Friday 11 December 2009

Washington

Well, we're back from our 5 day trip to Washington, and what a trip it was!



We set off... is the clock in a.m. or p.m.? You decide.

We've realised that 5 days, including travel, is just about the perfect amount of time to see a new place, and it was a real treat to have the time to look around the city.

We embark excitedly upon a bus tour

We packed a lot in - on arrival, we made our way to an amazing three-storey Mexican restaurant where the food arrived still on fire, and the food kept up this standard the whole time, with never less than portions big enough for three and lots of fabulous trans-fats.

Culturally-speaking, there was lots of that to be had as well. Like the cars, food, buildings, and general scale, nothing in Washington is ever done by half-measures, and we sampled a myriad - we went to Chinatown, the Spy Museum, portrait gallery, Natural History Museum (where there were some massive diamonds and massive dinosaurs) - our mums would've been proud! Washington, of course, also has more than its fair share of impressive, sombre monuments and we duly got on an open top bus tour (like good tourists) and saw the Lincoln memorial (that big white statue of Lincoln sitting on a chair), war memorials, the massive obelisk in the centre of the city, and tons of other things, until it started raining and we ran for cover. We walked past the theatre where Lincoln was shot on that fateful night in 1865. Oh, yeah, and some house that the President lives in, we saw that too.

A Robelisk

Alex and Mikey are overjoyed

Me and the White House


The gig itself went pretty well, all things considered, but it wasn't exactly our usual audience. Everyone was wearing suits, and shied away from dancing. We're a band who thrives on seeing people let themselves go, so we did our best with a slightly more sober, but still smiling, lot. The Ronald Reagan building, where we played, was magnificent, and the whole experience was surreal, but great.

There was even an ice sculpture. Yes, an ice sculpture proclaiming Scotland - the whole affair was designed to put this country at the forefront of the mind, and it certainly did that, with whisky cocktails, flags and the odd kilt to be seen too. I can't say I've ever played a gig featuring an ice sculpture, but there's a first time for everything.

Although it's not a million miles away from life in the UK, we still got some surprises in the US. Such as shops that claim to be a pharmacy, but sell everything you could ever need; the hardline approach to crossing the road (no absent minded wandering allowed round there), and the giant cars zooming around everywhere.

this chap was rather popular

at the airport... what are the chances?!
It was a great time, and it's given me a total hunger to travel more and more. There are so many places to see and things to do in this world - hopefully we'll get to try more of it in the future!