Washington D.C.

Our bus arrived in the capital around 4:15 and after finding our way out of the station, we decided to walk to our hostel. It was a lot hotter than we were expecting there, which made the walk a little more difficult. We eventually made it though, checked in and went for a walk to find some food. It was a lot calmer than New York and our first impressions were good. We found a good english restaurant/pub where I was able to have fish and chips and emily had a veggie burger. We then strolled back to the hostel to sleep. 

Our first full day began with pancakes, as our hostel were kind enough to supply us with breakfast, and after getting sorted we made our way towards the White House. It looks a lot bigger on tv and you aren't allowed very close to it, which is understandable. But we took a few pictures and walked around some of the other nearby important looking buildings when it started to rain. We therefore went to the visitors centre and watched a short video about the house, which was quite interesting as we didn't really know much about it. Afterwards the rain had eased off so we walked towards the centre of town to look for food, which is something we seem to spend a lot of time doing. We stopped at a Mexican and had a burrito (again) which was very good. We decided to spend the afternoon in the spy museum as the weather still wasn't that great, so after getting our tickets and entering the lift we were told to pick a new identity which we would be using throughout our visit. We weren't really sure what to expect but they seemed to be making it fun and interactive. The museum itself was cool with lots of real life spy equipment and gadgets, as well as stories from World War II and FBI agents. There was plenty of stuff to keep us busy with the odd test involving questions about our 'new identity'. There was also a James Bond exhibit focusing on the different villains from all the films and had props such as the famous Aston Martin and jaws' teeth. It was very cool. We spent the rest of the day chilling at the hostel, and probably eating. 

The next day was a lot better weather wise. It was probably a little too hot. But after more pancakes we ventured out into the sunshine. Our destination was the city Mall which is where the Washington monument is, as well as the reflecting pool and Lincoln memorial. It was a lot more touristy in these places, as can be expected, although Washington itself was still pretty calm and fairly peaceful. After seeing the monument we walked towards the Lincoln memorial. On the way, at the other end of the reflecting pool, is the World War II memorial which consisted of a pretty impressive fountain and statues. The Lincoln memorial wasn't as big as I was expecting, still good to see though. On our way back up the Mall we came across the Vietnam war memorial, which were two large walls, displaying all the names of the Americans who died during the conflict. After finding more food, we decided to head inside, to get out of the heat this time, so we went to the Natural History Museum. All of the smithsonian museums in Washington are free, which is a bonus. The museum was very interesting with sections on animals and evolution etc. sadly the dinosaur section was closed which we were a little disappointed about. After returning to our hostel we found out it was BBQ night, and even more important, it was free. We had planned to go out for food, as it was our one year anniversary :-) But we thought we'd check out the BBQ and go the next day. So after eating, chatting with a Canadian and Australians, and after everyone had disappeared to watch game of thrones (a hostel tradition apparently, something we haven't watched or particularly understand) we went to bed.