Washington DC

We took our first (of many) Greyhound bus from NYC to Washington DC.
The bus was pretty full but not unpleasant as some have made us think it would be. Here we would be trading our shoebox apartment at the Upper East side for a 8 bed mixed dorm (cos thats all they had). It was clean and conveniently located close to most attractions.

Ilda's experience at HI washington
First someone stole bed... i was supposed to have the bottom bunk but this dude, i found out his surname was smith, took it.
so im like whatever, ill just take the top bunk.
he was so disgustingly messy and has all his stuff everywhere, undies included.
Anyways, one night - some of us (mainly lina, me and this other dude) get woken up by smith and his bed buddy that he decided to bring back to the room.
so while the 6 of us are asleep they're going for it shamelessly. .
i was so horrified and stunned that this was all happening just below me, i didnt know what to do but block my ears, pray for sleep and hope that they would be done soon.
I was just thankful that I couldnt see anything... poor lina woke up, looked around and saw a big massive butt sticking up in the air. She was busting for the loo so she just stormed out.... I mustve fallen asleep at one stage cos I didnt hear her leave, only heard her come back.
so the next day, we all just walked around likie zombies due to lack of sleep except for Fiona, who slept like a rock.
anyways, we were dreading sleep the next night but luckily he's checked out!!! never been that relieved before.
Just wanted to share this wonderful hostel experience with you all...

so yes.....LOL that pretty much overshadowed our DC experience.
*****

We did the usual touristy things, visit the White House, which looks much smaller in real life than in movies.
Stood where Martin Luther King Jnr was when he delievered his "i have a dream" speech.
I even got the opportunity to walk across the pond (it was half frozen over) infront of the U.S Capital building (the american version of Parliment House).

The highlights for DC was seeing the declaration of independence, and trying to see if there was any writing on the back (national tresure fans know what im talking about) Lina got in trouble coz she was leaning too close trying =p

Also a visit to the spy museum was a real treat, before you enter you have to remember an alias and they give you a mission to complete during your visit.
its a very interactive museum, loads of fun and lots on interesting information about spies - they're all around us, so you never know who's watching you!!

And lastly visiting the Smithsonian museum.....for FREE!!
we saw the hope diamond...beautiful.
the air and space museum where we learnt all about the wright brothers and all things aeronautical.

DC just felt like a larger version of Canberra, with more cops and lots of free museums. =)