A final message from Washington DC

I write this final message from the hotel foyer as I wait for my 2:40 pm shuttle bus. When I came and sat in the foyer, it was nice and peaceful. Unfortunately for some reason there are now about 50 kids (I guess about 14 years old) wearing brightly coloured tops hanging around and generally irritating me. In response, I have used my baggage to erect a barrier around my little corner of the room.

Yesterday, for my last full day in Washington DC I decided to just walk about town and see the sights. Although there are plenty of museums I still haven't seen, Captain Flash was tired of being x-rayed and groped by fanatical security guards, and requested a day off before the trials of airport security.

We headed from the hotel towards the White House, across the ellipse and to the World War II memorial. After spending some time examining the memorial, we walked past the reflecting pool to the Lincoln memorial.

The Lincoln memorial is actually very impressive. My photos don't show it well, but the thing is ENORMOUS! After admiring the Lincoln memorial at length, Captain Flash and I wandered to Foggy Bottom - mostly to please Hilary. It was a fun neighbourhood to wander through. George Washington University is found in Foggy Bottom, and has a different atmosphere from downtown DC. By then it was getting dark, so I took the Metro back downtown and returned to my hotel to pack.

The hotel check-out time isn't until 12 noon, so I slept in a little before checking out. I then lunched at the Hard Rock Cafe and now I am waiting in the hotel foyer.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my time in DC, I am now really looking forward to getting home. The security checks, calculation of tips and the lack of Australianness is really beginning to get to me. Not long now: about 30 minutes until the airport bus arrives and then another 36 hours or so to get home!

Tour of the Capitol and the Newseum

First of all, I didn't take any photos today - I didn't take my camera to the Capitol because I thought I couldn't bring one on the tour. It turns out I could, but no matter. Captain Flash still got to see it all. The upside is that I can put up another photo from yesterday - Captain Flash hanging with his fluttering friends in the "Partners in Evolution: Butterflies + Plants" exhibit. I also forgot to mention that Captain Flash made a human friend at the Air & Space museum yesterday: a girl who works there liked him so much that she took a photo!

Moving back to today's business: the Capitol tour. I set off at a decent hour this morning, and arrived there ready for my tour time. The lady there kindly agreed to shift me to the slot 10 minutes later so I didn't have to tour with 30 schoolchildren. The Capitol dome is very impressive, and thoroughly worth seeing. The rest of the tour was also pretty good - seeing where Obama walked down the stairs on the way to inauguration and plenty of other things.

After I finished wandering the Capitol building, I wandered casually back toward downtown and my hotel (about 2km). I decided (since I was walking right past it) to fork out some cash and visit the 'Newseum.' The newseum was well worth visiting. You begin the visit by going into a theatre to watch a 10 minute video: "What is news?" which was actually pretty good. You can also view a section of the Berlin Wall. After that, you take the lift up to the 6th floor (an enormous lift capable of holding 50 to 60 people). The 6th floor has an outside balcony, with some pretty spectacular views of DC.

After going back inside, they have a display with the current front page from newspapers all over the country and the world. It was quite interesting - especially seeing how many papers covered the Australian bushfires on the front page. There is no question that the fires are a tragedy, but I am so used to Australia being ignored that it came as a surprise to see coverage on the front pages of both the New York Times and The Wall St Journal. There was also coverage on the front pages of newspapers from papers all over the world. Oddly, I feel that being on the other side of the world from Australia right now is almost like being away from a loved one when they are going through a difficult time. Naturally, I offer sympathy and virtual hugs to anyone affected.

Moving on from current news to some more distant 'news': the newseum displays many front pages of newspapers from the past, dating back to the 16th century. Naturally, the newspapers of the 16th century do not closely resemble the newspapers of today. In the same exhibit was an issue of Scientific American from 1845 . . . and MANY other papers, dating right up to the election of Obama.

Also on display: the door from the Watergate building which had its latch taped open - eventually leading to the uncovering of the whole Watergate scandal. This door was FBI evidence from 1973 to 1977.

Another section of the museum holds part of the antenna from the North tower of the World Trade Centre (and part of the fuselage from flight 93). These were both part of a dedicated September 11 display, which was very well done.

As I progressed down the levels there were many more fascinating displays, exploring many different aspects of the news. Once more, I left just on closing time at 5pm.

Thoroughly satisfied with my day's endeavours, I continued on my journey home. I stopped for dinner at a delightful little sports tavern, and settled in for an evening in front of the TV. Once again, the highlight has been the Colbert Report - I will miss it once I get back home! Tonight he interviewed the guys from TV on the Radio. At one point, he asked if he could stroke the beard of one of the band members. Since Neil bet me $1 to stroke the beard of Hashim Amla, I really appreciated that.

Captain Flash and Annette visit three Smithsonian Museums

First of all, I think it is a bad idea for me to return to Australia. I have been in a proper winter for long enough now that I considered today's temperature of 15.5 degrees C to be warm.

Today, Captain Flash and I went down to the National Mall to visit various Smithsonian museums. We arrived shortly after opening time (which is an Annette-friendly 10am), and headed first to the American History Museum. We went there first mostly because Captain Flash isn't very good at reading maps and so we initially thought it was the Natural History museum.

