Day 8 March Break, New York and Washington 11th March - 20th March

Saturday 19th March - Day 8 Our Last Day :-( Washington

missing home!

Our walk this morning took us past the Australian
Embassy  ...ahhh :-) and we were able to get a
little closer to the White House this morning, I
presume it was a bit too early for any 'movement'
on a Saturday morning :-) It is the beginning of spring
over here and all the cherry blossoms around
Washington were just starting to come out.

A little closer to the White House today - with the beautiful cherry blossoms

The Holocaust Memorial Museum

 We spent the day at the amazing (is that even the
right word?) Holocaust Memorial Museum. I'm not
sure what else to say other than, if you are in
Washington this is well worth a visit. Extremely
moving and touching!






We headed back through the National Mall to see the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial. Quite a spectacular memorial with the light reflecting on in!  

Walking through the National Mall

In the National Mall

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The American Flag reflecting in the memorial

The Washington Monument reflecting in the memorial

Sadly March break has to end.  I loved every minute of New York and Washington and am so glad I have had the opportunity to go :-)  Flying back into Toronto we, not only flew over the Pentagon but also flew right over Niagara Falls, even though we were still quite high they look absolutely spectacular!

Niagara Falls from way, way above :-)

Day 7 March Break, New York and Washington 11th March - 20th March

Friday 18th March - Day 7 Washington

Inside the dome roof.

We got up early this morning and headed
to the Capitol so that we would hopefully
miss the queues for a tour of the Parliament
and to use our invitations to see the Senate
and House of Reps in action.  Unfortunately
neither the Senate or House of Reps were
sitting but we had a great chat to the security
police in the Senate!

In the Capitol - the 'middle' of Washington

The main foyer of Capitol

Flying home!

We caught the subway out to the Pentagon and
went to the Pentagon Memorial, which was
lovely.  You weren't allowed to take photos of
the Pentagon but it is the building in the
background ... oops!  and well we did fly
right over it when leaving .... oops! 

                                                     

Each 'bench' represents a life lost on 9/1. You can see the new 'light' part of the pentagon

Heading back into Washington on the subway we stopped off at the Arlington National Cemetery, a military and historical cemetery set on 624 acres.  We saw the changing of the Guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, grave sights of President Kennedy and the Space Shuttle Challenger.

JFK

Arlington National Cemetry

Tomb of the unknown soldier

Iwo Jima Memorial

We also went to the Marine Corps, Iwo Jima Memorial
and saw the famous and very impressive statue!

Day 5 & 6 March Break, New York and Washington 11th March - 20th March

Wednesday 16th March - Day 5 Catching the train to Washington.

We arrived by train into Washington late afternoon.  We were able to head out and wander down to the National Mall to orientate ourselves with the city.  I really had no idea what to expect from Washington but it is such a beautiful capital city with so many incredible museums and monuments!

The back of the White House (or is it the front south side?)

Saying hello to President Obama!

Washington Monument (standing in the middle of the National Mall)

The Washington Monument

The National Mall - looking towards the Lincoln Memorial

The National Mall - looking towards the Capitol

Thursday 17th March - Day 6 'St Patricks Day' Washington

We headed out today to the Capitol - The Parliament Building.  We went passed the White House again and to celebrate St Patricks day and the fact that the Irish Prime Minister was in town the fountains in the gardens of the White House were green!  What a cool President :-)

This morning we weren't allowed too close as they were expecting 'movement'.  There is a huge amount of security and police normally, we had noticed that already but today President Obama was meeting the Irish Prime Minister for a reception at the Capitol .... yep where we were headed!! 

Eagerly awaiting some 'movement' from the White House!

The front of the White House with a green fountain!

President Obama was in the car following this one

! -Ha!

Well we got sick of waiting and decided to
walk over to the Capitol Building,
although while on our way President
Obama's cavalcade went flying passed! 






The Capitol building was amazing, again we weren't allowed to get to close as President Obama was now in there!  A local resident told us about getting tickets to be invited into the Parliament (Senate and House of Reps)  so we head to a Senators office to get an official invitation.  We just happened to bump into the Vice President heading to the gym while we were there - we couldn't get too close with all the secret service and security around but we certainly saw him!  We decided due to the line up to get into the Capitol is was better to come back early tomorrow!

Looking down Pennsylvania Ave towards the Capitol

The West Front of the Capitol

Look no jacket!  gorgeous weather!

Looking down the National Mall from the West Front

The East Front of the Capitol

Walking back through the Mall we stopped off at the very interesting (although somewhat confusing :) National Museum of the American Indian before stopping for some very yummy Ben and Jerry ice cream - you have to love happy hour at Ben and Jerry's!!  We also went into the National Archives to see the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.

We headed home back through the National Mall wanting to see the monuments again as they are lit up at night time and Washington has some of the most incredible sunsets, the colours were just  spectacular! 

Looking back towards Capitol at sunset

The Washington Monument at sunset

The sky just lit up!

                          

Looking at the Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial

At the WWII Memorial

The WWII Memorial

Looking at the Lincoln Memorial from the WWII Memorial

A view to the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

 (an empty reflection pool :-(

The Lincoln Memorial

Day 4 March Break, New York and Washington 11th March - 20th March

Tuesday 15th March - Day 4 New York

The Flatiron Building

We had a couple of last sights to see before hitting the shops :-)
We spent the morning walking to the district of Chelsea via the
famous 'flat iron' building.

We headed to Chelsea to walk above New York on 'The High Line'.
An old disused rail line has been transformed into a walking track
above the streets below it.  It was such a beautiful day and it was lovely
to stroll in the sunshine looking at the view.  The best part was
stopping at the Chelsea Markets at the end for a fabulous lunch.

The High Line Railway walk

To end our last day in New York we hit the shops!  Well, we couldn't very well say we have been to New York without going to Bloomingdale's and Macy's!!

Our last night was spent on Broadway - we had tickets to the fabulous Broadway musical 'Memphis'

One last walk through Times Square

Broadway!

Ending our wonderful 4 days in New York at a wine and chocolate bar :-) Perfect!