Aching feet

This'll be much shorter than before, since I'm dead after 7 hours of shopping. So:

In the morning we took the car and drove to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum near Dulles Airport. The highlights of the huge hall included:

The original flotation collar and bags that were attached to Columbia at the first lunar landing mission of Apollo 11. The command module itself was not the original one but one that was used by the mission crew as training vehicle before the flight.



The first Space Shuttle orbiter, "Enterprise," a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and tests on the ground. This one was not equipped for spaceflight, though.






Enola Gay that dropped the nuclear bomb to Hiroshima. This was the real thing:




Concorde:




After the museum it was time for some burgers at Pentagon City shopping centre. Toni: for your information, the chain was Johnny Rocket's and yes, I gave in. :-( No bacon though! This one is Rauli's, mine was smaller (excuses, excuses, I know):


After filling our bellies Rale and Ari left me behind, knowing I wouldn't leave the shopping centre until I had fulfilled my desires. After seven hours of running from a store to another I returned home by metro. Now my feet are truly aching! Shoes, jewellery, underwear, a bag, some souveniers to bring home... what else.

Now, good night! Tomorrow still some shopping to do and perhaps a visit to the zoo. The flight to London leaves at 22.10, so we have plenty of time.

Laura

Trip to Alexandria

Today it was Christmas Day and the whole city was basically closed. We decided to sleep late and take it easy with breakfast before hopping into car and on our way to Alexandria.

On our way there we drove pass Pentagon. "Surprisingly", the place is surrounded by a few fences, but I managed to get a picture as we drove by:



With my quite big camera protruding out of the car window we just hoped we wouldn't be classified as spys by FBI.

After a 20-minute drive we arrived in Alexandria, which is a small (128.000 inhabitants) city about 10 km from Washington DC. It's located along the western bank of Potomac. The city was founded 1749 and there still is a nice Old Town part in there. Parking the car we decided it'd be best to see the town by foot.

Approaching the small harbour of Alexandria I spotted an interesting fact:



Although the weather wasn't at it's best, the harbour was quite pretty. The whole town of Alexandria remined me somehow of Santa Monica near LA. I bet the place is beautiful in summertime:





Some pictures around Alexandria:





Oh, so American: candy sticks!


We had had a huge breakfast at home, so we still weren't hungry. Skipping lunch in Alexandria we drove back to Washington. On our way home we realized we were close to the White House and decided to park and take a not-so-short walk around Obama's base.

So close...


Yet so far:


What was somehow ironic is that only a block away from the White House there is the subway station McPherson with dozens and dozens of homeless (mostly black) people. I wonder if the situation will get any better in years to come.

The big movie studios of this country may be at the West Coast, but on our way home I spotted this:


At this point it was time to go home, have a sushi plate from the fridge for lunch and have a nap - which actually turned to a two-hour one for me. I woke up at seven pm to the sound of heavy rain at the rooftop. It was time to go eating again and I was terrified: my UGGs are not actually made for walking in the rain. Luckily Rale had brought two pairs of shoes with him and borrowed me one. Believe it or not, his shoes WERE too big for me, even though I do probably have the shoe size of an average Finnish man. I looked quite humorous, haha.

With a wasted walk to an Indian restaurant which was closed, we ended up eating in a very good Thai restaurant right next door, at the corner of P Street and Hopkins. Tom Yam Kung and some seafood soups for appetizers, duck curry, chicken larp (a Thai style spicy salad) and shrimps in coconut curry. Yummy!

Now back home, the time is a bit over 11 pm and I think the bed is calling me. Tomorrow is a day for shopping, yay! Pentagon Mall is waiting... And I should make a decision on a beautiful dress I reserved in one of the shops of M Street. I would've taken it the second I tried it on, but the price, even the reduced one, was over USD 300. Ouch! Hurts.

Laura

Ylämylly Business Class

Surely those pics from the business class of the airplane looked cosy, but I've had the same kind of services here at my mum's in Ylämylly for the last three days! ;) Take a look if you don't believe it:

Excellent and most comfortable beds and sofas, as seen earlier in the blog.

First class meals:




Complimentary drinks:


Free snacks:


Personal office and entertainment centre:


Outstanding spa & wellness facilities:


This place hasn't been featured in the travel guides yet, but my bet is that it'll be mostly given five star reviews.

It's rarely fully booked, but it has a very high criteria in choosing it's customers. Only a few selected VIP's are usually allowed to book a room here, so concider yourself extremely lucky if you get to try it out in the future. I find it pretty uncertain though, so don't get your hopes up ;)

Following the Steps of The Exorcist

Eeeevening,

After a (pretty) well slept night we woke up to Christmas Eve around 7 am. My world had become a bit more steady again and the flat didn't move up and down anymore. Here are some pictures of my uncle's flat in Dupont district, 21st Street:

Guest room (our room):


Kitchen:


Uncle's room:


Living room:



After some good breakfast of juice, toast, cheddar, yoghurt and coffee (coffee naturally from the Starbucks next door) we headed to do some sightseeing. The day was sunny with a temperature around -2 C.

So, we hopped on the car and began driving around the capital. Without further explanations, here are a few pictures:

Brother and uncle outside 1409 21st Street, uncle's house:


Obama's house:


Obama on his way to Hawaii:


Didn't go there - yet:


The Washington Monument, a tiny obelisk:


The Washington Monument, a bit bigger obelisk:


Our rental Hyundai has got the licence plates of Massachusetts:



United States Capitol, the meeting place of the United States Congress:


The World Bank, uncle's work place:


Museum of the American Indian:


Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial:



The Great Depression bread line, with some very poor people queuing there:



Potomac River & Arlington Memorial Bridge


The Thomas Jefferson Memorial:





Chip or Dale:


After some serious sightseeing, we ended up on waterfront, at the amazing Washington DC Fish Market:






We didn't buy anything but went for lunch to a closeby restaurant "Jenny's", a sweet not-even-so-little place upstairs held by a Chinese family. The food, however, wasn't Chinese or Asian at all: we had some crab cakes (Wikipedia: "an American dish composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, milk, mayonnaise, eggs, yellow onions, and seasonings. Crab cakes are traditionally associated with the area surrounding the Chesapeake Bay." = here) and a seafood pasta, both which I shared with Rauli. Delicious! Forgot to take the traditional food pictures, sorry.

After lunch we decided to take a little movie tour. Lonely Planet's Encounter lead us to The Exorcist stairs in Georgetown, an upscale area close Dupont. This is the spot they filmed the priest-falling-down-the-long-stairs scene (the whole film takes place in DC). The Exorcist stairs can be seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zj--3bQMzA.

I tried to be careful but apparently an evil spirit overtook me:



Guys, don't leave me here!!


Creepy, even in daylight. I would NEVER go anywhere near those stairs or the house at the upper end of them if it was dark! Googled:
(photo by: alykat)

After a few missed heart beats (and a few extra ones, the stairs were very steep!) we continued the tour driving the Embassy Row, where the most embassies in this city are located. We didn't stop, just drove by, so no pictures. Unlike most other buildings, the Finnish Embassy didn't have a flag outside. :-(

To make a long story a bit longer, here are a couple of pictures of some random buildings around:






So, now it's almost 23.00 and we just had sukiyaki & teriyaki dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant nearby. I napped an hour before leaving for dinner, but am overly tired again. Perhaps the time difference has smth to do with it, although I think we beat the jetlag quite good.

A different kind of Christmas Eve it was. Me likes. Merry Christmas Day everyone!

Laura