The American History museum was ok. Interesting enough to wander about, but I wouldn't make it an absolute number one priority. The coolest bit there? Seeing the C3PO suit from Return of the Jedi. For Sex & the City fans, the laptop shown in the photo with Captain Flash and C3PO is the one Carrie used to write her columns on.

After the American History museum (complete with dodgy cafeteria lunch - I am really missing Aussie food now!), I went on to the Natural History museum. The Natural History museum was pretty cool. Plenty of your usual ocean/mammal/dino stuff, but my favourite major exhibit? The geological exhibit. Some of you may know of my fondness for the the glowing rocks exhibit in the Perth museum - they have glowing rocks at the Smithsonian too. Well, it turns out I like looking at rocks. There are so many pretty colours and patterns, even in the non-fluorescent or phosphorescent rocks. I spent quite a lot of time admiring the comprehensive geology display. It is probably worth mentioning that they also have the Hope Diamond on display there.

Now, the geological exhibit was cool - but the Smithsonian Natural History museum also has a section with live butterflies. It costs $6 to get in, but since the Smithsonian entry is free and this display is awesome it is well worth it. It was like the butterfly display they had at Perth Zoo for a while, but a bit smaller. I now have plenty of photos of butterflies up close, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in there.

The last museum stop of the day was at the National Air and Space Museum. This was a museum I was really excited about seeing, and I am certainly glad I went. Although it can't contain truly giant rockets and so on because of size constraints (those are out in Virginia, I'm trying to figure out if I can get there), it still has some pretty cool stuff. Amongst the stuff I saw there:

• The original Wright flyer
• The spacesuit Buzz Aldrin wore to walk on the moon
• The command module from Apollo 11

I had a thoroughly good time, and took many photos. I left just before 5:30 pm, which is closing time. Having spent a good part of the day walking around I was pretty tired and decided to head home - through the sculpture garden.

Walking through the sculpture garden I discovered something FABULOUS: there is an open-air ice-skating rink in the middle! I promptly paid for a session, hired some skates and put my bags in a locker. During my session someone fell over and somehow managed to fall severely enough that an ambulance came to pick them up! I didn't see the fall, just the guy lying on the ice for quite some time. I did my best to ignore it, and skated for 1.5 of my allocated 2 hours, by which time my ankles and calves were paining me a lot. Although my ankles are still a little sore, I am thoroughly glad I had the opportunity to do the open-air skating - it is something I had in my head I would like to do while in the USA, but didn't think would be possible.

And finally, on a less fun note, the bushfires in Victoria are even making it into the news here. Even from this distance, I feel somehow affected by it, and things certainly seem pretty bad. I have been checking up on the ABC website for Aussie news the whole time I have been away, but for this ABC isn't necessary - it is the top item of CNN, BBC and even Al-Jazeera. I have been sending thoughts of sympathy and love from the other side of the world.

And now for bed. I have my tour of the Capitol tomorrow. w00t.

General wanderings around DC

Today I had originally planned to visit various Smithsonian museums, but I changed my mind and decided to wander around Washington D.C. instead. Washington D.C. is a very pretty city, and I thoroughly enjoyed my wanderings.

When I reached the White House, we weren't even allowed near the fence. Police were directing people to stand a couple of hundred metres away on the ellipse. Soon, I figured out why - I could hear a helicopter not too far away. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later Marine One flew right overhead - pretty cool! After that we were allowed to go up to the fence, so I went and took plenty of photos. I then continued wandering about for quite some time, seeing the Washington Monument and plenty of vendors selling Obama and Washington D.C. stuff.

On the way back, I stopped by a store selling Obama stuff - complete with cardboard cutout! I bought myself a couple of things including a pretty cool t-shirt. I said to the guy at the counter that I know lots of Obama fans in Australia, but Obama stuff is harder to come by there. He told me that he can understand that, because there are only about three Kevin Rudd stores in DC. Classy guy - I really appreciated that!

UPDATE: I hear in the news that Obama went to Camp David for the first time today, (obviously) travelling on marine one. So, I guess I got to see him leave...

From Blacksburg to DC

Today I successfully caught the home ride bus and then the metro, and then walked to my hotel. Not a lot to say so far - I haven't been here long enough! I did walk by the FBI building on my way to get some food for dinner. My hotel is REALLY central - should be really convenient for all the sightseeing I plan to do.

One nifty thing I have noticed so far? In DC, the pedestrian lights have a timer counting how long until the lights go red again. If waiting to cross, you can countdown by watching the lights for the other direction. It's pretty cool.

I spent this evening planning all the things I want to see - it will be a pretty jam-packed 5 days! I was quite tickled by the web address for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (responsible for printing all the paper money): www.moneyfactory.gov

Tomorrow I plan to visit various Smithsonian musuems. They all look cool, but I am particularly excited by the prospect of the National Air and Space museum. But I guess I can write about that after I have seen it.

Finally, I have successfully booked a place on a tour of the US Capitol (which I will do on Monday). I am very much looking forward to that!

I found my vegemite!

About time too. In fact, just in time for me to leave Blacksburg. I will have to figure out a way to eat it in DC.

Annette is also disturbed by a marching band

After I came home, I was working away at my desk... when all of a sudden I started hearing music! I looked out the window, and sure enough, there goes the marching band. Nice weather for it too: it was about -9 degrees C outside today.