Winning Over Washington

With the arrival of spring has come my travel spirit and sense of adventure. My sofa is no longer satisfying enough for me! It was time to spread my wings and explore a little.

I had a brief (18 hour) visit to Washington DC a month ago for the launch of a new hotel and I saw the Capital Building and that long pointy monument (now I know it’s called Washington Monument) from the cab window. I promised myself that I would go back and explore this beautiful city and this past weekend offered me that opportunity.

Anneen, a friend from Namibia whom I’ve known about 25 years, is currently studying in Washington and invited me to stay with her for the duration of my visit. She also proved to be the most delightful host, showing me all the touristy things, despite probably having seen them all plenty of times before and we ate way too many ice lollies, walked miles and miles and caught up like you can only catch up with someone you’ve known all your life. The gods of great weather were on our side this past Saturday too. Though windy, the sun was out and we could even remove our jackets at times, savouring the sun on our pale, white arms. (I did get a horrible sunburn on a random part on top of my left hand, but let me tell you about that in person – I’m too embarrassed to write about it here!).

I completed the 5 hour bus trip to Washington on Friday after work and had to get on a return bus at 11.15am on Sunday, so it was bound to be a short weekend, filled with hordes of people who were also headed for DC to see the Cherry Blossoms – only in bloom two weekends a year. I was lucky enough to catch them at their peak. Gorgeous! 

Aside from the flowers, other highlights included seeing the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, The Capitol Building, the Smithsonian and all the many museums along ‘The Mall’ – the huge lawn you saw on TV if you were watching the inauguration of our favorite US President. Sadly the grass is still recovering from being trampled on by millions of feet, so the wind caused huge dusty gusts, sticking to our ice lollies and lipgloss…

After walking all over the city to all the tourist hot-spots, we ended the day in perfect style by resting our weary, weary feet while eating Nando’s chicken and chips at the only US location of this fabulous South African restaurant. I’m happy to report that the peri-peri chicken tasted just like it does at home – and the sangria is tasty!

I loved Washington – the openness, the fresh air, the civil-ness of the people, the beautiful architecture…and it’s so clean. Loved it.