Washington DC

Washington has been a breath of fresh air (quite literally!) following New York. As much as we loved New York, we appreciated Washington for all the things New York lacked – it’s an immaculately clean city, with relatively quiet streets and far less pollution.

Constitution Gardens Pond

We’ve spent three lovely sunny days here being in awe of the main sights – the Lincoln memorial, the Capitol building, Washington Tower, memorial sights and of course, the White House.  It was funny feeling seeing these attractions first hand after seeing them in so many movies before... I was also a tiny bit disappointed by the Lincoln memorial, I really got in my head that you could actually sit on Abe’s knee, I think I saw it in an episode of the Simpsons though!

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Statue

We even managed to see the man himself, Obama, one day. We were waiting to cross the road over to the park, near the White House when we noticed it was all blocked off. A small crowd had gathered with cameras but most people were just walking on by. We decided to stick around to see what was going on and within in minutes a few police bikes came down the road, followed by Obama’s car and then several scary looking jeeps with armed guys hanging out of the back and an ambulance. It must be quite a hassle for the President to go anywhere; it must be a nightmare when he wants to go to the cinema.

Mr President's Car

There are so many interesting museums here too, the majority of which are free (a stark contrast to New York). We managed to fit in a few while we were here, but there was tonnes we just didn’t get round to doing. Plus, we managed to find a fantastically cheap and friendly bar, just down from our hostel - $2 beers, our cheapest yet. So we ended up staying there for a most of the evening on our first night. The hostel was ok and did the job, plus it had free Wi-Fi and a complimentary breakfast – peanut butter and jelly toast with coffee!

All in, it was a fantastic city and it would have been great to spend more time here to explore some of the nearby islands, but it’s time to leave for the next stop on our tour.
Just at Union Station in Washington, waiting to board our amtrack train. In 14 short hours we will be in the windy (and chillier) city – Chicago!

Emily

NYC Best Bits

En route to Washington DC now, so we are writing this posting from the comfort of the Megabus!
 
Looking back over the past (and very quick) four weeks, some of our best bits have to be:
•    Seeing the Foo Fighters in Madison Square Garden
•    Taking a boat out on Central Park lake
•    The hustle and bright lights of Time Square in the evening
•    Chilling out in Washington Square Park in the sunshine and listening to the piano man
•    Visiting the Metropolitan Museum in the evening...and getting in for a $1 each!
•    The view from Brooklyn Bridge on a very sunny November morning
•    Sunbathing in Central Park...in November
•    A Shack Burger from the Shake Shack - hands down the best burger!
•    Being in the city in the lead up to Christmas

But to save me writing tonnes of stuff, why not have a look for yourselves: NYC Video

Arran & Emily

Next stop Washington DC

Last day in New York today, it's hard to believe we've been here for a month, it’s passed so quickly. Really feel like we have got to grips with the city though.

Top of the Rock tonight must have been the worst way to see New York

We spent today taking in the last few sights of the city and booking our train tickets for the next leg of our tour before finishing up with some beers in 'Tonic', the bar at the end of our street and the first bar we went to when we arrived in New York. Sat up on the roof garden, with some Buds...until the rain started!
Just getting packed up and making use of having our own washing machine before we venture on to the hostels!

Next stop, Washington D.C (via Megabus - should be interesting)

Arran

 

Best of Manhattan Part...2

Last week we managed to fit in a few more “best ofs” from the Best of Manhattan 2011 guide.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Best dive bar...Holiday Cocktail Lounge.
The term “dive bar” is used a lot of here, I was a bit worried it meant somewhere a bit sticky and horrible... like Exodus in Aberdeen! But apparently it just generally refers to independent bars with juke boxes and cheap drink. The guide recommended this bar for its free popcorn, unfortunately, there was no free popcorn on tap when we were there, despite us sitting at the bar and trying to look hungry, but it did have some very good happy hour prices and after staying for a couple of rounds, the bartender treated us to a free round, which was a bonus. It is also had a well stocked juke box with some good 70s rocks classics, so we managed to hear some good tunes, until my quarters ran out.  A nice laid backed bar in the East Village, but for free bar snacks, I think our favourite bar would have to be the Rodeo Bar (just a two minute walk from our apartment) – masses of free monkey nuts!

Best underdog store in the East Village...Ray’s Candy Store
I had read about Ray’s Candy Store before in another guide book, so we felt we should give it a try. The store is renowned amongst locals in the East Village, and Ray, the 80 year old owner, seems to be a local legend too. Really pleased we looked this place up. It was actually around the corner from the cocktail lounge, so we popped in on the way home to for an egg cream (a yummy milkshake type drink) and some fries. A tiny store (actually looks a bit more like a shack) but again, once you are in you can see what all the fuss is about. It’s a quirky little place; as well as selling burgers and fries it sells merchandise with Ray’s logo on it as well as Obama socks for $1. Huge portion of fries, would definitely recommend it if you’re in the neighbourhood.

Tomb Chapel of Raemkai - 2446–2389 B.C

And if you can only visit one museum while you are in NYC...The Metropolitan museum
We’ve managed to visit a few museums whilst we’ve been here, but hands down the best one has to be the Met. We went last Sunday and spent a good 5 hours wandering around the exhibits. We stayed until closing time (9pm) and still didn’t have enough time to see the second floor. Again, it’s one of those museums with a “recommended” admission price, so we got away with paying $1 each. We didn’t feel too bad about it though as the museum was really busy (even at 4pm in the afternoon) and we had just paid $26 the night before for two beers, so we felt we needed to make our money back somehow!
 

Tomorrow is our last day in New York before we set off for the next stop on our trip -  Washington DC.

Emily