Day 6 - Washington. Not what we thought.

The motel was a Quality Inn – cheap (free parking and wi-fi), cheerful, but unfortunately cold - the heater only threw out lukewarm air. However, the location was great - 10 minutes from a train station 3 stops into central Washington.

We checked out the major monuments: Lincom Memorial was huge and quite powerful, as was the reflecting pool. It was also great fun – due to the cold snap, it had frozen over, and a few people were even playing ice hockey on it in full gear. The local police were not too happy about this, but we did manage a few surreptitious steps on the water. The Library of Congress was impressive, but we were not allowed in the reading room, which was a shame.

The White House: not a disappointment, just a lot smaller than expected. With all the huge monuments and gargantuan buildings, and the way the home of the president is presented in the media, it just felt tiny. In reality, from the outside it looks about he size of a modest Stately Home, built for one medium sized family. Also, it is worth noting that the Pennsylvania entrance seems to be the back of the house, the front lawn faces the monument and you can’t see that side unless you are about a quarter-mile distance. Essentially, it’s an optical illusion – it looks huge from a distance and tiny close up.

For dinner, we went to a local bar, which was having a special event: the meet and greet of the newly appointed manager of the DC Major League Soccer Team, DC United (the MLS top scorer of all time was also in attendance). We have to admit that were primarily there for the free food (mini burgers and chicken wings – very tasty) but we also met a couple of female soccer fans (who followed Liverpool and Barcelona respectively, as well as DC United) – they had a real passion for football, and it was slightly surreal discussing Arsenal in great detail with Americans.

On the way there, we both felt we were being followed by someone, and after a few tests (stopping for no reason, then seeing the person also stop for no reason) we took a detour via a tube station to lose them. The tube station – the closest to The White House – was full of homeless people, somewhat of an irony. They were not aggressive, but the sheer number was slightly disconcerting. Overall, there was a high number of homelessness on the streets.

After spending the day there, and to be utterly prematurely judgemental, Washington feels very much a company town, with the company being government. There seems to be no real soul to the place – it is there to serve a purpose and little else. And after dark, it didn’t feel particularly safe.