The White House

An exciting day of travelling lay ahead so we packed up and walked from the hotel to Penn Station. We were leaving on the midday train to Washington DC and the train left on time giving some good views of the Manhattan skyline as we pulled out of the station. I love train journeys and the Acela Express trains are really comfortable so I was able to catch up on some of my blips whilst taking in the views. We passed through Philadelphia and Baltimore and it was also interesting seeing some of the smaller locals towns and the huge wooden clad 'New England' style houses.

We arrived into Washington late afternoon and were greeted by the beautiful interior of Union Station. We were also hit by the heat as it was 29 degrees so we grabbed a cab to the hotel. The traffic was really bad and we found out that a huge sink-hole had opened up between the intersection of some of the main streets in the city so we had to be diverted.

Our hotel is only one block from the White House so after dropping our bags we headed out to see it. I was surprised by the area as I was expecting to see a more visible police presence but the area was just open with tourists mulling about. After taking some pictures we walked passed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and round to see the White House from the south lawn. I was expecting the area around the White House to be as impressive as our Royal Parks with well looked after gardens and paths but it was just scruffy grass and fencing. We walked back through the city to the hotel stopping at a couple of shops on route but it was so hot we were struggling with the heat.

We had a nice dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse across the road from the hotel but couldn't finish everything due to the huge portion size. I have no idea how the dinners near us had a starter and a dessert.


The White House, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C.