The Last Leg...

Only one day left until I leave for home! The time flew by fast, abnormally so. My cold remains, and my throat isn't functioning that well, but that didn't stop me from getting to the top of the Washington Monument, or walking the entire National Mall again with a friend I met at the NYC hostel, or climbing to the top of the Clock Tower today :). My feet still work even if my head is hazy, so I'll follow them instead. 

A couple of days ago I went to the National Portrait Gallery, which was actually very cool. An amazing collection of famous portraits and contemporary art.

Yesterday I met up with a bloke from Britain who I knew from the hostel in NYC and toured the National Mall for a second time, and also finally made it to the top of the Washington Monument. The sky was clear, and the weather was warm, much different from my last few days in NYC.

Today it was fairly chilly and the clouds were gathering over the national mall. I walked around the Capitol building, then got a look at Union Station. After that I made my way over to the Old Post Office, which houses a massive clock tower that delivers a view of DC that rivals the one given by the Washington Monument. After a very spicy chicken dinner that cleared up the sinuses quite well, I'm back at my cousin's.

Tomorrow I hope to see the Library of Congress, and get ready to depart for home. I got pictures up from the last couple of days, not including today, which I might get up tomorrow.

This is probably going to be my last blog from this trip, but don't worry, I'll have another excursion soon enough :)

Peace,

-Adam

Back in DC!

After a long bus ride with my earbuds and iPod charger in the luggage compartment and I in my seat, I arrived back here in Washington DC, greeted by clouds and a slight drizzle. As you know, the last few days I was staying in a hostel in Manhattan. The Internet was slow, and all I had was my iPod, so there wasn't much I could do to blog :P.

But here's a recap of my adventures.

First off, the hostel I stayed at was called Hostel International, and I would highly reccommend it to anyone looking to stay in New York City. It's located near the upper end of Central Park on the west side, and I paid $40 a night to stay in an eight person dorm. It's a lot cheaper than a hotel, and you meet many very interesting people. The hostel was very clean, secure, and had excellent common areas and a large kitchen that was free to use at any time and would make any chef happy.

My first night there, I attended a free comedy night at a local comedy club, an event that the hostel had organized. I was the only American in the group that attended, so it was highly enjoyable to see the comedians when they realized almost the entire audience spoke English as a second language. Luckily, there's no shortage of jokes that get lost in translation, and the comedians were good at improvising.

The next day, Monday, I went on a tour of Brooklyn that was hosted by the hostel. The part of Brooklyn that we toured was pleasantly quieter than Manhattan, with less traffic to boot. It was a cloudy day, with the rain sporadically falling. The walk across the Brooklyn Bridge was wet, but provided a breathtaking view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty in the distance, as the skyscrapers disappeared into the clouds. From there it was a long but enjoyable walk back to the hostel with a fun group of three people from the UK and one from Australia.

On Tuesday I took a longer tour also hosted by the hostel. This tour included much of New York CIty, and was 13 hours long. It was also the best tour I've ever been on. Our guide was amazing and had an incredibly in-depth knowledge of the city. We started off in Brooklyn, crossing the Brooklyn bridge, and then headed to ground zero. At the site of the original World Trace Centers, we got to see the beginning of the construction of the new One World Trade Center, which, when completed, will be the tallest building in the USA and is being built with the strongest of materials. This tower will be able to withstand a plane crash. 

We also took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. On the ferry ride back from Staten Island, the setting sun was glowing vividly behind the Statue of Liberty. It was a spectacular sunset, perfectly timed. After roaming through Chinatown and Little Italy, we had supper at very good Indian restaurant. Then we walked across Times Square at night, and got back to the hostel around 1:00 AM.

After a short night's sleep, it was time to depart from my stay at the hostel, but not before leading a "tour" of Central Park with some friends from the hostel. Then it was goodbye, and a mad dash down to Penn Station to narrowly catch my bus to DC.

Currently, it's a wet and rainy day here in DC, so I've taken the opportunity to catch up on blogging, laundry, and uploading pictures. Check out Flickr and Facebook for my pictures covering the last few days! It also seems I've developed a tiny cold. I'm sure the solid 22 hours I spent walking the streets of a rainy and cloudy New York City on Monday and Tuesday had nothing to do with it :). But no worries, I'll be going to the top of the Washington Monument in no time. As always, I hope everyone is doing great, I'll be back on Tuesday!

Peace,

-Adam

Days 9, 10, 11: Still Alive!

