Sunday 23rd December

The writing got away from me over the past week, however as a synopsis we managed to do the following activities from last Sunday

Monday 17th December

Shopped at Tysons Corner and basically filled in our last day window shopping and seeing movies.  We have totally different tastes in movies so it is not uncommon for us to go to a theatre and say good bye at the entrance as we go to see our chosen selection.  Bob saw  "The Hobbit", while I enjoyed "The Life of Pi", which I thought followed the book quite closely and being in 3D was enthralling for me.

The Life of Pi (taken from the website)

Tuesday 18th December

Our Washington home since 1 December

Clean up house day.  When we home exchange we literally make the house our "home" for the duration of our stay, so at departure we always spend a few solid hours making sure it is at least in the same condition as when we arrived.  In the middle of the day we walked to the local Giant supermarket which was a good 25 minute stroll and purchased a kilo of shelled shrimps and cocktail sauce, along with Moose print ice cream - our diet for the rest of the day - not entirely healthy and nourishing, however it was quick easy and very tasty.

Wednesday 19th December

A very early morning to make sure we were on time for the plane to Los Angeles.  Not knowing the vagaries of DC traffic, nor the distance to the airport we gave ourselves plenty of extra time so the alarm went off at about 4.45 am.
When I called to book a taxi I was told I couldn't book as bookings were only taken outside a 2 hour time frame, so I had to call "when I was ready to be picked up and there is a 10-20 minute wait".  We then quickened our pace and I called them back to say we were ready!! The trip was event free to the terminal and it wasn't until I had booked in our bags that I realised I was carrying in my hand luggage 2 bottles of special cream for our grandchildren's skin conditions that were more than 100 ml - oh my goodness - what to do?  I didn't want to "dump" this cream, so I asked the desk clerk if she could retrieve our bags so that I could then place it into our booked suitcase.  She kindly did this for me, however it did take about 10-15 minutes as the bag no doubt had gone on the conveyor belt to who knows where?  Cream saved!!

Our flight to Los Angeles on Virgin America was very smooth and noticeably without all the frills of Australian planes with the "glam" flight attendants.  We had two gentlemen, one who would have been 55 +, the other sporting the "3 days unshaved look" and a female who was certainly not a size 10.  The bottom line is they all performed their duties, were friendly and efficient.  That is all we need.  One of the interesting aspects to this flight was the ability to use the touch screen in our seat to order anything to eat or drink. Internet access was available for $2 a half hour session - isn't that what internet cafes used to charge? There was only one trolley tour of the plane at the outset and from then onwards food and beverages were as requested by each passenger.
Upon arrival at Los Angeles we had a good walk to stretch our legs and found a trusty Subway to nourish us for dinner.  We lost 3 hours in transit, so a little adaptation to time zones was in order and we had an early night.

Thursday 20th December

As we were not leaving Los Angeles for our flight home until 10.30 pm we got an early start to our final day in USA to be kids again and visit California Adventure Park, which is adjacent to Disneyland.  

We took a shuttle for the trip and as nobody else had booked it for that time or destination we had a 10 seat shuttle bus and driver to ourselves.  At one point I noticed he was hitting 75+ miles per hour in the shared ride lane.  I felt as if we were about to lift off any moment, however had to console myself that it was completely out of my hands and he knows the LA traffic much more than I ever will.

Naturally our day at the theme park was well spent, we saw a colourful and fun parade, enjoyed a few good rides and just let ourselves be swept away in the fantasy of the day. 

 We returned to the hotel where happy hour was in progress so we had a few nibbles to see us through the rest of the evening.
Our flight left at 10.30 pm Thursday night and we arrived in Sydney on Saturday 22nd December at 9.30 am, thus losing Friday 21st December altogether.  Interestingly the 21st of December was the day the naysayers were predicting the "end of the world". We believed we were two of the "chosen ones" who would not be on earth on the 21st so would be spared. As I tell this tale and you read it, I trust that you have been spared too.

Saturday 22nd December
I always think of the following nursery rhyme as we come back to Canberra
"To market to market to buy a fat hog, 
Home again, home again jiggety jog
To market to market to buy a fat pig
Home again, home again jiggety jig"

Victoria, Byson and Zara were waiting for us at the airport to bring us home - all in time to celebrate Christmas with some of our family.
To all those who have looked in from time to time to read about this particular journey - thank you.  I do write it primarily for us to remember incidents, but writing in the public domain means others can come along on the journey too.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Happy Christmas to you all, and we hope a wonderful 2013 lies in wait for you.
We will resume this blog as we travel to Taiwan, Scotland and Canary Islands from 14th February 2013



As we begin our journeys through 2013 I have created a new blog here:-

http://www.weloveretirement2013.blogspot.com.au/


Welcome along!!

