United States of America…the new Donald Trump world domination. This is much the same as the place that we visited last year, except that the people are more vocal about their political affiliations and their desire to distance themselves from him. Especially in Washington DC, once again, we cannot find a Trump supporter (or someone that will admit it) in this country. But putting Trump aside, we explored the political capital.
The White House was big and small at the same time. Obviously, the land surrounding the White House was vast, but the House itself did not seem as big as it is in the movies. A common experience in America, the movies ruining the real experience of the place.
Congress, a worthwhile place to take a tour – even though you only see a couple of rooms. It is an absolutely beautiful building. Next time I am going to try to find a staff member to show me around, I think then I will be able to take a look at some different areas.
My favourite building in Washington DC was the Library of Congress. I think that I could spend weeks here reading little bits of each book.
Apart from the political aspect of Washington DC, we spent a lot of time in the various museums – just looking, exploring.
There was a snow storm while we were there, Laurence was very excited as he hasn’t lived in a place that actually snows, only the ski fields. This meant that there was much trudging around in the snow, I don’t think that the novelty has worn off yet – there will be more trudging to come.
A short bus ride up to New York saw us traipsing around with our luggage trying to get uptown. A couple of trains and more than a few blocks of walking later we made it to our Airbnb, a lovely place by the East River (we can see it out of our lounge window). New York is a completely different place, world perhaps. You cannot look anywhere without seeing a high-rise building, even 100 blocks up from lower Manhattan. I’m not sure whether I have seen a building lower than 2-4 stories since we arrived.
Since being here we have explored the financial district of the city; wall street, the stock exchange, and the surrounding areas. We have explored Mid-town; the upper-class areas with the Trump Tower and Rockefeller Centre. We have also walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the Heights and DUMBO areas.
We took a short day trip out to the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. She is perhaps a bit bigger than I expected, but that may have been because Laurence made us walk up instead of taking the lift – I think it makes you appreciate the height better. It was a great outing but it is still freezing from the snow storm – the wind was a killer.
Apart from the above we ate, and ate, and ate. I think that we had pizza 5 or 6 times – we were shown a couple of great places for Margarita and Artichoke pizzas. Other deliciousness we have found is falafel, pasta, chocolate mousse, and sweet treats.
To round off our New York Experience we went to a performance in Carnegie Hall and a production of King Lear. Both were quite good but I am looking forward to Broadway in London when we get there.
