Day 8 - Washington DC

Today is our last day in Washington DC and we wanted to visit as many of the countless attractions as possible. In order to learn more about the fascinating history, we booked a tour with 'Washington Tour by Foot'.

http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com

So we set off with our tour guide Cecilia to discover the many attractions around the National Mall in the next 4 hours. Our first stop was the Washington Monument. The 555-foot marble obelisk is located in the center of the National Mall between the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, as well as the US Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.

The first plans for the construction of the Washington Monument were made during the time of the President of the United States of America, George Washington. However, the memorial was not built until after his death. Citizens founded the Washington National Monument Society to raise funds for the construction of the landmark. With this, construction could be started, but the money was not sufficient and there was initially a standstill. It was not until 1876, the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, that $200,000 was approved by the US Congress and construction resumed. The construction was then completed in 1884.

The next stop on our tour, the World War 2 Memorial, is located between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials and commemorates all American soldiers who died in World War 2.

The memorial consists of 56 pillars laid out in two rows in a semicircle, surrounding a large fountain, the Rainbow Pool. Each pillar is adorned with a metallic wreath representing a state or territory of the country. Each row represents the Atlantic and Pacific war zones. Two arches inscribed with the words Atlantic and Pacific commemorate the two theaters of war. A wall called the 'Freedom Wall', with 4,048 stars, honors the fallen soldiers. Each star represents 100 Americans killed in the war.

The nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorates the over 58,000 US soldiers who died in Vietnam. The name of each individual soldier is etched into the black granite of the Memorial Wall. In front of the granite wall, you can often find objects left by visitors as souvenirs (medals, flowers, uniforms, letters, etc.). One person even left his Harley Davidson at the memorial because he was so moved. :-)

In addition, at the memorials, you often come across real war veterans who pay their respects to their fallen comrades. The veterans are still celebrated as heroes today, and whenever they pass by, you can hear people applauding or thanking them for their service.

The Lincoln Memorial was undoubtedly the highlight of today's tour. This was evident from the countless visitors in front of the monument, which was erected in honor of the 16th President. The 36 Doric columns of the monument, influenced by Greek style, symbolize the 36 states that formed the United States during Lincoln's presidency. Later, the names of the additional 12 US states were carved into the roof of the memorial, and even later, two plaques were added in the ground for the new states of Hawaii and Alaska.