Last Friday I arrived in College Park, Maryland, after a 21 hour trip. To pass through US customs was easier than I thought - apart from the 1 hour waiting line. A welcome announcement caught my interest. Through the loudspeakers one could hear "Welcome, US citizens, we welcome you back to your home country". So I was waiting for the welcoming of non-US citizens. And I was waiting and waiting. Finally after some 5 minutes I heard again "Welcome, US citizens...". No welcome for the aliens, it seems.
I considered to bring this up with the customs clerk, but remembered my friends telling me to keep the conversation at customs simple. Although I was tempted, I kept quiet.. :)
For the first day my plan was only to relax and recover. Due to the time difference I was actually awake before 7am. Afternoon plans changed accordingly and my wife and me decided to go and have a look to Washington, D.C. We went there via university bus and metro (green line). We got off at the Navy Memorial and strolled over the Plaza.
After that we sat in a Starbucks (corner Indiana/7th) and enjoyed the street life in D.C. with the view towards the National Mall. We were heading there after sharing a double-chocolate brownie. The National Book Festival was held at the National Mall, located between Capitol Hill and Washington Monument (the obelisk). The festival can be recognized from the white tents in the picture :)
To rest our mind from many books and state presentations, we went to the sculpture garden, next to the National Gallery of Art. Enjoying the weather and water fountains, we sat there for quite a while until a park (or garden..?) ranger blew the whistle to get everybody out by 5.30pm. Shopping and dinner rounded up a great first day.
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| Archives from Navy Memorial Plaza |
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| Navy Memorial Plaza - bronze reliefs |
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| Navy Memorial Plaza |
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| View from Starbucks |
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| View to Capitol Hill |
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| Sculpture garden |
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| Water fountains in sculpture garden |
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