Oot & Aboot: Farewell big apple

I got up this morning after having the world’s BIGGEST struggle with my luggage the night before. Oh my goodness, I just sat on the floor of my hotel room last night, looking at my clothes and thinking, ‘how the hell am I going to get this to DC’. Thankfully I was getting the train to Washington DC and wasn’t as concerned with weight if I would have been getting a place. Then I would have been in trouble. Still, I got my Penn Station via cab carrying two suitcases, one backpack and two bags of crap. I’m developing some fantastic arm muscles with this moving around.

The train is late so there wasn’t a whole lot more to do other than grab a spot on the floor and sit and wait. The train doesn’t end up arriving till 45 minutes after it’s scheduled departure, but at least it showed. The train trip to Washington DC is 3 hours and 20 minutes, so it’ll be a breeze. When I get on the train it’s full so I get what I can find, try and locate somewhere to stash all my stuff, put my Ipod on and head off. During the trip I head to the food cart and get some lunch and try and get a little sleep. I can’t use my laptop because the train ride is too bumpy. The train makes several stops along the way and it’s safe to say there isn’t a whole lot going on between NYC and DC. I get to enjoy about two hours of the trip with two screaming kids and a mother having a go at her husband for being too hard on them. Man, I’m sick of hearing spoilt kids.

We get into Washington DC and are warned that there is no such platform and we have to take steps down onto tracks level. This also means I have to carry my luggage down steps. That was the kinda news I love hearing, but I was desperate to get to my hotel and just crash for a couple of hours so I’ll do anything at this point. It’s really hot in DC, even more so than NYC.

I got through the station and it’s HUGE. I hadn’t expected DC to have such a big train station. Union Station took 90 years to build and I’m not surprised. There’s like 100 shops and 20 restaurants, cinema etc. I finally make my way out of the train station and to the cab rank. The line is long but moves quickly, so I’m in a cab 10 minutes later and heading to my hotel. I noticed DC to be quite stark as I drive through the streets and not the most attractive of cities. I also can’t help to notice all the homeless. My hotel is only a $7 cab ride away and in a brilliant location. I walk into the lobby and am not impressed with what I see. It’s very old fashioned and doesn’t smell all that good. It also had lovely wood paneling wallpaper. I guess when you pay $90 a night, this is what you get. On the plus side, the location is outstanding. Its two blocks from the Whitehouse to give you an indication of its location. My hotel room is run down but it is clean. It’s air conditioned thankfully and has free WiFi in the rooms which I like. I settled in and unpacked again for my days in DC. The best thing I could do at this point is to simply sleep and make up for what I didn’t get in NYC. So it was lights out and I slept for a few hours. I got up before dark had hit, thanks to daylight saving and decided to go see the neighbourhood. The area is pretty quiet for a Saturday, but it becomes clear that downtown DC is very much a business district. There aren’t a lot of shops apart from one street up the road that has shops and restaurants. I saw an ad in my hotel room for a Thai place up the road and I hadn’t had an Thai for ages so I keen going to get that for dinner. I managed to locate the place after passing heaps of youth just hanging out in groups in the streets. I go into an Urban Outfitters store and witness the manager tell a group of youths that they aren’t allowed in the store if they are under 18. They do this to curb kids just hanging in the store or stealing. I locate my Thai place and hoover down a chili and basil dish, my favourite. After dinner I head back to the hotel and on the way check out a souvenir shop. It’s amazing what you can put a presidents head on, any of the presidents. Anything remotely political in the US has been put on to all kinda of products including many republican/democrat products for the upcoming election. I could have walked away with a talking JFK doll if I so pleased. I elect to purchase a snow globe instead that plays Star Spangled Banner. It’s just TOO much.

I get into my hotel room and call my tour operators to confirm my attendance on the tours. I really don’t think she understood me. ‘Prentis’ is impossible to pronounce for some US citizens; personally, I think it’s because they just don’t listen carefully. So I hope she got it in the end!

What I learnt in Washington DC today:

Downtown is rather drab. It’s like if you came to Sydney and stayed in North Sydney. It’s basically a business district with not a whole lot else.
There are quite a few homeless people and they get in your face. Like hanging outside of a restaurant you leave and asking for money when you pass.
There’s not a lot of action at night times, things tend to shut down earlier. Maybe I think this because I came from NYC where things are always open!