Washington DC Walkaround
Published Tuesday, November 5th 2013
Categories
After a flight delay caused a layover in Washington DC, Didi and I decided to take advantage of our seeming misfortune. Neither of us had ever been to DC, so we relished the chance for a quick tour. We hopped on the Municipal bus for a ride into the city center. We figured we had just enough time to make it around the Capital Mall. The pickup was right in front of the very convenient Dulles Airport Marriott.
We have the habit of riding in the very back of buses, because it is usually raised and provides access to both sides for the best viewing. We staked out our normal spots in the center two seats and waited to take off. The nerve of some people! This stranger squeezes in and takes the seat against the window right next to me in our row. With stops, the ride from Dulles into DC took about an hour. For 40 minutes, not a word. Suddenly the interloper asks what city we're in. "I don't know, I've never been here before" I replied. I detected an accent, so I asked my neighbor where he was from. Well, Didi loves Portugal, even speaks a bit, so when she jumped in the conversation, it was taken to a new level. Within 10 minutes we were all lovey-dovey and had decided to walk the Mall together.
What an amazing opportunity it was for us to share such an awesome national treasure with a visitor to our country. Victor (not his real name) turned out to be bright and well-educated. His english vocabulary was better than most people I know, and it was a real treat to share and discuss what we were seeing.
From our starting point at L'Enfant Plaza we headed past the scaffold-clad Washington Monument, turned south toward the Tidal Basin and on to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The FDR Memorial gave me plenty of opportunity to fill in some history, and explain to Victor why my mom, a child of the Great Depression, still loves and idolizes FDR. As we passed a display of six American flags fluttering in the breeze, Victor paused and said, "That's one thing I love about America. That sight is simple, but so honestly patriotic."
We also made it to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. All of us were moved by the simple, understated grace and elegance of all the monuments and memorials. They were not pompous or grandiose even though most are grand of scale. We lastly made it around the Ellipse, past the White House and to a vendor's cart which served Victor his first American hot dog, with mustard and onions. A quick dash got us back to the bus pickup just in time, and we were off again to catch our return flight home.
We have the habit of riding in the very back of buses, because it is usually raised and provides access to both sides for the best viewing. We staked out our normal spots in the center two seats and waited to take off. The nerve of some people! This stranger squeezes in and takes the seat against the window right next to me in our row. With stops, the ride from Dulles into DC took about an hour. For 40 minutes, not a word. Suddenly the interloper asks what city we're in. "I don't know, I've never been here before" I replied. I detected an accent, so I asked my neighbor where he was from. Well, Didi loves Portugal, even speaks a bit, so when she jumped in the conversation, it was taken to a new level. Within 10 minutes we were all lovey-dovey and had decided to walk the Mall together.
What an amazing opportunity it was for us to share such an awesome national treasure with a visitor to our country. Victor (not his real name) turned out to be bright and well-educated. His english vocabulary was better than most people I know, and it was a real treat to share and discuss what we were seeing.
From our starting point at L'Enfant Plaza we headed past the scaffold-clad Washington Monument, turned south toward the Tidal Basin and on to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The FDR Memorial gave me plenty of opportunity to fill in some history, and explain to Victor why my mom, a child of the Great Depression, still loves and idolizes FDR. As we passed a display of six American flags fluttering in the breeze, Victor paused and said, "That's one thing I love about America. That sight is simple, but so honestly patriotic."
We also made it to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. All of us were moved by the simple, understated grace and elegance of all the monuments and memorials. They were not pompous or grandiose even though most are grand of scale. We lastly made it around the Ellipse, past the White House and to a vendor's cart which served Victor his first American hot dog, with mustard and onions. A quick dash got us back to the bus pickup just in time, and we were off again to catch our return flight home.
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