I'm still here! It's been a few days since I've had a chance to upload any pictures or work on my blog, but here's a recap of the past few days. Thursday, I gave my weary legs a break and went fishing with Noel (happy birthday by the way!). I caught five fish, and four different species of fish, though none over nine inches or so.

On Friday I headed back to the city, where I started off with the NBC studio tour. The tour was awesome. It started off with the studio for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, then moved on to the Dr. Oz studio, which was my favorite. At first you might think this is strange, but I assure there's a very reasonable explanation. The Dr. Oz studio actually used to be the studio for Late Night with Conan O'Brien! Then we saw the set of SNL, where people were frantically creating scenery and props for tonight's show. Then at the end of the tour, some members of the group got to do a mock news broadcast, while the rest of the group got to seat in seats that, get this, were from the old Conan O'Brien set! A dream fulfilled, though not exactly the way I would've liked it too.

From there I went down to check out Chinatown. For lunch I tried a Vietnamese place where I had rice with some kind of spicy sauce and the suckers of a squid sprinkled on top. They were a bit chewy, but I'd definitely eat it again. I also tried an incredibly odd looking fruit, which turned out to be delicious.

Then I made my way up to Chelsea where I was staying with a relative for the night. For dinner, I got to try some excellent Thai food. 

Today, Saturday, the Smithsonian Institute was sponsoring a National Free Museum Day, so I picked out a couple, the first one being the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space museum. After standing in line for ten minutes, I found out that a free, online, printable ticket was needed to utilize the free fun. After six short blocks however, I was able to find someplace to print out my tickets, and crisis was narrowly averted.

The Intrepid museum was unique in that the museum itself was in fact an aircraft carrier called, you guessed it, the Intrepid. After that I did a little sightseeing, and saw the New York Times building, and the buildings where the studios for the Daily Show with Jon Stuart, and the Colbert Report are located :). Then it was a quick visit to another free museum, the Rubin Museum of Art. This museum housed a large collection of some fascinating pieces from the Himilayan region. After losing track of time, I made a 15 block mad dash for Grand Central Station, at which point I promptly missed the train I was aiming for, and had to settle for one a half hour later. Then I arrived fashionably late to Noel Muysken's birthday celebration. But it was a really fun evening with some family I don't get to see that often, with some great music by Noel's excellent band. Happy birthday again!

Tomorrow I'm heading back to the city, and I'll be spending Sunday through Tuesday night at a hostel near Central Park, so that should be exciting! I got all my recent pictures uploaded to Flickr and Facebook, so go check em' out! I doubt that I'll be able to share my pictures while I'm at the hostel, as I don't have a computer with me, but I still hope to be able to blog! Hope you all are well, goodnight!

Peace,

-Adam

Day 8: Times Square and Central Park

After a long commute into NYC around noon, I started the day off like any other day, at Times Square of course.  I had a quick lunch at McDonalds (I know, terrible food, but could you resist a two story McDonald's in Times Square? I doubt it :P), and then walked around and saw some of the other stores around Times Square, like the three story M&M's wonderland, and the Hershey store. 

Next, on my way to Central Park, a trip to the Apple store was a must. Descending from the spiral staircase inside a giant glass cube, I entered a crowded oasis of Apple products, teeming with eager foreigners who were just discovering that iPhones wouldn't get coverage in their respective countries. Dragging myself away from the gadgetry, it was a short walk from there to Central Park.

Central Park was really nice, and provided an excellent means to get away from the noise and commotion of the city. I walked around there for a while, making it all the way up to Belvedere Castle, which is around 79th Street. 

Nearing dusk, I headed back down south to Rockefeller Plaza, and missed the tour of NBC studios by 20 minutes. I'll have to save that for another time. Then I grabbed some Chinese and, when it got dark, headed down to check out Times Square at night. It was such a dazzling display of lights that I completely missed the ads. Good thing I took pictures :).

Speaking of pictures, you too can enjoy central park and the dazzling Times Square on my Flickr page and on my Facebook page, I just finished uploading everything from today.

Tomorrow I'm taking a day off from sightseeing and going fishing, but don't worry, I'll be dragging my sore feet across the streets of NYC before you know it. Maybe I'll make up a wildly fictional blog post for tomorrow to see if you're paying attention ;)

Goodnight!

Peace,

-Adam

Day 7: New York City!!

