmly received at the Bureau, first marching into Justin Webb's office to introduce himself and share a joke about something to do with disappearing offices. We met Laura, who Max is taking over from as BBC Washington Online Reporter, who seems very nice, and she introduced us to a few other people in the office, though there weren't many people in. Like the BBC's New York office, the Washington Bureau is just across one floor and I guess there'd be about 30 people working there?? Unlike the NYC office, it is located very much in the middle of things and is near shops and restaurants. It'll take Max about 15 mins to walk to work once we're in our apartment.
With that visit out of the way, and Max feeling much better for it, we headed back for lunch at the hotel where, to take away all the stresses, aches and running injuries of the past couple of weeks, I had a massage by a lady who comes to your room with a proper table and panpiped music and everything. With the confirmation letter that the hotel put through our door was a list of rules about what you weren't allowed to do during the massage, including soliciting, making inappropriate comments and touching the masseuse, so by the time Tiffany arrived, I had to suppress the urge to blurt out something inappropriate, like trying to keep solemn in church. I think Tiffany might think I'm a mute. Either way, I felt a whole heap better, if slightly marshmallow-y and unable to operate in the real world by the time she'd finished. It was the first time I'd had my eyebrows massaged and I can exclusively reveal that it's a very nice experience.
We met Laura for supper at a fairly grody Chinese place down the road, to get some tips on the Bureau and DC life in general. She mentioned that Max will be going to Pennsylvania ahead of the Primary in a few weeks, to get 'local colour' (voxpops and pictures), which I think Max is a little nervous about. But I'll hopefully be going with him, as he needs to get there by car and as he can't drive, I'll be his chauffeur! I'm determined to visit as many states as possible while we're here, so I hope he has to be driven to many places between now and next April.
I've had a cold and cough for about two weeks and was really coughing over supper, so we stopped off at the 24 hour pharmacy on the way back to the hotel and I got some NyQuil cough mixture then went to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment