Waving Goodbye to Washington

Hey hey! 

The last couple of days have been busier than I could imagine. We had to start earlier than I generally had (which is still not particularly early because most things don't open till 10) but it was definitely worth it. 

Sunday was another day out of the National Mall, we headed off to a couple of museums including that of Crime and Punishment, Spy and the Newseum. 

The crime and punishment museum was really interesting in its historical artefacts and other cool things like famous movie props. 

The Spy museum was really cool but a little confusing with its layout as different areas branched off and you never really knew where you'd been. But again cool historical artefacts and props (mainly from James Bond). 

I loved the Newseum. Unfortunately we didn't have as much time there as I would've liked. But we saw things such as a section of the Berlin Wall and one of its 'Death Towers'. We also saw the 7 editions of the newspaper published on the day of Lincon's assassination. 

Monday! We started at the Air and Space museum and saw a whole lot of planes and space travel technology. Not specifically my area of interest but still really really cool to see the original Wright Brothers plane and bits of the Apollo spacecrafts. 

We then went and had afternoon tea in the Smithsonian Castle, purely for the chance to say we had afternoon tea in a castle. The building is mainly admin now for the Smithsonian Institute in its entirety, it's gorgeous and has rose gardens and was just lovely to walk through. 

Continuing on to the Nat'l Museum of Natural History, I found it (unsurprisingly) very similar to the Natural History Museum in NYC. But this one had a massive section dedicated to semi precious and precious stones and other forms of gems and rocks. There were 3 foot high slabs of quartz and multiple highly valuable jewellery including a Harry Winston collar.

I also got a selfie with a triceratops model. 

We finished the day at the National Archives. Seeing the original documents of the Bill of Rights, the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Very very very very very very cool. 

Our final day in DC was the day I really got to indulge my political interests. We headed off to the Capitol, going via the Botanical Gardens. But the Capitol. We had a tour and saw heaps of cool paintings and statues and we were in the Capitol. And then we had lunch in the restaurant if the Capitol. Then we went and saw the House of Representatives (the line to go into the Senate gallery was ridiculously long So we didn't end up there). We went to the shop in the Capitol's visitors centre and I bought a Washington DC Capitol building jersey. Cause we were in the Capitol. 

Then we walked the tunnel to the Library of Congress (Jefferson building) and viewed the main reading room and some other cool stuff like a very very old hand written bible. 

We finished by walking past the Supreme Court of the USA. The day was amazing and I spent the afternoon of a political tourist buzz. 

Hopefully I'll be back here one day. 

DC. 

Justine 

Independence Day!!!

Hey hey!

In the nation's capital for the 4th of July. Very excited for the events of the evening. Only to have things go... Not quite as planned. 

Yooga and I started the day a bit late due to waking up to rain pouring outside, obviously a good omen for the day. Abandoning our plans of walking in the mall and in museums, we headed to Georgetown with the purpose of cupcakes and a new charm for my travel bracelet. A fairly easy commute involving very cheap hotel dogs for a snack, and a very very nice bus driver who gave us a free ride because we had the wrong tickets. We spent the early afternoon wandering and completing our purposes for the journey. (Georgetown Cupcakes had a very impressive line out the door and part way up the street. 

Being keen we left Georgetown en-route to the lawns of the Capitol and the concert that night (gates opened at 3pm so obviously in line by 2:15). We got in, found a spot with some friends of Jess M's and settled in for a long wait until the concert. Cue Uno. 

Until it decided to rain. A lot. 

To the point where, because of severe weather conditions everyone was evacuated to find shelter. We ended up in a car park with lots of other disgruntled and soaked concert hopefuls. With no clue how long the rain would last, we waited (luckily not too long) until we were given the clear to head out. 

Deciding that we weren't up for waiting in lines again or risking another clear out, we left for home and the comfort of dry clothes and indoors. 

Luckily, this did give me the opportunity to Skype hope to Kippax for the conclusion of Rocking Bambi. And I did get to see some Street fireworks in our area (because unlike at home fireworks aren't banned here). 

Happy 4th of July! Even if the weather didn't quite hold up for us. 

Washington DC. 

Justine 

These Places are Real

Hey hey! 

So Yooga and I set out in our mission to see as much of DC as we could (and it's pretty darn difficult). 

After the monumental walk on Thursday, we used Friday to scope out some of the buildings  further down the mall. We started of with seeing the White House (from the wonderful security distance). The hardest thing for me to get my head around this trip is that things I see on TV actually exist. 

I had my first street cart hot dog, and we headed off to get a good view of the Washington Monument (Bilbo the Butterfly joined us). Continuing our walking (all very paced with short viewing breaks to maximise DC experience) we made it to the WWII memorial. Which was highly impressive and very busy. 