Sunday 16^th December

Today we again headed to Foggy Bottom from where we then walked to Georgetown, the harbourside of Washington to have our brunch at “Farmers Fishers and Bakers”.  This restaurant is a buffet style and there was plenty of variety in the types of food available.  

We are not used to meats and salad being available at a brunch, however these were on offer along with other types of food including French toast with glazed bananas, pancakes, tacos with many fillings and cakes.  The waiters constantly came to us offering small finger foods of sushi, crumbed shrimp, cinnamon rolls and hot biscuits (scones),  Bottomless coffee accompanied the brunch, so we paid for it in terms of disturbed sleep last night!!!!

Our window table gave us a birds eye view of the harbor ice skating rink where we saw a few spills as well as a few very talented skaters doing their thing.

After our brunch we strolled along the cobblestone paths off the main road of Georgetown soaking in the fact that today we are USA in the cooler weather and that this time next week we will be home for Christmas in Canberra with air conditioning keeping us cool – oh the contrast of travel.

Saturday 15^th December

The Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts sits aside the Potomac River, Washington DC

We caught the Metro to Foggy Bottom before waiting for the shuttle bus to take us to the Kennedy Centre in order to see the musical “A White Christmas. The name Foggy Bottom is thought to have received the name as its riverside location made it susceptible to fog and industrial smoke.

The shuttle bus was a large red shiny one and upon entering we were soothed with lovely classical music playing – a charming touch and a pre-cursor to enjoying being entertained in one way or another at the Kennedy Centre. 

We were not able to get seats together but they were not very far apart  - it didn’t dampen the experience at all as we could see and wave to each other!! . The musical was a simple story with love triumphing at the end and snow(??)being released from the ceiling over the patrons.

That evening we attended the McLean Community Centre to see a group of cappella singers named “Ball in the House”. The local community newspaper has been very useful to check for events close to home, and this one was within walking distance.  We were in awe of these 5 men and their singing.  The entire repertoire is sung without any musical instruments, rather one and sometimes two of them made the noises of instruments themselves while the others sang in harmony.  

This was a small intimate theatre with the ushers community volunteers and the performers mingling during interval while patrons purchased their CD’s and other merchandise. As we walked back home we admired all the Christmas lights which adorned so many of the homes. There were blown up Santas, wreathes on most doorways, and lights in many of the outdoor trees – just a fairyland experience.

Friday 14^th December

Today was one we chose to spend close to home and skip the attractions.  We ended up going to Tysons Corner (the shopping mall) and making a few last minute purchases.  As I was walking through Macy’s ( a bit like Myer) the Estee Lauder lady approached me and asked if I would like a complimentary make up and photo.  How could I refuse?  After this I decided that Bob needed to take me out to lunch….well he did to lunch in the mall so we enjoyed sitting at one of those places where small portions of Asian food comes past on different coloured plates.

Thursday 13^th December

This morning we again caught our trusty Metro to the centre of Washington DC.  This service is so clean, efficient and quick.  The passengers are polite and will queue to get on the train and exit up the escalators.  There is absolutely NO graffiti anywhere on the trains, there is carpet on the floor and the seats are all in perfect condition.  Needless to say the stations are not conducive to loitering at all.  There are burley Afro-American station staff who tolerate no nonsense at all.  There are no public toilets within the station, nor are there any vendors of any description.  It is simply a vehicle to move people from A to B…..full stop.

Our first visit was to a beautiful building which is home to The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), founded in 1890. It is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through better education for children.

DAR members volunteer more than 250,000 hours annually to veteran patients, award thousands of dollars in scholarships and financial aid each year to students, and support schools for underserved children with annual donations exceeding one million dollars.

As one of the most inclusive genealogical societies in the country, DAR boasts 170,000 members in 3,000 chapters across the United States and internationally. Any woman 18 years or older-regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background-who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.

The DAR encompasses an entire city block and houses one of the nation's premier genealogical libraries, one of the foremost collections of pre-industrial American decorative arts, Washington's largest concert hall, and an extensive collection of early American manuscripts and imprints.

