Washington

For 8 nights we have now settled in Washington. The room is well located, a few meters to the bus to the city center and the landlords are very nice. Only problem: it is very hot, that is exactly our weather. So we slimmed down the program a bit and decided to mainly watch other people do sports.

On the first day, however, we were still willing to visit a lot. So off to the city to the Capitol. Preparations for all the memorial ceremonies for John McCain were already visible around the Capitol. Of course, at all public buildings (and also many private ones), the flags were at half-mast. One would have to first convince the president of customs and decency, the flags had already been raised again in the meantime. What can you expect .... nothing more.

The television coverage also focused a lot on the relationship between Trump and McCain and the views of conservative representatives that there is no end to the lack of level. It gets worse every day, even if you always thought it couldn't get worse.

The Supreme Court is located next to the Capitol, the highest court in the USA. Very interesting. There is a small exhibition, a film, and you can actually go into the courtroom. However, it was closed for 2 weeks. But the visit is really worthwhile, not only for lawyers 👩🏼‍🎓👨🏼‍🎓

We continued in the scorching sun to the Lincoln Memorial. Always worth a visit. Next to it is the memorial for the victims of the Vietnam War. That is also worth seeing. Family members can search for the names of their relatives in books that are laid out. There, the section on which the name is located is noted.

On the first evening, we had already seen men's soccer. DC United with Wayne Rooney. Unfortunately, they lost and poor Wayne will also have asked himself from time to time why he is subjecting himself to the US league (like Schweinsteiger). Now we saw basketball. Women's league semi-final playoffs against Atlanta. We happened to end up there by chance. Because actually we don't like basketball and don't know anything about it either. But the tickets were cheap and it was about something, so why not. What should we say: the best sports event we have been to. Great atmosphere and people who watched the game and didn't just run back and forth between the food stall and the refreshment stand. That's how it always is and it's really annoying. No one can sit still for 20 minutes and watch the game. So we went there again 2 days later. Top! Especially because they won this time!

In the morning we were still at women's soccer. The game was supposed to take place the night before, but it was postponed because of a thunderstorm. On the next morning at 10 o'clock. That meant getting up early. By the way, the new game schedule was announced exclusively on Twitter. Not for the first time we experience that a life without the internet is basically impossible here because otherwise you are cut off from all information.

We spent the day in Mount Vernon, George Washington's plantation. A great area. There is a lot to see, much of it is original. And it is also not concealed that a life like the one Washington led was only possible because up to 317 slaves worked for him. He only had his slaves freed shortly before his death.

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/

And today, after a nice breakfast with our landlords, we visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in short, a massive church near our room. If that's just around the corner, we thought, we have to go there as well, and we weren't disappointed. The church is relatively new, very large, and is also widely used by the believers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_the_National_Shrine_of_the_Immaculate_Conception

Then we went to the National Museum of the American Indian. Since it covers South and North America, we recognized some things. Overall, a very worthwhile museum.

https://www.si.edu/museums/american-indian-museum