Washington D.C.

A couple weekends ago I went to Washington D.C. with my friend Nicole who is from Switzerland. We had a great time! We took a bus from Manhattan on Friday after work. I was all comfy sitting on the bus and about to eat my dinner when the lady taking the bus tickets looked at our tickets and told us we were on the wrong bus. Meaning wrong bus company! I was convinced we had already missed the correct bus we were supposed to be on, but fortunately it was running an hour late so we eventually ended up on the right bus. In D.C. we stayed in a really nice hostel in Dupont Circle, a very quaint neighborhood (reminded me of the Ravenna area). We started out with a special private tour of the Pentagon. Nicole works for Swatch (Swiss watch company) and had done some business with a top army guy (forget his actual title) who works at the Pentagon and he offered to give us a tour. It was great. I saw the exact place where the plane hit on 9/11 and I saw a bunch of other cool things that  have to keep top secret:) I even got to visit the office of the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. I could tell that the people who work in the Pentagon have a tremendous amount of pride for their country and their job. We also visited Arlington National Cemetery and all the statues and buildings along the "Mall". One of my favorite things was the National Archives where I saw the original Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. It really puts a human element to history to see original files and documentations from past presidents, etc. The closest I could get to the White House was like 1/2 a mile away, but I heard that Bush wasn't even there that weekend (at his ranch in Texas). 

Nicole enjoyed D.C., however she didn't appreciate it as much as I did because she is not from the U.S. and did not understand the historical significance and importance of many thin

gs we visited. If I ever lived on the East Coast, I would live in D.C. It is an absolutely beautiful place surrounded by water, green landscapes, history and cute neighborhoods. I couldn't believe how spotlessly clean the place is; well it is our nation's capitol after all. I really felt very patriotic being there. It was a great feeling. It was really nice to have a change of pace and scenery from the madhouse that is Manhattan.

Coming up: The last day of my internship is this Friday. Matt comes to visit this

 weekend and I'm so excited to see him considering I haven't seen him in almost three months! I leave for Istanbul next Thursday 9/4. I'll be sure to make a couple posts about my overall experience in NY this summer before I move to where the East meets the West.