And we're back in business

Here we go. I have finally found a way to update this blog. It’s a Saturday morning here in Ashburn, Virginia, I am using my flat mate’s laptop and have picked up somebody’s unsecured wireless signal emitting from somewhere else in the complex. You do what you need to do.

Below are selected picks from my first trip into Washington DC. The centre of DC in my opinion doesn’t really have much going for it once you leave the mall. The mall being the incredibly long (and I know it’s long ‘cause I walked it) strip where all the major memorials and monuments to wars and presidents of the past are situated. This observation is based completely on one afternoon visit in the company of a hard to impress Aussie and a nonchalant Spaniard. I am told however that the bars, clubs and music venues just outside of DC are awesome. The only problem with that is that the cops here are seriously strict about drunk driving. Which is a good thing of course. There are far too many people in the world who have a tipple too many and think themselves bulletproof. So a big"good on ya" as they say in Australia, to the local policing authorities. Virginia has a project running at the moment called "Operation Strikeforce" ( I can just picture Chuck Norris heading up this particular operation, can't you?) to curb DUI incidents. So getting to these places, unless you have designated driver or are willing to pay an astronomical cab fare is not easy.

We went in on Sunday August 19 and had a little stroll around. Managed to miss most of the tourist flurrying. Can’t stand tourist myself! I thought I would try out the ‘black and white’ function on my camera in order to emphases the history of the places we were visiting.

The White House

We knocked but apparently George W was busy with a geography lesson and wasn't taking visitors. Just out of interest, apparently foreign visitors need to apply a month in advance through your local consolute to take a tour of the White House. So taking into consideration that my current immediate mates are comprised of an Aussie, a Canadian 2 Spaniards, a Costa Rican and a Colombian, I don't think we are getting inside in a hurry.

The Stars 'n Stripes in black 'n white at the base of the Washington Memorial

The Washington memorial. Apparently the worlds highest all-masonry structure. How long did they have to search before they found that little piece of info?

Two examples of the many metal engravings that adorn the World War 11 memorial. Each one is abot two meters by a meter in size.

Another view of the WWII memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial.

Uncle Abe

The National Mall viewed from the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Memorial and Capitol Hill in the background.

Arlington National Cemetary. Final resting place of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, JFK and his family, including his brother. Also final resting place of the crew of the ill-fated Space Shuttle and the unknown soldier amongst many others.

JFK's eternal flame