It was our last morning in DC before heading back to Indiana and Lily and I had different priorities as what to do. Lily headed to the White House Visitors' Centre and I to Eastern Market. It was really nice to get away from Government building tourist traps and see what the locals do on their weekends. The markets had everything from original works by local artists to preloved clothing. Oh, and I got an Almond Croissant there!
After visiting the National Art Gallery earlier in the day, the American Art Museum had big shoes to fill! I am glad to say I enjoyed it just as much – if not more. It contained a lot more modern art pieces than the National Art Gallery, which is more my thing. It was a great way to fill in a few hours before heading back over to Foggy Bottom to meet Barbara and Jared for dinner.
Normally I am not one for visiting famous libraries, but this one does hold claim to being the largest library in the World! Like all things in Washington, the main building itself is an architectural masterpiece, oh and yeah, the three buildings together do hold over 100 million items!
Home of the legislative branch (the place where Congress hangs out) of the United States Government, the Capitol Building is another must see place in Washington DC. To my surprise, not only can you stop and take photos out the front (as done above) but there is also a 1 hour guided tour of the building. This would have probably been the highlight of my entire trip. My tour guide was extremely informative and he showed us around (even inside the area below the dome!).
Lily and I spent around two hours strolling around the National Gallery of Art admiring the beautiful works on display. Simply too many list, but if I had to pick a highlight it would be seeing my first Leonardo da Vinci painting (pictured above). 'Ginevra de' Benc' is the only da Vinci work in the United States!
In visiting the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum the highlight would have been seeing the original 1903 Wright Flyer. It is scary to think that man only discovered flight just over a hundred years ago?!
First thing Saturday morning Lily and I walked down to the Washington Monument. We arrived there by 9am to secure the free (but limited!) ticket to ride the elevator to the top of the building. It is the tallest building in the city (by Federal Law no building can be taller) and stands at 555ft (170m) tall. Taking 40 years from start to completion (thanks to the Civil War) it contains stones donated by every state and some international too (including part of the ruins from the Alexandria Library in Egypt!)
First on our self tour of the National Mall was the Lincoln memorial at the west end. Seeing this famous statute (in an almost equally famous building featured on the $5 note) was a real "I really am in DC" moment. When inside the memorial if you turn around you can look down Reflecting Pool at the breath taking Washington Monument. It is place where Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech took place and where Elle sort advice from Abraham Lincoln's statue in Legally Blond 2 (both events equally important, obviously).
As it turned out, our hotel was literally 1 block from Barbara's apartment. This made finding a place convenient to meet for coffee very easy! Barbara suggested Juan Valdez Cafe on 19th and so Lily and I (still carting around all of luggage, as check in wasn't until 3pm) made our way there. After catching up and having an iced caramel coffee, Barbara showed us the top of her residency hall, which had spectacular views of the National Mall (pictured above). I was so excited – it was the beginning of our weekend in the capital!
The first stop Lily and I made after arriving was the Pentagon. The centre of one of the many US Government security agencies (don't really know which one – I don't ask questions to people armed with machine guns) was highly secure. You can't really do anything at the Pentagon except walk through the memorial for those who lost their lives in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. It was a very unique memorial. They had a bench water feature for each victim, arranged by their year of birth. The saddest moment was seeing the bench for a little boy who was born 1998 (making him a mere 3 years old at the time).
As the weather starts to cool down for winter, it gets harder and harder to get on the 4.15am shuttle to the airport for my weekends away! Whilst walking to Follets West Bookstore (the pickup point) I walked through a parking lot and being -5C the cars had ice on them (pictured above).
My second (and last): football game didn't end with a win like my first. I am just going to say it - Purdue sucks this year. Seriously. I think we have won 2 games the whole season – and the last game of the season is in a week! But at least this game I wasn't hung over ;) Kimberly, Cameron, Levi and I decided to leave at half time – it started to rain and it was about 5C (40F)! We found shelter and warm food in Ford dinning court. Oh yeah, I told Kimberly I would give a shout out to her, so Kimberly this is it!
Epcot is part of Disneyworld and showcases futuristic attractions (such as the mission to Mars ride – seriously the worst motion sickness I have ever experienced. I am not leaving Earth again anytime soon!) and also the international community. The park is divided into the rides and then the pavilions which showcase different parts of the world! Levi and I ventured onto Test Track - Disneyworlds fastest ride which places the riders into a 'test car' and puts them through tests that are usually reserved for test dummies (yes, yes I know I am a dummie). I checked out Australia's food stand and on the menu were Lamingtons, Lamb Chops and Barramundi. Of course and a range of our famous wines! There is also a Coke store that allows testing of various soft drinks from around the world – you can imagine that I had a ball in there! Overall I had a great day at Epcot – it is unlike any theme park I have ever visited!
