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Thursday morning saw us up at 5am and getting a taxi to the airport for our flight to Washington DC. There was a big crowd McCarran Airport but a well organised security check system saw us through in no time and on the tram to our departure gate!
We grabbed a coffee and boarded our United Airlines A320, taking off right on time and heading eastwards. United is a "no frills" airline, but the service was excellent with plenty complimentary cool drinks, all sorts of things available for purchase and the movies etc were free. After an hour or so into the flight we were flying over States that were covered with snow which looked amazing - but probably not for the folks far below!!! - but most of the way it was very cloudy and I could see b***** all out my window!
There were strong tail winds and after a pleasant flight we arrived in Washington DC about 15 minutes early (makes a change) to a fine afternoon but with a bitterly cold wind keeping the tempature down to about 5 degrees and snow from a fall three day ago still lying everywhere.
The "meet and greet" transport was waiting for us and after getting our bags we jumped into the Chevvy Suburban and took off for the City and our unit in Capitol Hill. It took about three quarters of an hour to get there, lots of roadworks on the way in with a new rail line to the airport being built down the centre of the freeway, which according to our driver would be finished some time in the next seven years!!!! I guess with the State of Virginia (where Dulles Airport is) and the District of Colombia (Washington's own State) having to share responsibilty for the rail link there are bound to be all sorts of problems.
The area around our one - up and one - down town house was very old and as we made our way into the ground flour unit that was to be ours, in became very apparent that ours was very old too and the photos on the internet made it look way better than it was! Don't get me wrong! It was a bit tired and not terribly clean but looked OK to me with most ammenities and plenty of room. The major problem was that it was freezing cold and as much as we cranked up the central heating it was taking ages to warm up, and with the temp gauge on the heating showing the inside temp at 4.5 degrees and the outside temp at a bitter -1 degree the look on Mumsies face was not pretty.
We left the heater on full and headed down E Street SE to some shops to get some provisions, feeling a little aprehensive as the area looked a bit dodgy and there were quite a few homeless people curled up in doorways to to keep warm!!! The sun is setting at about 4.30pm here and with minimal street lighting we were fairly nervous, but we found a large shop called "Harris Teeter" which is like a huge supermarket and food market all in one which had everything we needed plus more!!!!! And there seemed to be a lot more "normal" types about!!!!
We got some bits and pieces and also some fresh cooked meals from the deli for our dinner and then made our way back to the unit - quickly as it was very dark by then!
Unfortunately, our unit had hardly warmed up at all and after checking the whole place out Mumsie chucked a major sad and said she flatly refused to stay there for the five days as it was dirty and old!!! Jase partly agreed while Katie and I reckoned that it was livable!!!! So after a major round table discussion we agreed to search for something more acceptable in the city itself and see if we can get some refund on the days we haven't used. Mmmmmmmm..... Can't say I was very impressed and the atmosphere was a little cold, like the weather, as we sat in the freezing cold lounge room and watched some TV before bed. Katie found a place with 2 bedroom apartments on the internet and we agreed to go there in the morning and suss it out and see what sort of deal we could get. After trying with partial success to block a trap door-y thing in the lounge room wall that was letting a gale of freezing air into the room, we waited for the heater to do its job?????
We left the heater on very high and after a long day we hopped into the "apparently" dirty bed and were asleep very quickly.
So what started off a very promising day full of excitement about seeing Washington, faded into a stressful evening arguing about our digs! Family Feud!!!!! Internet advertised accomodation can be somewhat deceptive and I think we have just made a poor choice - the place is really not too bad - it is close to a Metro, shops and the city, but the locale is old and not very attractive. In order to keep the peace I have reluctantly agreed to try something else, BUT!!!!!!!
- comments
debbie wilson happy holidays merry christmas and all that you guys are freezin and we are meltin how crazy is that stay safe and happydeb and ronnie and clan
thecrows Hope things look up for the rest of your stay in Washington. No problem with the temp here just a mild 35C. Hope you got my info on the AGM. Cheers Crow
Rachael Wilson Now that sounds like one hell of a great booking!!!! Hope you are enjoying your time <3 Rach