The nation's capital

Philadelphia's role as capital of the United States gave way to Washington D.C. in 1800. Julie and I followed the path of I-95 down to DC on Sunday to experience the "nation's capital" - a phrase that was repeated ad nauseum by every tour guide on every Tourmobile we got on. Still, it's easy to be impressed by the grandeur and beauty of Washington D.C's monuments, museums and malls.

By the Reflecting Pool @ Washington Memorial and calling on President Obama at the White House

We took a 90-minute tour around all the sights to familiarise ourselves with the orientation of the city. That essentially covered the Smithsonian Museum mile (all free!), the Capitol Building (no sitting), Union Station (best shopping), Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary and the White House. It was a whirlwind tour and after a little while, I must admit that the drone of the tour guide's voice sent me into a daydream :-)

We got off at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to call on the First Family for lunch but they were a little busy. So we made other arrrangements and headed to 1800 Pennsylvania Ave / The World Bank instead. Our dear friend, Isabel Chatterton was kind enough to show us the impressive premises where she works and we had a delicious lunch of green curry laksa, sushi and sandwiches. Believe me, the lunch counters at the World Bank represent world cuisines from every continent!

Inside the Lincoln Memorial and close-up of Washington Memorial

After lunch, we decided to explore the Lincoln Memorial before splitting up to visit different museums since Julie and I have different tastes. Julie headed to the Air & Space Museum while I went to the National Gallery of Art. It features the only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in America and it was so awe-inspiring, in the most delicate way.

We met back at the Mall and my feet were so sore that we ended up dawdling at a park bench instead of heading back to the Metro station at 5:00. Thanks to that, we avoided the deadliest Metro train crash in the history of Washington's transportation history. At 5:15pm, two trains collided on the red line that we were supposed to be on (although in a different direction), and 7 people were killed.

Thank you Lord.