Washington D.C.

Can I maybe repeat myself and state how crap the GPS has been of late? Now here I am driving in Washington D.C. The weather is atrocious. There is next to no visibility. I could tell it was bad because even the locals were doing ten miles under the speed limit. Well not all the locals, if you own a Chevy Silverado you are still entitled to drive like a moron it seems. Anyway back to the GPS. My first port of call was a local laundromat. Much better than Miami. This one was drop off and pick up tomorrow, all for $16. While I probably do have three hours to kill, and could do it myself, but for that price why would you wait? Well the GPS got me to the laundry OK. Then when I tried to get to the hotel it took me to the other end of the spectrum. In Florida I was in a trailer park. In DC it seems it sent me to a very swank neighbourhood with massive two story homes on decent size blocks. It was a lot like driving around Turramurra, Lindfield or Killara in Sydney. So it was out with the tablet, while trying to program the driving app and navigating the thick on the ground downtown DC traffic. Well I made it no sweat, well not much sweat. Ah the life of the traveller.

As you can see I made it to the White House OK. I ran in to two Aussies from Melbourne and we did the swap umbrellas, cameras, backpack thing so we could all get photographs. It may not look it but it is raining in this shot. This is as close as you can get. Unless you are a US citizen or the Australian ambassador gets you in. Non residents aren't able to tour the house. Just behind me to the right is a secret service guy who got a little edgy and moved us along when we had been there for a full five minutes having a chat. The armed guards on the roof are perfectly obvious to the naked eye as are the voluminous tour buses that disgorge and engorge Japanese and Chinese tourists by the legion. It is such a well oiled machine that they even have pop up souvenir stands for the tour groups that allow you to purchase your authentic keepsake without having to support the locals in any way shape or form.

Now I also got to see the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial all from a distance. The weather was vile with umbrellas being turned inside out and people getting drenched. 

I will try and get a bit closer look at these when the weather clears up on Sunday (I hope). It is a little bizarre seeing all these things that are so familiar from TV and movies. I drove past the turnoff to Quantico. There are signs up to Arlington Cemetery. The Smithsonian is not just one museum it is a plague of museums that straddles both sides of the National Mall. Blessedly they are all free. 

The architecture here, like much of the rest of the country, is impressive. The only difference here is it is imposing and powerful and very much making a statement about the seriousness of the business conducted within and the task of government itself. Buildings will take up entire city blocks, sometimes more. It is very neo classical in style with Greek and Roman references abounding. Everywhere you look you see tall columns, domed roofs, symmetry and triangular finishes above everything. 

No matter how good the architecture is it can't hide the nasty reality that is a large homeless population. In Jackson Square, which is literally 500 metres from the back door of the White House you get homelessness on an almost industrial scale. Now I have told you how bad the weather is. Look at the photo below. Under each of those tarpaulins is a homeless person sheltering from the rain. When I walked past at a later time there was a line up of people getting fed from a food truck. To be surrounded by such grandeur then to see these people in such an impoverished state is just confounding.

Tomorrow I will try and check out the Air & Space Museum, the American History Museum and if I get time the National Archives. But the highlight of my trip will be riding the metro to pick up the laundry. In the immortal words of Clint Eastwood from the movie "In The Line of Fire" when the President sent his limo to pick him up ..... "I love public transportation."