This morning I headed out to the Megabus station to catch my 11:30 AM ride to New York City. Contrary to what I heard about the Megabus, my particular bus was spotlessly clean, uncrowded, and we departed DC and arrived in NYC precisely on time. The bus also had AC and wifi, which was awesome :). All in all, far above what I was expecting for a $15, five hour trip. Then I got some time to spend wandering the city before I could head to Noel and Armanda's place, where I am staying for most of my time out here in New York. 

First, since I hadn't eaten in over eight hours, I grabbed some excellent and quite filling Chinese. Then I made my way to the site of where the World Trade Centers once stood, and then I took a hike down Broadway and checked out Wall Street too, passing the New York Stock Exchange building as well. It was really cool to see all the buildings as it got dark. Many different kinds of lights provide for very colorful streets. 

Tomorrow I plan to head out to NYC sometime in the afternoon. It's a two hour commute from where I'm staying, but I won't let that stop me :). I got pics up on Flickr, and more will certainly be on their way soon. Having a great time so far and hoping all of you are well!

Peace,

-Adam

Day 7: I Stalk Obama, Again

I got up nice and early today, and headed out to see the White House, which seems smaller up close. Then I made my way to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It was really cool to see them up close as well, although they were very faded and almost impossible to read. Further down Pennsylvania Avenue, the main attraction for my day was the Newseum, a museum devoted entirely to the news :) And if you know me, you know I'm quite the news junkie.

When I got there, however, I learned that Obama was once again blocking my way by taking up the entire third floor of the museum for a live, town hall style, Q and A on CNBC. It was kind of cool acutally, I got to watch the live feed right outside the room he was broadcasting from, although I failed to catch a glimpse of him. The secret service made sure of that. But the interview only lasted until 1:00 pm, and the rest of the museum opened up shortly afterward. The Newseum actually turned out to be my favorite museum I've visited in DC so far. They also had an amazing exhibit on the state and response of the media during and immediately after the 9/11 attacks. The image below is a collection of newspapers around the world responding to the attacks.

After the Newseum, I hit the National Gallery of Art, both West and East buildings. Saw some neat pieces from Degas, Monet, and Picasso, as well as a strange but cool exhibit of pieces by an artist named Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Look him up, weird stuff. Anyway, tonight ends my first week in Washington DC, and tomorrow I take the Megabus up to NYC for another week! Gonna be fun :) I'll try to get more pictures from today up sometime in the morning, so keep an eye out for em'.

Peace,

-Adam

Days Four, Five, and Six: Lot of Stuff

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, there just hasn't been an opportunity to upload my photos or blog for a few days, too many late nights :). The past three days have been awesome though! On Friday I started off at the Museum of the American Indian, this time opting out of the rather pricy lunch menu. Then I met up with my cousin who gave me a very cool tour of the Capitol building. Probably the most impressive room was the rotunda, which is the great domed room at the center of the Capitol building. The rotunda is so large in fact, that the Statue of Liberty could sit comfortable inside it! We were planning on getting onto the House floor, but unfortuantely when we got there the room was being used temporarily and so we were not able to get in. But later on this trip I do plan on getting up into the gallery while the House is in session, so stay posted for that.

After the tour of the Capitol, I hit the botanic gardens, which were pretty cool, and then I went to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, where I saw the original Star Spangled Banner. It is a very, very large flag, and I'm just glad I wasn't the one who had to sew it.  Then I went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which had numerous displays of a gret variety of dead and old things. I personally liked the preserved giant squid floating in it's tank. I also saw the Hope Diamond. Then, after dark, I toured the National Mall. The monuments are almost more amazing illuminated against the night sky, very cool.

On Saturday, I took the Metro to Arlington Cemetery. I saw JFK's grave and the Eternal Flame, and also Ted Kennedy's grave. I found my way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier just in time to witness the changing of the guard. Visiting Arlington Cemetery was a very sobering experience, and should be a reminder to all of us of the sacrifices we make in going to war.

Today, on Sunday, I got a chance to go to the zoo here in DC. The free admission rocked, but it still didn't beat Como Zoo back in Minnesota. Still had a great time though, and saw, among other things, a panda eating lunch and what seemed to be a slightly agitated Asian elephant also downing some greenery. Regretably, I walked into the ape house. For the sake of keeping this a mostly civilized blog, I won't go into much depth here except that I'm positive that gorilla knew full well the nature of his actions. You could see it in his face, the cheeky little monkey. In what might possibly be the worst segue of all time, I did have a delightfully tasty chocolate eclair in the Adam's Morgan district with my supper. I finished the day by finally getting all my laundry done, and getting my pictures from the last few days uploaded to the Flickr. So I urge you to head over there and check them out! Here's the address again:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54040223@N08/

I hope you all are well! I've had a great time here in DC and I'm looking forward to NYC, which I'm heading up to this Tuesday on the Megabus. Goodnight!

