Washington D.C.

Hm, again, I felt that this city is more historical and political, if I should say, since the places that I visited are three memorials, the White House, the place where the congress meetings take place, and a museum. Since there are quite a lot of places that I went through, this post might be a little long. Anyway, let’s start~

Iwo Jima Memorial

A statue built in memorial of the heroes that fought and died during the World War II

On our way to Arlington Memorial, there is a memorial that is made in memory of the heroes that fought during World War II called Iwo Jima Memorial. This memorial has a statue, in which I do not know the name of the statue. There is not much information that I can get from this place, so moving on.

Arlington National Cemetery

This memorial is a huge cemetery as this is where the soldiers that fought for the country were buried by the U.S. Army. This cemetery is also the place where the former President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was buried. Going inside the museum before the graveyard, we were given maps to identify the locations we are in.

Map of Arlington National Cemetery

The museum exhibits many things, in which I failed to explore all as the tour is continuing to see the graveyard rather quickly. There is a picture showing the ceremony of how John F. Kennedy was carried to Arlington National Cemetery.

The funeral ceremony of John F. Kennedy

Then, there is also a part where medals from the United States and other nations that was given to the fallen soldiers were exhibited.

The medals (part I)

1. United States: Medal of Honor, 2. United States: Distinguished Service Cross, 3. United States: Purple Heart

The medals (part II)

4. Great Britain: Victoria Cross, 5. France: Legion of Honor. 6. France: Military Medal, 7. War Cross

The medals (part III)

8. Belgium: War Cross, 9. Italy: Gold Medal of Military Valor, 10. Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak War Cross, 11. Poland: War Order of Military Virtue, 12: Romania: Medal of Military Virtue

Price of Freedom by Greg Wyatt

Continuing outside the museum, there is a sculpture before the graveyard. It is named Price of Freedom by Greg Wyatt, made in 2010. In my opinion, this is a sculpture that shows the soldiers who fought for America’s freedom went to heaven and was welcomed by the angel.

The graves in Arlington Memorial - Notice that it has the number of section we are in.

Hmm, the graveyard… One thing that I can say for sure is that they are neatly lined up! From all dimensions that I checked, it’s straight! The only little things that did not make it completely straight would probably be the tilted tombstones… Which are only few of it. It is also very organized as the graves were classified; such as section 31 is “Woman in Military Service for America” as described from the map.

Notice that behind the crowd, there is a half-oval wall that consists of different parts of speeches

The view from the wall - It shows the path where John F. Kennedy is carried to his 

grave and right at the end, the Lincoln Memorial is seen

One part of the wall that shows part of a speech

Following the directions to John F. Kennedy’s grave, we would arrive in a place that shaped like half an oval. The oval had different parts of different speeches engraved there. It seems like they were from famous speeches. Also, from this “wall”, we can see the Lincoln Memorial and the path in which John F. Kennedy was carried to up here.

John F. Kennedy and his family's grave

Going up the stairs, there is John F. Kennedy’s grave. Next to his grave were his family’s graves. Next to him, the bigger one, is Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, his wife’s, grave. The smaller one is his son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy’s grave. The farthest one is his daughter’s grave, in which she died on the same day she was born, thus unnamed. Most people came around in respect to John F. Kennedy, while tourists were mostly taking pictures.

Arlington House

Above his grave is the Arlington House, a building that exhibits things like in the museum below, but I did not visit there. Instead, we went down back to the museum and went to Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial

The side view of Lincoln Memorial

Hmm, the structure of the building reminds me a bit of the Parthenon. Inside this building, there is a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln, sitting and in my opinion, as if looking at the view outside the building, which is the reflection pool and the obelisk – the Washington Monument.

Statue of Abraham Lincoln, in memory of his death

It’s huge alright! Too bad that this statue was splattered with green paint, in which there is a bit of the construction things around the statue.

The view of the Washington Monument from the edge of the pool

Looking outside of the memorial, we can see the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. It was called that was because if it was seen from the right position, one can see two obelisks. Also, it was mentioned that if there was no obelisk there, the one seen (but not sure if seen in the pool or not) would be the Capitol.

