Thursday 6^th December

Today we visited the Capital building and took a guided tour. Firstly we watched a very informative video which explained the history of the Capitol as well as how government (Congress) works here in the USA. The United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., is a symbol of the American people and their government, the meeting place of the nation's legislature. The Capitol also houses an important collection of American art, and it is an architectural achievement in its own right. It is a working office building as well as a tourist attraction visited by millions every year.
Construction of the U.S. Capitol began in 1793. In November 1800, the U.S. Congress met in the first completed portion. In the 1850s major extensions to the North and South ends of the Capitol were authorized because of the expansion of the nation and the resultant growth of Congress. Since that time, the U.S. Capitol and its stately dome have become international symbols of their representative democracy.

 Following this a guide was assigned to our group and we were given very functional headsets from which we could hear the commentary without her having to shout above many other groups. We were only taken into a select number of different rooms. 

The first room was named the “Crypt”, unusual in that there is no body lying beneath it at all.  It was built to be the final resting place for George Washington, the first American President, however his remains were interred at Mount Vernon, his plantation home and there were also restrictions in his will which I imagine means he is not going anywhere.  A marble compass has been set in the floor marking the four quadrants where the District of Columbia meet. The crypt also features 13 statues which represent notable people from the first thirteen states of the Union. 

The most notable room for me was the Capitol Rotunda, which is a large, domed, circular room located 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet in height located in the center of the U.S. Capitol on the second floor. The Rotunda is used for important ceremonial events such as the lying in state of eminent citizens and the dedication of works of art. The Rotunda canopy features the painting entitled The Apotheosis of Washington, and the walls of the Rotunda hold historic paintings and a frescoed band, or "frieze," depicting significant events in American history. 

I am using a few photos from the web to show the beauty as my camera certainly could not have captured it like this.

Following the tour, our home exchange host, Lauren had left us special visitor tickets to enter the Senate or the House, so we opted to listen to an American political event for about ¾ hour. We did see the Vce-President, Joe Biden as well as many other Senators who had been called into the chamber to cast a vote on a piece of legislation and see it passed. For later reference (hmmmm) this legislation was

“A bill to authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to products of the Russian Federation and Moldova and to require reports on the compliance of the Russian Federation with its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization, and for other purposes”.

There were so many checks to go through in order to be a visitor in this building that we needed a bite to eat before departing.  To our welcome surprise there was no tax payable on our lunch, and when I queried this fact was told it is the only place in Washington DC to have this privilege.