This Christmas party held at Magic Kingdom is simply magical. It is snowing when you walk through Main Street there are many Christmas themed shows and of course there is the Christmas parade. Nothing like it to get you in the Christmas spirit! I have to say the fireworks display (which lasted 15 minutes) would have to be the biggest I have ever seen in person! I can't wait for Christmas! Oh and there were complimentary hot chocolates and cookies :)
Universal Studios was a ghost theme park - thanks to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter next door in Islands of Adventures there were virtually no lines! The park itself reminded me very much of Movie World. We saw some great shows – Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue and Blues Brothers, but the highlight would have to have been the 'Rip, Ride and Rock it' rollercoaster. You start by choosing which song you want to listen to (there is a touch screen attached to each seat restraint) and then you begin a 180 degree climb up to the top of the rollercoaster! Throughout the ride (which seemed especially long for a rollercoaster) you are listening to the song you choose!
It is easy to overlook all the other attractions in this park and just focus on Harry Potter. So before I do, I will mention how much I loved the Hulk Rollercoaster, Dr Seuss's World and Toon Lagoon. Now Harry Potter... I would hate to think how much this cost to build. I thought it would be a small Hogwarts Castle, a ride or 2 and a couple of stores. WRONG! It was absolutely incredible. They honestly could call it a theme park all by itself, charge $80 admission and I would be there. You could try and buy wands out, watch shows, drink some butterbeer or pumpkin juice (even dine in the Three Broomsticks), go on one of the many themed rides, buy anything Harry Potter you could think of (from Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans to Hogwart's school uniforms). But, the highlight would have to be the Hogwarts Castle tour and ride. Whilst waiting in line you walk through the castle and see things like the Magic Mirror (that shows Harry his deepest desire), Dumbledore's Office, the moving staircases rooms (with all the moving paintings) and the outside garden greenhouse were they re-pot those screaming Mandrakes. And the ride itself inside the castle would have to be the best ride I have ever been on – period. Shout out for Levi who took the above photo of me and Hogwarts!
When we walked through the gates there was a surreal moment looking down Main St, USA to Cinderella's Castle (read: Car-sill not Ca-sill!). But it is so hard to sum up this day – we did and experienced so much for the first time. Getting our photo taken with the characters is definitely an 'only in Disney experience' as are the street parades – both the day and night one's. I have been to a few theme parks and none are like Magic Kingdom. I can't summarise what it was – it wasn't the rides or the attractions – it was the whole package. At the risk of sounding clichéd, it really is magical and 'the happiest place on earth'.
After going to sleep at 2am – we were all pretty excited – we awoke at 6am to get ready for our 7.20am shuttle to Disney. Okay, so our hotel is listed as 3.3 miles from Disney and has free shuttles to there, so I thought fantastic, a 10 minute ride maybe 15 minutes max, right? Wrong. An hour after leaving we had been to Universal Studios and Sea World (both on the other side of Orlando) and we finally arrived at Magic Kingdom. So our $25.95/night total hotel wasn't the bargain it seemed. Don't get me wrong – it had huge rooms and a clean bathroom (even with 2 sinks). In hindsight, that $110/night Disney 'value' (read: 3 stars) hotel would have honestly been better – we ended up spending the best part of $200 for our return trip to the airport – a major cost that would have been avoided with Disney Resort's free shuttle. Also we could have slept in each morning till 8am and still been at the park at opening and a similar scenario at night. Oh and there is extended hours for Disney hotel guests. Yeah, so don't stay offsite for Disney. Seriously.
After finishing class on Friday it was a mad rush to get back to the dorm. Levi and I actually managed to leave on time for the shuttle bus – first time last week I wasn't running late. As we pulled into the PMU (Purdue Memorial Union) stop (were Lily was waiting to join us) the first snow of the season – and my first ever – began to fall from the sky. Lily and I were so excited, so naturally we pulled out our phones and updated our Facebook statuses! A short shuttle, a 2 hour flight, $75 taxi ride and we were at our hotel ready to start our Florida theme park weekend! First impressions of the hotel are very high – clean, spacious and the staff seem very friendly!
As it turns out Halloween in America is a 4 night ordeal with parties Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights on Halloween weekend. I went to 2 frat parties and had a great time at both. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera (as my costume didn't have any pockets) but the insides were full decked out – glow paint, cobweb, skeletons and everything you can think of! Friday night I headed with Levi and Shaina to Alpha Sigma Pi where Jade had got us on the list and Saturday to Kappa Delta Rho with Shaina, Kaitlyn and Levi!
Yep, as clichéd as it sounds, I am loving the fall colours! I am such a foreigner – as I walk to class I always kick the big piles of yellow, orange and red leaves. The cold weather is a bit rough, but I say bring on winter! Living in a place with four distinct seasons is so different from the Gold Coast!
When I heard Snoop Dogg was coming to Purdue to perform on his birthday, I just had to get tickets! Lily and I went and had a fantastic time singing along to Snoops' hits (loved hearing Drop it like it's Hot live!) and of course the audience as a whole sang Happy Birthday to him. It was not as good as Lady Gaga's concert by a long shot, but I had a great time!