Already glad I did this.
Air and Space was worth the journey on its own. Looked inside Columbia capsule and the thoughts of spending five daya in there gave me thw horrors. These capsules wete well named...theyre tiny. Then theres the naval aviation exhibit, and the X 15 over the entrance hall and a dozen other things that were close enough to touch. The Enterprise model in the basement is surprisingly simple...only being painted on one side and generally highlighting the production value of the original series. The windows are painted on. Ended up spending nearly six hours walking around, strolling down the mall passed the Capitol then up to the hotel. I can see it from my window....more or less. I think I understand the meaning of Big Government....it's huge.
What surprised me was how nice and open everyone was, from a station master on the Metro who made sure we had proper Smartrip cards and the best weekly pass last night when we were all mentally dead, to a Hotel manager who, after our reservation was lost due to a credit card SNAFU, accepted the receipt as proof and gave us the cheapest nightly rate for the whole week. Someone kindly warned me that the police took great pleasure in nailing people for jaywalking...especially tourists. And I met a cashier in the Smithsonian who gave me details of a model company in Texas that'll ship to Ireland.
At home, people can be a lot more reserved about things like that, leaving tourists to their own devices. Or not going to such lengths at any rate...
Eating out is interesting. Especially portion sizes thatre clearly intended to be left unfinished, while being much cheaper than at home. Sauces tend to be much better too, which might seem strange but Ive long suspected most Irish eateries buy their sauces and the like from the same wholesaler. Also, Capitol Brewing Company for awesome food and beer.... And complimentary prezels with every meal.
One of the weirdest things is the level of choice....even for a sandwich. It means sometimes it takes a while because Im used to things being a bit more set - while the person in the que before me rattled of a specific list of things a minute long, I just wanted a ham and cheese and lettuce sub and ended up being politely asked every question in the list.
Thw trickiest thing is tipping...we tend to do it differently is the best way to describe it, and by nature much less often. Its hard to remember to do at times, or how to do it right.
It's strange. We get alot of US television so many things are familiar, but at the same time just a little strange. It's a surreal effect, but hard to put my finger on. The amount of political advertising is weird, followed closely by direct drug and treatment advertising (Ask you doctor about...), then things that seem far more normal.
Natural history museum tomorrow...something else in the afternoon. Planning more than that is silly...we stick to plans like polystyrene cement sticks to ABS?
Also. Should've brought my laptop, typing on a tablet is bloody hard.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Air and Space was worth the journey on its own. Looked inside Columbia capsule and the thoughts of spending five daya in there gave me thw horrors. These capsules wete well named...theyre tiny. Then theres the naval aviation exhibit, and the X 15 over the entrance hall and a dozen other things that were close enough to touch. The Enterprise model in the basement is surprisingly simple...only being painted on one side and generally highlighting the production value of the original series. The windows are painted on. Ended up spending nearly six hours walking around, strolling down the mall passed the Capitol then up to the hotel. I can see it from my window....more or less. I think I understand the meaning of Big Government....it's huge.
What surprised me was how nice and open everyone was, from a station master on the Metro who made sure we had proper Smartrip cards and the best weekly pass last night when we were all mentally dead, to a Hotel manager who, after our reservation was lost due to a credit card SNAFU, accepted the receipt as proof and gave us the cheapest nightly rate for the whole week. Someone kindly warned me that the police took great pleasure in nailing people for jaywalking...especially tourists. And I met a cashier in the Smithsonian who gave me details of a model company in Texas that'll ship to Ireland.
At home, people can be a lot more reserved about things like that, leaving tourists to their own devices. Or not going to such lengths at any rate...
Eating out is interesting. Especially portion sizes thatre clearly intended to be left unfinished, while being much cheaper than at home. Sauces tend to be much better too, which might seem strange but Ive long suspected most Irish eateries buy their sauces and the like from the same wholesaler. Also, Capitol Brewing Company for awesome food and beer.... And complimentary prezels with every meal.
One of the weirdest things is the level of choice....even for a sandwich. It means sometimes it takes a while because Im used to things being a bit more set - while the person in the que before me rattled of a specific list of things a minute long, I just wanted a ham and cheese and lettuce sub and ended up being politely asked every question in the list.
Thw trickiest thing is tipping...we tend to do it differently is the best way to describe it, and by nature much less often. Its hard to remember to do at times, or how to do it right.
It's strange. We get alot of US television so many things are familiar, but at the same time just a little strange. It's a surreal effect, but hard to put my finger on. The amount of political advertising is weird, followed closely by direct drug and treatment advertising (Ask you doctor about...), then things that seem far more normal.
Natural history museum tomorrow...something else in the afternoon. Planning more than that is silly...we stick to plans like polystyrene cement sticks to ABS?
Also. Should've brought my laptop, typing on a tablet is bloody hard.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?