In the hopes of getting some more photos of the reflecting pool (because a certain relative hadn't realised I'd already sent them photos) we walked back to where we had been the day before. This did allow the opportunity to see the Vietnam memorial which we had missed on Thursday. 

On our way to the Nat'l Museum of American History, we stopped by the 56 signers memorial. Which was gorgeous but would have been improved if the water wasn't green and DC didn't have incredibly uneven footpaths (still really cool though). 

We then tried to get to most of the Smithsonian, but with the layout of museums here, you can always end up missing something without realising it existed. They're just massive. 

(Count Von Count, like actually, so cool) 

After that we had to call it a day (because everything starts closing between 4:30 and 5:30). Very tired and realising the humidity we're in for, we headed home. 

Awesome day. 

Washington DC.

Justine 

Last days of NYC

Hey hey

So this post comes at much delay due to me falling ill and then trying to pack in what I could with what little time I had left. Also just the sheer fact that time got away from me. My time in NYC was spectacular. Everything was new. And exciting. And just absolutely magnificent. 

I spent Friday taking the opportunity to travel downtown and see the 9-11 memorial museum. I found the experience powerful as I expected, but not for the reasons that people seemed to be warning me about. For me it was a learning experience. Being 4 at the time of 9-11, I have no memory of the event at all, and all knowledge I had prior to my visit to the museum was diluted by the fact that it was an event that happened half way across the globe. So as I spent a few hours making my way through, following the time line of that days events I found myself being realising the expanse of that day. I saw people around me crying and being totally overwhelmed but for me I the whole experience was about learning how it all played out. Very powerful and I definitely left feeling like I understood further about what that day means to so many. 

After the museum I met up with Andy again and we did some walking around Wall St and we walked across Brooklyn Bridge. It was a fantastic afternoon and afterwards I headed off to Matilda with Jess. 

On Saturday I headed out to Queens with Jess and some of her friends to have Yum Cha lunch. The fairly long commute was definitely worth it and it was an awesome chance to see a little bit more of NYC. After lunch I went to the must see Grand Central Station and it was everything like I'd seen on TV. (plus there was a chunk of it turned into an Apple store which was cool). Ducking into the Hard Rock Cafe on my way home I also went past the box office to get a ticket to see Jim Parsons in An Act of God. Which was hilariously spectacular. Unfortunately it rained heavily at the time of stage door so he didn't stick around long. But he still signed my playbill :)

Sunday I was completely out of action due to being sick and bed ridden. :( 

However on Monday (being careful) I met up with Yooga and we headed out on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

We did very little wandering on Staten Island before heading back on the Ferry. That afternoon I lined up again at tkts and bought at ticket for my final Broadway show. Kinky Boots. It was fantastic and although I had the cut my time at stage door short due to still feeling unwell it was totally worth being out for such an awesome finale to my Broadway shows. 

My final full day in NYC came too soon and I tried to take the day slowly enough to take it all in. I headed off to the Guggenheim museum (brilliant architecture, like seriously), then walked around a bit of the Upper East Side before relaxing in Central Park. After a spectacular day and then a highly encouraged dinner at 5 guys (thanks Joel) I met up with Andy once again and showed him the Stardust diner, thus taking my visits there to a total of 4. 

After some wonderful cheesecake and very welcome company I farewelled NYC by heading to the Top of the Rock. With slightly chilly winds and my head literally in the clouds I took in the beautiful city that I'd spent over 2 weeks in. 

I don't think that I could live in NYC, but I do hope that I get back there sometime with other people to share places I went and to see more of such an amazing (and real) city. 

NYC. 

Justine 

Walking in Washington

Hey hey 

So Yooga and I decided to start our adventures in DC by getting an idea of where everything is. So to do that, we did a lot of walking. 

We started with the Lincon Memorial and headed off to the Martin Luther king Jr memorial via that of the Korean War memorial and then made our way to the Franklin D Rosevelt memorial, George Moore memorial and then finally the Thomas Jefferson memorial. 

It was a crazy day and we saw heaps within one afternoon. What I find most remarkable is the size of these structures. (And the fact that they exist in real life and off screen). 

The size of the Lincon statue or the expanse of the Rosevelt memorial or the hight of the Jefferson memorial and the amount of steps at everything. To me it's  astounding that such large things can be dedicated to just one person. I'm not sure if that's my experience of history or my perspective on priorities of sorts, but also the patriotism is still taking a while to comprehend. 

Even though it is overwhelming the sheer expanse of things here in DC, I'm already enjoying seeing such iconic things here. 

Washington DC. 

Justine