It Seemed like a Capital Idea...

Act One for today: a tour of the US capital building.  Our timed entry tickets where for 10 am and knowing that such a place would have both a lot of security and a lot of people we left plenty of time to get there, first passing a few other DC sights first.

Oh Canada...

The capital building was quite impressive in the morning light, and the fairly new, underground capital visitor center was as well.  Before the tour, all groups had to sit through a video presenting the most optimistic, cheerful and oversimplified view of how the legislative branch functions.  The tour only went downhill from that point, our guide for the tour was not engaging, at several points said things that I know are false, and it only went into the rotunda and statutory hall, the whole thing taking less then 30 min.  Overall I was very disappointed in the experience but not the building itself.

But there was hope at the end of the tunnel, literally!  From the Capitol Visitor Center we took the tunnel to the Library of Congress, and I was quite impressed with what was on the other side.  The building itself was very impressive, very European and it's contents even better.  An exhibit on Bob Hope and entertainers in politics, on very old maps and ancient cartography, on documents of the founding fathers and a reconstruction of Thomas Jefferson's private library.  I had not planned to come to the Library of Congress, but it was the highlight of the day.

In DC, one must always use the tunnel entrances! 

Next we walked by the Supreme Court and House/Senate office buildings.  With the lateness of the day and heat (80s!) we decided to go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and to finish the sights on the National Mall tomorrow.   Was quite impressed by the exhibits, as I always have enjoyed technology museums but the biggest difference is that in DC the planes and artifacts are all real not models!  The captions in the exhibits are for a younger audience, but I did not mind since I got to see all kinds of space artifacts and shiny planes!

Once the museum closed, we strolled down the National Mall watching the people of DC enjoy the start of spring with unseasonably warm weather.

 

My Favorite Picture of the Whole Trip