Smithsonian City

So from Allentown, Pennsylvania we got a bus to Philadelphia and then the train to Washington DC. DC rocked!!! I'd been there before when I was a child, and Chris had never been there. We were both pretty excited about getting there.

For three and a half days, we walked ourselves silly among the many monuments and museums DC has. The memorials for War World II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War were especially moving. The FDR memorial was unexpectedly moving; it contains several anti-war and pro-equality quotes he made which people would do well to take to heart. As for museums, the Air and Space museum was an unexpected treat; we could have spent lots more time there. We could have also spent more time in the National Archives and the National Gallery of Art. I was thrilled to visit the Smithsonian Natural History museum with its Hope Diamond and excellent dinosaur reconstructions.

One thing we were determined to do was see some Congressional stuff happening. We've observed parliament sessions in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. So we'll try to do the same in each country we visit whenever possible. We had to get tickets for the Senate and House of Representatives, but it was easy to get them from the secretaries of a Texan Senator and Representative. (Seemed quite pointless to make us get tickets when the secretaries didn't even ask us our names; they hand them out to anyone who asks.) We were to visit the Senate first and approached with much excitement; the government sessions we'd observed in other countries had been full of people arguing and booing and cheering. We were much surprised to find about three senators in the Senate chamber. BORING!!! We didn't stay long. We went to the House of Representatives instead and saw about 25 Reps, which was better but still a very small percentage of the full number. We happened to be seated next to a few people with t-shirts on saying "Impeach Chaney!" They informed us that there'd be a vote on the very issue that day, but they didn't know when it would happen. It was all pretty boring at that point, so we left and decided to return later on.

When we returned that afternoon, we were told it'd be a while before the House voted on anything, so we went to the Senate first. It was still dull as anything. We waited for a wee while in case anything exciting would happen, but nothing did. So we went to the House again. It was in chaos! Nearly every Rep was there, and they'd just taken a vote on a resolution. We asked about all the chaos, and we were told that it was now time for Reps to change their votes. In the space of about 15 minutes, the vote went from an overwhelming Aye to an overwhelming Nay. There were then two more voting sessions related to the first vote, but no one could tell us what on earth they were voting about. Iff happened to spot those anti-Chaney observers still in the gallery, so he went over to speak to them. It turned out it was indeed the motion to impeach Chaney that they'd been voting on and changing their votes and re-voting. In the end, they didn't agree to impeach Chaney, but those people in the gallery seemed optimistic that the process had begun and would end in their favour soon. We shall see!

One of the highlights of our time in DC was food-oriented. We went to a place called Zed's Ethiopian Cuisine, and it was gorgeous. We chose a couple veggie options, and it was served on a big slice of thin, spongy bread. We were given a bunch more of the spongy bread to eat the food with (rather than utensils). We ate it all up and had to waddle back to our hotel afterwards. It hurt but was so worth it!

I should note that all the museums and monuments we visited are free. I was so impressed with that. Thanks, DC...we'll be back someday!