Tourists

Hello,

Yesterday was tourist day. After we dropped the girls off at school and pre-school we headed downtown. Sarah had gotten us passes to go up in the Washington Monument. We followed instructions and a map and went the shortest way from the closest Metro stop. It was a cold windy day, although not as cold as Iowa, but still noticeably cold. We did not stop to pick up the tickets at the proper place so Leroy gallantly ran down and back up the hill with them. We were told to go inside for the tour. I told the guy, “Our ticket is not until 10:00.”

He laughed and said, “If you want to stand out here for another 15 minutes, go ahead: otherwise go on in.”

It was great to be there on such a day when many stayed away. Not only did we get in earlybut we could spend more time at the less crowded windows taking in the clear view. I remembered when we went to the Eiffel Tower; it was cold, gloomy, and rainy. There was rain at the ground and snow at the top with little view available. I am still glad that we went as there were almost no people so we could wander at will.

Back in Washington, on the way to the library of Congress we stopped off at the Freer Art Museum. We saw some Muslim, Japanese, and Indian art. It was quite interesting. I am no art aficionado but I could still enjoy it. There was no painting, but objects of various types.

At the Library we saw the Magna Carta which is on loan through December. I certainly learned a lot of history about it. Ignorance was rampant. Name recognition was about all that I had. Leroy had more, but still learned some things. It was certainly an old looking piece of paper which I could not possibly read.

Before we left the library, we looked at the Big Bible of Mainz as well as the Guttenberg Bible. Then we also walked around Thomas Jefferson’s collection before heading back.

We figured that we walked possibly eight miles because of taking the girls to school too. Maybe it was only six miles, but it was sufficient. We will admit to being tired, but happy.

Paula