...Washington DC...

Saturday 8th December. We arrived at the hell that is Washington Dulles Airport. It took me 2 hours to get through immigration alone - while I was in the queue Tammay managed to collect our bags and watch an entire movie on her iPod! We arrived at Hotel Monaco in downtown DC, freshened up and went for dinner at Legal Seafoods on 7th Street.

Georgetown

Sunday 9th. Woke up early and went for breakfast/brunch at Martin's in Georgetown. This restaurant is famous for being where JFK proposed to Jackie. We then went on a walking tour of Georgetown taking in a number of the old pretty street and houses.

Georgetown

Ended up at Georgetown University. Afterwards we did a spot of shopping around M Street/Wisconsin Street and The Georgetown Mall.

Georgetown

Had lunch at Clydes. Got back to town and walked around the holiday market. Went for dinner at Legal Seafoods.

The Capitol Building

Monday 10th. In the morning we went to Capitol Hill.

The Capitol Building

Constitution Avenue

Walked along Constitution Avenue and got tickets for the tour of the Capitol Building.

The Capitol Building

Had a very cheap breakfast at the Rayburn Building, just to the South of the Capitol Building.

The Rotunda

Toured around the capital on a guided tour. This is a view of the inside of the dome.

National Statuary Hall

We also got to see the House of Representatives Chambers.

The Capitol Building

Had lunch at the cafe in the Museum of American Indians.

Washington Monument

Walked along The National Mall to the Washington Monument and went to the top.

Washington Monument

The view was not great but did get to see the Pentagon building.

Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

Then continued along the Mall to the WWII Memorial.

World War II Memorial

The World War II Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

The National Mall

Lincoln Memorial

Then on to The Lincoln Memorial & Reflection Pool.

Lincoln Memorial

Me at The Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument & Reflection Pool in the background.

The White House

We walked back to the hotel via the White House and national tree on the elipse. Had another look around the holiday market. Got takeout for dinner from Clydes.

Lincoln Memorial

Tuesday 11th. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Went to Pentagon City for shopping. We basically spent the whole day here. Got back to the hotel and got a taxi for a night time visit of the Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial

Capitol Building, Washington Monument & Reflection Pool

We walked back to the hotel via The National Mall and the White House to see all the monuments at night.

Washington Monument & Reflection Pool

Washington Monument

Capitol Building & Pennsylvania Avenue

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Wednesday 12th. Had breakfast in the hotel again. Went to The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and went on the 10:30 highlights tour. We saw the most interesting things including the Orville brothers first flyer...

Moon Rock

We touched a piece of Moon rock.

Apollo 11 command module

The original Apollo 11 command module.

Apollo 11 command module

The underside (heat-shield) of the Apollo 11 command module.

Space Ship One

The first privatly built craft to take a human into space. We walked quickly to the National Museum of Natural History and caught the 13:30 highlights tour (with a Harvard physicist!). One of the other participant's husband worked as a volunteer at the museum, in the fossil department – he let us touch a stegausaurus bone that he just uncovered. We were the first humans to have touched the exposed bone! After the tour, we continued around the museum and enjoyed the diamond collection.

Our goldfish

Our hotel gave us a goldfish for our room! In the evening we had a long walk around the Christmas market, which was outside our hotel, and bought some christmas presents, including some interesting jewellry, handmade by Rae Shrew.

National Archives Museum

Thursday 13th. Last day in DC. After breakfast and some final packing, we went for a tour around the National Archives Museum (via the post office). The place was full of school children on trips.

Declaration of Independence

Tammay and the Declaration of Independence.

Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of the United States.

Bill of Rights

Me and the Bill of Rights.

That evening we flew back to Heathrow.