A very full day today. After breakfast at a little diner around the corner our first port of call was the Capitol, one of the most famous, and most significant buildings in America. It houses both the Senate and the House of representatives. At the moment Washington is overrun with schoolchildren and policemen from all over the country (30,000 all together - it's Police Week) we were fortunate enough to walk straight in to a guided tour which was absolutely terrific. The room directly below the dome is incredibly beautiful and features large statues and paintings which tells the history of the USA and the War of Independence.
Our next port of call was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This is full of the most incredible aviation treasures imaginable. From the Wright Brothers Flyer (the first heavier than air craft to make a manned flight) right through to the Apollo 11 Module which carried Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins to the moon, in every direction there is an aircraft straight out of history.
You would need two days to do this museum justice. We even got to touch a piece of genuine moon rock.
Finally, we walked all the way down the other end of the Washington Mall to see the Lincoln memorial. The long walk proved to be well worth while. This memorial which is much larger than I imagined it houses a magnificent statue of one of America's greatest presidents Abraham Lincoln. It is a very powerful piece of sculpture and at any one time there are thousands of visitors, mostly from the U.S. but also many from all over the world. While we were in this area we also dropped in on the Vietnam War Memorial Wall nearby which is also an incredibly solemn experience. Altogether a very full day and we were very happy to hail a taxi back to the hotel.
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