The statues of the soldiers in battlefield

Part of the wall that shows the picture of people going to war

Then, to left of the Lincoln Memorial is the Vietnam War Memorial while to the right is the Korean War Memorial. I only get to visit Korean Memorial. In there, there are statues of soldiers in the battlefield. There is also a wall there, in which it seems that it was made of granite and there is a picture of the soldiers. The white or lighter parts are rough, in which I concluded that it was engraved from the granite, though I am not entirely sure.

That’s all for the Lincoln Memorial and its surroundings.

White House

The White House

Well, here is the famous White House where the President of the United States lives. There is nothing else that I can say about this place. Oh, but when I am visiting, it seems that there is a demonstration going on, so no close up picture of the White House.

Capitol

The Capitol, front view

This is the Capitol where national meetings and congresses are held. Again, nothing much to say about this place, maybe except for that the statue on top of the Capitol is the Statue of Freedom, which symbolizes freedom of the United States.

The Capitol from the back view

Side view of the Capitol

----- Not-so-important information: The front part of the Capitol has a set of stairs while the back part has two sets of stairs. […As if that’s important :p] Also, the grass is very comfy to sit on and it’s perfect to take a picture of the Capitol while sitting on the grass. [Again, NOT so useful info] -----

Anyway, moving on to Smithsonian Institution, a complex filled with museums, to visit the National Air and Space Museum!

National Air and Space Museum

…Why am I always at loss for words…? This museum is enormous, that’s one. Uh, the next would be… I only managed to visit two sections in an hour. (We were only given an hour to explore the museum D: ) 

Well, here is a map posted largely near the information center that shows the different parts of the museum:

Map of the National Air and Space Museum

*The number in each section is the number of gallery. For example: Milestones of Flight 100 means that it is Gallery 100

Random information: the information center provides maps in a form of pamphlet with other languages besides English if you are not all that fluent with English or wants to try other languages :>

From the pamphlet form map, in which I cannot take a picture of since its too blurry, there are places that are marked as "Highlights". Those highlights are:

First floor:

1. Touchable Moon Rock (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)
2. Apollo II Command Module Columbia (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)
3. Skylab Orbital Workshop (Space Race, Gallery 114)
4. Apollo Lunar Module (Exploring the Moon, Gallery 112)
5. Boeing 747 Nose (America By Air, Gallery 102)
6. For Kids: How Things Fly Gallery (How Things Fly, Gallery 109)

Second Floor:

1. Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega (Pioneers of Flight, Gallery 208)
2. 1903 Wright Flyer (Wright Brothers, Gallery 209)

Hanging Artifact:

1. Spirit of St. Louis (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)
2. SpaceShipOne (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)
3. Bell X-1 (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)
4. Sputnik and Explorer (Milestones of Flight, Gallery 100)

Since I can’t really give out information about this museum aside from the highlights, I am just going to show pictures of the museum.

[Inner voice: I literally rushed through the museum to see the different parts, so I only got to take pictures but forgot to find information. I am also literally sad as I am looking at the tour members who are wasting their time to not look around the museum.]

The Moon Rock Section - Anyone may touch it!

A statue holding an old navigator. To operate it,
one must turn the turner on the corner of the navigator
to move the map to the wanted position.

The entry to the Early Flight Section, Gallery 107

Different 'walls' that shows the timelines of the airplane

The picture and the statues showing the German Aircraft Factory from around 1918

A miniature of the airplane Fokker D. VII to 1/28 scale

A propaganda poster exhibited in the museum

Another propaganda poster exhibited in the museum

A poster that shows the difference of the German airplane and the British airplane

A part of the exhibition that shows the difference of the bombs used by the Germans and the British

Airplanes that are hanged around the museum

The miniature of the U.S.S. Enterprise

Well, that concludes the places that I went through for the whole day in the capital of the United States of America. Next would be a bus ride to Niagara Falls~

Update: I forgot to mention that I am supposed to visit Jefferson Memorial, but there was not much time for Jefferson Memorial, so I skipped it. Sorry about this one.