Smithsonian Institution

Museums, museums, museums. Apart from all the governmental bodies, Washington houses tons of museums. All of them are free. There is so much to see. After a nice start through the Eastern Market and more crab cakes and grits we headed back to the National Mall to explore the Sculpture Garden, the Natural History Museum with all the kids and families and finally the Hirshhorn Museum for some great Contemporary Art. Visiting museums is a highly tiring activity of course, so we ended up resting and warming ourselves around a nice American meatloaf in one of Washington's popular hangouts, Busboys and Poets. A nice cosy hip place without the attitude.

Washington DC, Day Two

It is always strange to see for real those monuments you have been seeing since you have been a kid. The White House is probably the most ‘moving’. Lincoln Monument is somehow quite touching and Capitol Hill cannot fail to impress. Washington probably is a boring city in the long run but the it boasts a few amazing features like the National Mall (you will surely have seen it crowded with about 2 million people a couple of days ago during Obama’s historical speech). The National Mall is bordered by incredible free museums all administered by the Smithsonians. You could easily spend days and weeks exploring all the Art and education on offer.

Obama-nia

The inauguration came and went. Washington is back to quiet mode or so it seems. A good time to visit the city really. It is amazing to see all the Obama advertising everywhere in the streets and in the shops. Even places like Starbucks fly Obama flags. It is very bizarre. Very extreme. I can’t imagine restaurant or café chains flying Sarkozy (or any other politicians) flags in France.