Washington DC – Day 2

My day started with a tour of Arlington Cemetery. I went with the hostel but I actually ended up leaving the group since it turned out to be more of an escort than a tour. I could make record time if I walked at my pace and besides there was a man so full of himself it was driving me nuts. When I was asked to take a photo of the group and said I couldn’t get the building behind in it as giant buses were going past every second, he replied with ‘we clearly chose the wrong person to take the photo’ and then he preceded to offer to take the photo himself before talking about himself some more. Unfortunately I had the displeasure of seeing him around the hostel several times after and hearing his voice echoing around the walls at breakfast time. There seemed to be a lot of big-shots-but-staying-in-a-hostel kind of guys in DC. I do not know why..

I only spent a little bit of time in the cemetery as after I had taken one photograph it got me thinking, why am I taking pictures of people’s graves? And so I stopped and left. I also saw the tomb of the unknown soldier and the changing of the guard – which was incredibly disappointing compared to that in England.

At this point I was starting to think I wouldn’t need much time in Washington DC as the tourist attractions seemed overrated and I wasn’t in the mood for museums- boy was I about to prove myself wrong.

With the idea I didn’t need extra time in DC in my head I jumped onto the metro to go find a Pandora store where I would purchase my Washington DC charm. I knew where it was and so followed my directions. It wasn’t until I was sat in Dunkin Donuts and decided to check-in that I noticed my current location- Virginia. I had crossed over into a different state! Without even realizing. Now I know District of Columbia isn’t a state but I never expected to head into a state whilst over there.

So I took advantage of this opportunity and explored Alexandria the old town in Virginia. (Pictured above) it was very nice with lots of bars and restaurants and a nice sea front.

After this I headed for the Pandora store which turned out to be miles away in the middle of nowhere (I will talk more about my Pandora at some point). Because it was so far away and suddenly there was torrential rain, I couldn’t refuse it when the staff member who sold me my bracelet offered to give me a ride back to the station. It was a nice little tour of Virginia before heading back across the water.

I’d taken a whole day out of my short trip and with that in mind I didn’t want to go to sleep yet. So I ended up walking around the streets on route to Lincoln. I soon gave up on this idea when the torrential rain got the better of me and soaked my feet. Heading back I helped a lost girl find the metro station by letting her under my umbrella. It was a very quiet day but time to hit the hay ready for a busy one the next day.