Train to NYC

This morning we walked down to the Museum of Natural History for our very last activity (and I can salivate, ever so sligtly, over the "Hope" diamond). Washington is an amazing city with every building a grand monument to the department it houses......IRS, EPA, FBI, museums, hotels....all built in a grand and imposing style. A very ordered city where all the avenes (apart from Independence and Costitution) are named after US states and the streets that run E-W are all letters while the N-S direction are all numbers. Even the line-up for the soup kitchen we see as we make our way to the train station is oddly ordered and civilised.

Union Station, built in 1907, is of grandiose proportions housing 70 shops and 50 restaurants and all the Roman soldiers that stand guard around the perimeter maintain the conservative image with their manhood now covered by large shields....mostly.

Would I recommend Washington as a tourist destination? Absolutely....only regret is that we didn't fly directly here and have an extra day or two.

Well we still have a few more hours of 2011 to enjoy but I know, downunder, you have all welcomed 2012 in already. Hope you all had a fabulous time and that the coming year is perhaps not quite as tough as the year just passing. M x