Museum tour in the capital.

Good morning from the actual 'Rainy city' of the USA. It is statistically proven that it rains the most here. And so far, we can confirm that. But nothing bad, we don't run around soaking wet. Just a few drops in our hair.

We started our historical and political tour of Washington D.C.! We started at the National Museum of Natural History.

To be honest, a photo from the outside is missing. We also took one, but all the museums and buildings look the same from the outside and it's very difficult to assign it now! 😅 We think it is this one:

So the National Museum of Natural History is huge and houses all the information about humanity: the evolution of humans, genes, the geography of the earth, minerals, ores and rocks, all living beings and their origin, and so on. A true paradise for Mama Kerstin - greetings to you, we often thought of you 😃 but we haven't read everything, otherwise we wouldn't be out again today. We spent 2 hours looking at as much as possible. And watching the researchers working on fossils under the microscope impressed Marie a lot.

Next stop was historically significant. The National Archives. Here you can find the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the USA. The individual documents were of course difficult to read, as many parts have faded. Nevertheless, it is part of American history and we were able to learn a lot!

A photo from the outside was possible, but it is not allowed to take any photos inside. That's why we don't have any, we were a bit afraid of the security guards, so we didn't even try.

Our next destination was the National Gallery, we think it is this one:

But here we only visited the park and lingered a bit in the WiFi. Somehow we weren't really interested in da Vinci and other art. So forgive us that there is no art blog here. We took some time out and since the online booking for the Washington Monument didn't work, we hoped for a spontaneous blessing that we could still go up.

But unfortunately, we have to disappoint you at this point. There were no tickets. Every day at 10:00 a.m., tickets are available online for a minute. Orrr 7:30 a.m. on the same day, 30 tickets are given away at the ticket counter. Well, we will try our luck online again, no one will get us out of bed that early for a viewpoint 😅

We deserved something to eat now. We made ourselves comfortable on the lawn of the National Mall and had quesadillas for the first time in our lives. We only got the idea because there were small pieces offered to try on the street in front of all the food trucks. It was delicious!

Next stop: Public Library of Congress. You can only enter with pre-booked tickets - and we thought: for a library? But we were not disappointed!

It is the largest library in the world and the reading room was impressive! We received a small brochure in German that takes a closer look at the secrets of the building. Really cool to have seen that.

On the way to the Capitol, right next to the library, was the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, it was closed to visitors due to the current regulations. However, considering the important judgments that have been made here. On the one hand, the abortion law, the abolition of racial segregation in American schools, further legalization of firearms, or even slavery.

And now the gigantic Capitol came! It is really beautiful. Well secured by its own Capitol Police, we took some snapshots. We will return here again later today to see the beauty at night.

We then spent some time at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial until two ducks disturbed our peace. Benny found it cute, Marie was once again scared of being bitten by ducks - or whatever.

The final stop was the main train station, Union Station. We also wanted to grab a bite to eat there. There are definitely a lot of pigeons and pigeon ladies there. Just as there are often homeless people camping out. We were also happy when we passed by them again. But the main train station is no less spooky when it comes to the clientele.

The food at Shake Shack was almost a disaster. After a 30-minute wait and the unfriendliest service ever in a fast-food restaurant, a burger arrived, which is not the highlight of our culinary journey here. So, no, we won't do it again. We also captured the craziest moment in a short photo - a pink dog. We have no idea why someone would do that.

At the end of the day, we climbed the steps again and waited for dusk to set in. We wanted the best view, so we sat on a bench and Marie told Benny funny facts about Washington, the Abraham Lincoln assassination, and the greatest assassinations in the USA in general. At that very moment, a bicycle police officer asked us to clear the square. Not at a normal walking pace, but relatively quickly. The street was closed off, and it was quite hectic at times. We asked a police officer what was going on, but we didn't get an answer. 20 minutes earlier, we were asked about a blonde person on an e-scooter, if we had seen one. The whole situation made us a bit uneasy, but we just sat in front of the Capitol and found gummy bears in Benny's backpack:

And the Capitol convinced us in the evening with its beautiful lights and its green dome. It was worth it!

The way back was especially tough on our little feet. So we had covered almost 20 km again. Once under the shower and just sleep. Tomorrow the historical and political journey continues!

We wish you all the best!

B ❤️ M