Washington DC
America was full of tramps on every corner of the inner city streets. In NY I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many bin-rummagers!
Part way through my trip I went to visit Washington DC for a day… so went to catch the Greyhound from NY’s Port Authority Bus Station on 42nd Street. The station was massive, and built on several floors like a car park. And inside it was really scummy… The tickets were a bargain too… only $30 return from the internet - that’s like £16-17 return from Preston to London!
We set off at around 9.30am and arrived in DC for about 1.30pm. The ride was boring if I’m honest… not much to look at apart from the different police (badge, cars and uniforms) when you pass from state to state, eg Baltimore, New Jersey, etc. Oh the other thing is that on some stretches of the motorway, normal cars had their own separate dual carriageway from the coaches and heavy goods lorries. Also, the motorways had weigh-in areas for heavy vehicles (like ours) when entering a new state. Anyways, my first impression of Washington greyhound station was wot a dump! It was a lot smaller than NY’s. Walked it to Union Street and from here I could see Capitol Hill. Quickly jumped on a tour bus here and drove past all the boring monuments and memorials that DC is full of… But one thing I noticed: Constitution Avenue has been copied by the Pakis! Islamabad’s Zero Point area where the government buildings are is exactly the same! Long, wide area of road leading to important buildings etc! Crazy fools! Also went to Georgetown, an expensive area of the city, and saw all the embassies. It was interesting to see how all the buildings had been personalised by each country – Finland’s was my fave! Also saw a ridiculously small house there which I was told was still expensive!
After the bus tour, I went to check out the White House which is more or less in the city centre. I think that day Donald Rumsfeld had resigned so Mr Bush was under a lot of pressure from anti-war protestors outside – it was funny to see! And then we caught the subway to the Pentagon, which is across the waters in Virginia. The subway was much cleaner than NY’s and much ‘friendlier’… At the Pentagon, no photos are allowed so we had to be careful but I still managed some snaps hehe…I strayed into a restricted area and straightaway a security with a massive rifle set upon us… well me being the talker explained I was just a tourist and started walking away but the guy pushed his hand out and yelled ‘hold it right there! Blahdee blahdee blah….!’ I was like wtf!
In Washington thy have got a more confusing grid system than NY’s. So I asked someone where the Hard Rock Café was… which is sited next to the place where Lincoln was assassinated. Friendly guy, him and his strong Washington accent (they sound a lot like from the southern states!). Turned out he was a tramp! Homeless! But ex-military? It didn’t make sense… but still I managed to get him to record me some lines from Menace 2 Society – Samuel L Jackson and his infamous shooting scene, ‘Ain’t it about time you gave me my money?!’ hahahahaha! We rewarded him with a drink at the Hard Rock Café which he finished in one gulp…. Funny guy hahahaha
Later, we got lost again, so I asked another passer-by… another tramp! And then another one comes up to help him as well no where! And suddenly they’re both arguing over who should show me the way hehehehe
Overall a bit of a dumpy place… Not the Washington I expected. Too many tramps… which I incidentally noticed all looked like stubbled up Samuel L Jacksons lol! I left around 10pm for an overnight 8-10 hour journey to Boston…
Part way through my trip I went to visit Washington DC for a day… so went to catch the Greyhound from NY’s Port Authority Bus Station on 42nd Street. The station was massive, and built on several floors like a car park. And inside it was really scummy… The tickets were a bargain too… only $30 return from the internet - that’s like £16-17 return from Preston to London!
We set off at around 9.30am and arrived in DC for about 1.30pm. The ride was boring if I’m honest… not much to look at apart from the different police (badge, cars and uniforms) when you pass from state to state, eg Baltimore, New Jersey, etc. Oh the other thing is that on some stretches of the motorway, normal cars had their own separate dual carriageway from the coaches and heavy goods lorries. Also, the motorways had weigh-in areas for heavy vehicles (like ours) when entering a new state. Anyways, my first impression of Washington greyhound station was wot a dump! It was a lot smaller than NY’s. Walked it to Union Street and from here I could see Capitol Hill. Quickly jumped on a tour bus here and drove past all the boring monuments and memorials that DC is full of… But one thing I noticed: Constitution Avenue has been copied by the Pakis! Islamabad’s Zero Point area where the government buildings are is exactly the same! Long, wide area of road leading to important buildings etc! Crazy fools! Also went to Georgetown, an expensive area of the city, and saw all the embassies. It was interesting to see how all the buildings had been personalised by each country – Finland’s was my fave! Also saw a ridiculously small house there which I was told was still expensive!
After the bus tour, I went to check out the White House which is more or less in the city centre. I think that day Donald Rumsfeld had resigned so Mr Bush was under a lot of pressure from anti-war protestors outside – it was funny to see! And then we caught the subway to the Pentagon, which is across the waters in Virginia. The subway was much cleaner than NY’s and much ‘friendlier’… At the Pentagon, no photos are allowed so we had to be careful but I still managed some snaps hehe…I strayed into a restricted area and straightaway a security with a massive rifle set upon us… well me being the talker explained I was just a tourist and started walking away but the guy pushed his hand out and yelled ‘hold it right there! Blahdee blahdee blah….!’ I was like wtf!
In Washington thy have got a more confusing grid system than NY’s. So I asked someone where the Hard Rock Café was… which is sited next to the place where Lincoln was assassinated. Friendly guy, him and his strong Washington accent (they sound a lot like from the southern states!). Turned out he was a tramp! Homeless! But ex-military? It didn’t make sense… but still I managed to get him to record me some lines from Menace 2 Society – Samuel L Jackson and his infamous shooting scene, ‘Ain’t it about time you gave me my money?!’ hahahahaha! We rewarded him with a drink at the Hard Rock Café which he finished in one gulp…. Funny guy hahahaha
Later, we got lost again, so I asked another passer-by… another tramp! And then another one comes up to help him as well no where! And suddenly they’re both arguing over who should show me the way hehehehe
Overall a bit of a dumpy place… Not the Washington I expected. Too many tramps… which I incidentally noticed all looked like stubbled up Samuel L Jacksons lol! I left around 10pm for an overnight 8-10 hour journey to Boston…
posted by Seabrook Crisps at 3:22 PM
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