Peace,
-Adam

Day Three: Museum time



Bigger than life-size warrior carved out of
wood at the Freer



After sleeping through my alarm clock and getting a late start on the day, I took the Metro once again to the National Mall and started working my way through the museums. I started off at the Freer Gallery of Art and then headed to the Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art, where I saw some very strange pieces indeed, including a film that consisted of a McDonalds being flooded from floor to ceiling, and a room that was completely dark except for a very faint glow from the far side of the room. I didn't even realize there was anyone else in the room until I heard a security guard to my left tell me to come over and feel out the bench against the wall and sit down. I sat in the dark with the security guard for a bit in silence, trying to make out what I was looking at. After several minutes I announced my departure with a grunt that I hope came off as mildly appreciative, though not entirely satisfied, and left. Afterwards, I had a late lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian, where I had an Indian taco, which was quite good, and also a side of tomato and watermelon salad with a jalapeno vinagrette, which was not so good.

The remainder of my day was spent at the National Air and Space Museum, where, among other things, I got to touch a piece of an actual moonrock! Tomorrow I'm going to the Botanic Gardens, and then getting a tour of the Capitol building from my cousin Wendi, who says she can get me on the house floor too :)
Good night everyone! Oh, and I uploaded the photos I took today to Flickr, so be sure to check those out too. Sometime I'll organize them better, but at the moment there's just too much to do here to worry about your convenience ;)

The moonrock! I wonder how many germs are on this thing...

Peace,

-Adam

Pictures

Hey all, so I was able to finally upload my pictures to flickr late last night, but I haven't yet gotten a chance to organize them, so you'll just have to deal with that until I get around to it :) here's the link to my flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54040223@N08/
Time to hit the streets! I'll be checking out the Smithsonian today, and maybe head up to the White House later.

Peace,
-Adam

Day 2: The National Mall

Sorry for the late posting everyone, but uploading the pictures was more of a hassle than I had planned it to be :P. Anyway, I woke up bright and early today and hopped on the Metro to the National Mall! Beautiful weather, clear skies, warm temps, a light breeze; perfect for sightseeing. I started out at the Washington Monument, which was actually bigger than I expected. Sometime this week I hope to get a ticket for a ride to the top :). Then I headed to the Lincoln Memorial, stopping at the WWII Memorial and the reflecting pool on the way. Then some lunch, and a long but nice walk around the Tidal Basin to get to the Jefferson Memorial. The monuments and memorials in DC are truly inspiring. From the words, "I have a dream" carved into the very stone upon which a certain individual once spoke those same words, to the countless inscriptions on the walls reminding us of the ideals that this country was founded on, to the Vietnam War memorial wall's seemingly endless list of those who laid down their lives their country, there is much that for good reason we must remember. Our politicians in DC should be forced to walk through these memorials every day, and read and re-read the writing on the walls, so they too will never forget the lessons of the past.

Tomorrow morning I will finish getting my pictures up. They'll be on Flickr and I'll be posting the link as soon as they're ready. Goodnight all! Tomorrow I hit the White House area and the Smithsonian museums :)

Peace,

-Adam

Arrival!

Finally, here I am in Washington DC! After a long wait in the airport this morning, I boarded my connection flight to Philidelphia. After boarding, to my surprise, I learned that President Obama was flying in on Air Force One to the very same airport at around the same time as our planned arrival. At first we thought we were going to be able to catch a glimpse of Air Force One before it landed, but upon nearing the airport, the flight controllers informed us that President Obama's was in fact leaving at the time we were supposed to arrive, so we were now supposed to kill time in the air above the airport until Air Force One departed. It was at this time our captain told us on the intercome; "For all you NASCAR fans out there, now you'll finally know what a tight 200 MPH left hand turn feels like."
After 10 or so laps around our course in the clouds, we were allowed to descend. After that, another long wait for a 23 minute flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington DC! Tomorrow I'm tearing up the National Mall, so stay posted :)
Peace,
Adam

It's way to early to be up

Au revoir, Minnesota! Save your fall colors for me!