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Providing the perfect base from which to explore the city, our hostel was smack, bang in the city centre; minutes from the big names offered by the capital. And as soon as we'd caught up on our sleep, like any self-respecting tourist and West Wing fan, we headed straight off to the White House.
'It's much smaller than I imagined,' is what almost every tourist apparently goes on about, and we were no exception. It still looks great, though, and I found myself humming the West Wing theme tune for the rest of the evening, much to Rosa's annoyance.
We headed back to the Mall the followng day, to see as much as we could of the copious number of attractions: the Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool, where the Vietnam demonstrations were held in Forrest Gump (and in real life); the free(!) Smithsonian musuems; Vietnam and Korean War Memorials.
After a hard day's sightseeing in the capital's oppressive humidity, we decided to treat ourselves to possibly the best meal we've had this trip, although a couple of Thai restaurants in Chiang Mai would be disappointed with that award. Bistro Du Coin, a french restaurant heavily recommended by the guide book was the setting and we even decided to treat ourselves to that backpacker rarity of a meal with a starter and main. Great thing we did, too, as our mussels and steak/confit respectively were awesome; we could've been in Paris.
Our third day saw yet more Smithsonian action, Washington Monuments and Memorials, before we headed off for the obligatory trip to see the new Will Ferrell film, Step-Brothers, a worthy end to any day of touristry. We even managed to resist the temptation of a night of WWE wrestling action - the 10 year old / student in me was pretty tempted, but I could see the look of disapproval on Rosa's face and happily settled for Will Ferrell. Besides, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin has long retired and the Undertaker is way past his prime.
Our final full day was filled with more sights of the Mall (it's two whole miles of non-stop tourist gold) and Capitol Hill. We then hit America's best Irish pub, the Dubliner, apparently frequented by White House and Senate big shots discussing the day's events. Our Shepherd's Pie and Guiness were not accompanied with any stories of Dubya's idiocy, however, so we finished up and started to make our way back towards the hostel. When.....
We stumbled upon that most American of things..... a military performance. Two hours later and we had been treated to a fantastic show by the Navy band, including a random assortment of songs from tv shows, musicals and the like. They even treated us to the whole military march and national anthem thing. A great way to end our visit to Washington.
Kev
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