I slightly peeked at the window and saw that the sun had crept out quite a bit but the skies appeared extremely cloudy and overcast. So it's unpredictable if it will gonna rain or not today. I adamantly told myself to get up so that I can visit a lot of places today and enjoy the strolling the city while the sun is still out. I think I was blessed today because it was not raining.
I did not have any paramount agenda today but in my mind I want to see the Capitol Building. I programmed myself to see the Capitol Building first once I get to DC and I have to do it today. So I took a quick shower and then got dressed aptly for the windy weather. When I left the dorm it was really cold and windy outside despite of the little sunshine that had peeked through the sly clouds. DC weather was kinda finicky I guess. But oh well, I got to be out there and explore the city, enjoying what it can offer me today.
I excitedly called for an UBER ride to drop me off at the National Capitol Building which turned out into a little fiasco. Hehehe. Oh well, I was magically and wrongfully unloaded on a wrong building. Lol. It looks like a post office. Hahaha. But the neighborhood seemed like it's near the political area of the city so I ambled a little bit of a distance to the north and had observed people coming out from the subway which said Capitol Hill Building. Then from there, I know that it must be around here.
I followed a group of teen students who looked like excursionists from other states and just followed them secretly pretending that I know the place. Hahaha. With a slight walking going north I saw some huge buildings that resembled like a courthouse so I continued walking until I reached at a street corner of Independence Street and saw the Capitol Building from afar, telling me that "Hey, I'm here and don't go too far." Hahaha. My smile cannot be described and I could not contain it to myself when I saw the huge building from the street corner and I felt that my heart had just jumped out of my body. Hahaha.
Without using a map, I adventured to look for the Capitol Building and luckily I found it accidentally due to my determination and will to look for it no matter how and what it takes. I kept ambling towards the corner of Independence Street where the enormous Jefferson Library of Congress across the street stood steadfastly. I waited a little bit for the traffic to abate then crossed the street together with the boisterous teen excursionists. When I arrived at the other corner of the street I started to get a good view of the National Capitol Building. I was very happy to see this famous national political building as a bastion of the country's political power and with the beautiful Columbia Statue perched on top of its dome it was stunning to look at. What a very nice building to look at from my vantage point view.
I continued to amble towards the building and as I get nearer I can see how huge and beautiful it was. There were a lot of people crossing as well and were so happy and merry to just be there and enjoyed the courtyard and looking at the huge building. The front road was really wide and the building was massive. The right wing was on renovation right now. That's the reason why it is not open to the public at that moment. The wind was also strong at that moment and I cannot get a good selfie of the building because the wind was messing up my hair.
After there, I decided to look for the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. I know I was near the National Mall now so I decided to devote my whole day browsing the wide and enormous place. The area was huge and as I walked down the hill towards the huge park, I can see that the trees were still bare and not ready for spring yet.
The National Mall spans from the east where the Capitol Building is standing and also includes the Washington Monument, the War Memorial, the Tidal Basin, the Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. It was sandwiched between two parallel streets of Independence Street and Constitution Street. So from the Capitol Building I trailed going to the west and saw the Washington Memorial from afar. So I eagerly ambled towards it. The National Mall is a huge park which bigger that Central Park I guess. I don't know how many hectares it was but it was huge. And it has a lot of history, too.
As I ambled towards the Washington Monument I saw some nice buildings on my left and right side and the park was still bare because of the winter season that is almost ending. Trees were still bald and leafless and the lawns were still green with no blooms yet. The vast lawn was still empty and there were not much foliage seen yet around the park.
As I left the National Capitol Building area heading towards the famous "Pencil" monument I can see the new brass building on the right which is the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It looks like a gold building when the sun rays reflecting on it. It looks like a 3-storey building with very intricate brass walls on all sides. I saw a lot of people lining from the entrance so I kinda abandoned the idea of getting inside which I initially planned earlier. I just took a picture of it as I crossed the street and ambled towards the nearby Washington Monument.
After crossing the street, I saw the throngs of people flocking on some of the pink trees just in front of the monument and it dawned on me that they were the most sought cherry blossom trees. Those were the only trees that had blossomed fully that I saw because most of the trees that I saw along the trail were still budding and not yet ready to sprout out. I guess, in my excitement I came to DC very early to see the cherry blossoms which were not yet ready to come out. Haist.....
The imposing Washington Monument nearby stood majestically and was cordoned with some wire fence because I heard from the grapevine that it was closed for public access for the reason that it is not safe anymore to accommodate people to go up at the summit because of the cracks found on it's wall at the topmost portion of the monument, which will pause a lot of danger to the public. But it is still pretty to look at from my vantage point of view. I can imagine how imposing it would look at night with all those colorful lights playing along with it.
After taking a lot of perspective pictures of the "Pencil" I kept ambling towards the War Memorial Monument which was extremely symbolic to all the veterans of this country. I can see how nostalgic the place is. It was an open portico with a huge pool and fountain in the middle and had a canopy with columns forming a C-shape at both ends, depicting the two wars that the veterans went. On the right was the Atlantic War portico (aka World War I) and at the left the Pacific War portico (aka World War II). It was a poignant 15 minute moment of my stay there, reminiscing how the veterans had fought during both wars. I also saw a pillar for the Philippines on the Pacific War portico side. I had snapped a lot of pictures there.
After browsing the War Memorial site, I continued walking towards the famous Lincoln Memorial which can be seen inviting me at the distance. The Greek-like Mausoleum appeared very imposing and inviting from a distance and it had drawn me unconsciously as I walked towards it. It was really stunning to look at from my vantage point of view because it looks like it's just floating of the vertical rectangular pond or pool from where I stand. It keeps hypnotizing me as I walked near to it.
As I drew near it, it looked very very imposing and symbolic and it was a massive mausoleum I have ever seen in my life. I can see the statue of Lincoln silhouetted from a distance as I ambled near to it. There were a lot of people, locals and tourists, sitting at the stairs and standing inside the building looking at the massive Lincoln's statue. Of all the building I came across at the National Mall, this was the one most sought for by the tourists as evidenced by the amount of people crowding the hallway. The marble statue of Lincoln was sitting massively and seriously on his chair and appeared very dominant looking in his tacitness. It was really crowded inside but it's a given.
The stunning view from there was to look at the opposite side (from the inside) looking at the Washington Monument from afar between the long rectangular pond or pool which I passed earlier. The Capitol Building at the back of the Washington Monument added to the nice picturesque view of the National Mall. The walk was real cool from the Capitol Building towards the Lincoln Memorial Building. It looks like I've walked 4-5 miles but I'm not complaining. Good thing it wasn't raining that time and the sun had came out gloriously making my day complete and productive. But the cool wind had neutralized the warm heat of the noontime, I guess it was the best walk I've ever done in my life feasting my eyes to some of the beautiful architecture around the National Mall and it was the best thing I've ever done. I had a blast!
I stayed at the Lincoln Memorial Building for a tad 20 minutes enjoying the nice views I can see from that perspective and also observing the people around me spending time with their friends and families, taking pictures and selfies in a fascinating way, having conversations with other people, and browsing or enjoying the nice scenery from there. It was just a perfect moment to imbibe with the hype of the moment in the Capital, as well as not worrying anything about work but just to enjoy what the place has to offer. It was a great day indeed!
