Saturday, April 28, 2012

#996 Washington, DC, USA

Downtown Georgetown - older than Washington, DC, itself.
Washington, DC, may not have been the first capital of the United States, but its carefully planned layout and design have created a beautiful legacy. Composed of 4 cardinal areas (NE, NW, SE, SW) spanning out from the Capitol building itself, it is a leafy, pretty, orderly city filled with a strong cultural life and a center for internationalism (which is what drew me!) including embassies, the World Bank, the IMF, the OAS, and several top universities.

The Washington Monument
I think that DC is amazing for its parks and public spaces. I love the big greens, the solemn monuments and memorials, the picturesque Arlington Cemetary, the waterfalls above Georgetown, the riverside parks, and the oasis of peace in the middle of the city: the Theodore Roosevelt Island. DC impressed me by how great and different the various suburbs are -- each unique and famous in its own right: Georgetown, Adams-Morgan,  Eastern Market, Chinatown, Union Station, and further out in Virginia and Maryland: Alexandria, Arlington, Bethesda, Silver Spring, etc, etc.

The various museums that make up the Smithsonian Institution make up one some of the most impressive collections of culture and history in the world, and while you may disagree, I think they have pretty nice weather too!

The Smithsonian Institution Information Center
Georgetown University
Looking at Roslyn from the Potomac River



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