The guide (they are called “docents” here) took us on a tour of about 10 rooms which had been set up in Christmas themes.  The building has a room set up in the fashion of each American state, so were we content to see the ones on the tour as well as an exhibition in the museum highlighting the garments American women wore during the latter part of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

No matter which exhibition or museum we enter here in Washington we are never disappointed as we find the accompanying script to be very readable and succinct.

Following on from this museum we headed to the American History Museum where I wanted to see both Julia Child’s kitchen as well as a new exhibition on the history of food in USA since about 1960. 

The displays showed the evolution of fast food as well as the influences other countries have had on the American diet.  On our previous visit I enjoyed the kitchen of Julia Childs and was happy to look it over again.  The movie “Julie and Julia” was made a few years back and centered around a young woman wanting to cook all the recipes from Julia Child’s French cookbook.  In fact it is here in the kitchen of our home exchange partner!!

The final place on today’s agenda was the Thomas Jefferson memorial.  It was a bit of a walk to get there and the afternoon was passing by, however the photos of the building against the water with the sun lower in the sky were very satisfying.

The memorial itself is quite outstanding, grand and austere at the same time.  Jefferson was the third President of the United States and is credited with writing the Declaration of Independence. 

Again there were quite a few interpretive boards to educate us and coupled with the park ranger’s spiel we left armed with little more knowledge than previously.  The ranger’s duties here are more educative compared to those in Australia and they are responsible for all the national buildings and parks in the USA.

Wednesday 12^th December

Another day to explore more of this lovely city.  We have been so fortunate to date in that the weather has been very favourable and we only have to check the forecast and dress accordingly.  There has been no rain at all to prevent us from getting out and walking, and I would say without hesitation that this is a city where walking and the enjoyment of doing so is a necessary pre-requisite.

 

Mount Vernon was the destination and this meant catching the usual Metro past the city and then boarding a suburban bus to taking us to this site which was the home for 40 years of George and Martha Washington, the first President of the USA. Despite long absences for military and public service, Washington expanded his plantation from 2000 to 8000 acres and the mansion house from six rooms to twenty-one.

We were able to tour the house (no photos allowed in the house) and many of the dozen outbuildings as well as the tomb of Washington and his wife, 

a memorial to the slaves who worked on the estate and one particular photo of the “necessary” – which was an outside toilet. 

I am putting some photos here from inside the house taken from the internet as I don’t want to forget the gawdy colours which the guide told us were definitely chosen by Washington, not them!! 

We finished the night eating a freshly cooked lobster. I pointed to the tank, the shop assistant took it out, weighed it and told me to come back in 10 minutes and collect it all cooked and ready.  I must say it was delicious and we extracted every bit of flesh from the claws and legs too.

Tuesday 11^th December

Our itinerary today was a trip to visit the Episcopal Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Tenleytown.

 As an aside this trip in Washington DC has evolved to  visiting the lesser known, but no less important icons and features of the city.  On our previous trip of 14 days we spent 11 full days visiting the Smithsonian museums (there are about 19 of them), so this one is everything but the Smithsonian(well maybe just one or two at the end of the trip!!)

To further digress, these museums were the result of a donation to the USA by James Smithson, a British scientist who wanted an establishment in his name known as Smithsonian Institution, for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

Back to the Cathedral.  It may seem we visit many, however there ARE many to be visited throughout the world and I am always awed by stained glass as well as architecture and attention to detail on pulpits and altars. This is known as the sixth largest Cathedral in the world and the 2^nd largest in the USA (the largest in USA is in New York). This Cathedral has about 14 separate chapels, along with the main and high altars. 

There were two windows which stood out for me.  The first was a large round one known as the West Rose Window which had abstract themes about the creation story.  

The other window was the Space Window which commemorated the Apollo XI mission to the moon and holds a piece of moon rock brought back by its crew.

A statue of the Christ Child welcomes visitors to the Children’s Chapel which is built to the scale of a six year old child.  

The kneelers feature baby animals and the organ is also made to this same scale.  

They are still looking for a six year old organist to fill that position!!

We ascended the tower (by lift!) which took us to the top floor from which a commanding view of Washington DC can be seen. This is actually the highest point in all of DC as the Cathedral sits atop Mount Saint Alban. While there afternoon tea is served - and mightily delicious too as the finger food is all prepared on site by some dedicated ladies.