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WASHINGTON, DC

MAY 2014

The wonderful DC!

Smithsonian
Museums on the National Mall

For the first part of our trip click here

For the White House vicinity and Arlington click here

I spent the following four days visiting the incredible Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall and walking around the White House. I hate lines and being treated like cattle so I did not attempt a tour either in the WH or the Capitol.

My two favorites were the National Gallery of Art and the Air and Space Museum. Here are some pictures to commemorate the wonderful hours I spent in each and every one of them, in no particular order. I walked from the hotel each day back and forth.

I saw the House of useless people from a distance and took my first picture of the day with a heavy heart. A colossal building doing nothing but housing these duds,

The US Capitol

The Sculpture Garden - Roy Lichtenstein sculpture

Entrance to the National Gallery of Art

National Gallery of Art - East Wing

Architect I.M. Pei's dramatic "H"-shaped façade and the underground tunnel connecting the two wings

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

The National Portrait Gallery

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

Being May and end of school year DC was overloaded with school children from every part of the country. Their buses lined the Mall, at times two abreast.

US Botanic Garden

Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

Continuum - by American Sculptor Charles O. Perry [below] at the entrance of the museum

Given my never ending love for flight and airplanes it was not a surprise to anyone that this was my very favorite hangout. I spent almost a whole day looking at every possible item from the Red Baron to the Apollo Lunar Capsule. And I did a flight in a simulator. I was the only person over 18 who got in line for this experience. 360 loops and all, I had so much fun.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

There are millions of items cherished by Americans one wants to see but with so little time I had to make sacrifices and visit a selection. Here is a selection of the original selection.

Entrance to the museum and the 'Infinity' Monument by Jose de Rivera