Washington is a grand city, it's extremely stately, but it's loosely modelled on Paris which lends it an almost European feeling in places, especially up around the Georgetown area which retains a really colonial era feel. Unfortunately after being caught out by a traffic-only bridge, which necessitated a three mile detour, I didn't get a chance to properly explore Georgetown, but there was enough time to have a good stonk around the main city. Of course, there's one sight that you can't go to Washington and miss - the White House.
The first thing that strikes you is how small and insignificant it seems, then you realise that George Bush is quite possibly sitting behind the window and it all gets a little more important. It was good to see that the security had been reduced since 2003 and that you could get right up to the railings. We were quite impressed by one schoolkid who marched up and proclaimed for all to hear that he wanted the White House to be his house when he 'growed' up. Full marks for ambition, slightly less for modesty.
Most of the main sights are clustered on The Mall which is basically a cross from the Capitol Building in the east to the Lincoln Memorial in the the west, and from the White House in the north, with the Washington Monument in the centre.
The fact that the centre of the city has been planned like this allows Washington to do something very well indeed - symbolism.
There's no shortage of patriotism, but it never comes across as patronising or intense. Perhaps it's because the whole place is built on it that it doesn't seem overpowering, but I can't think of many other places where you'd be able to get away with it. It was lovely to be there when the Cherry Blossoms were in full swing as well.
Personally, I'd say that the 'best' sight in Washington is the Lincoln Memorial, it's a huge and imposing structure at the end of the Reflecting Pool, but inside, despite its size it feels quite humble and comes with a simple message.
Beyond this, the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial seems oddly forgotten. Scene of my three-mile detour, I decided to go out and see it precisely because it seemed so far away, and sure enough, there was only one other person there. And that's odd. Something that struck me when I was there last, and this time, was how many people came to Washington on holiday. The Federal institutions there are so dominant that if you come to Washington, you're coming to the Federal City, and by-and-large it seems that that's why most people go there - to see the White House etc. I can't imagine that many people doing the same in London. We went to a lecture in the Supreme Court which looked at how the Court works, and it was packed full of ordinary people of all ages. Something similar in the Royal Courts of Justice in London would probably attract only lawyers and not many at that. But this enthusiasm only seems to go so far, about a mile, as shown by the lack of people at the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial. It's curious to travel all the way to the city and then only see the bits you've already seen in pictures. There's certainly more to Washington DC than that.
In a slightly worrying development though I think we might have stumbled across America's new weapon of mass destruction while we were walking along the Mall - ballistic children. Is nothing safe any more?
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