So it was time to leave NYC for my second stop in the US, Washington DC. My first megabus experience to get there started with a run for the bus, since it turned out that the ‘bus station’ was further from my hots’s place than I had imagined. I just about made it in time, with the doors literally closing as I stepped in. Once aboard, though, I was positively surprised. Clean, modern double decker bus with each seat having its own power socket. And enough empty seats to have two each…perfect! There was also free onboard wifi, which worked well for the most part. The only issue is that it connects using 3G, so no mobile reception equals no internet. Which actually happens surprisingly often in the US, even along major highways. All in all, though, megabus was definitely worth my $1.

DC’s feel was a bit hard to label at first, a sort-of is this it/are we really there experience. Especially after New York, DC was surprisingly quiet and looked and felt much more like a small European city rather than the nation’s Capitol.

My host Drew was working in Georgetown a few miles from downtown when I arrived, so I headed there to meet him and drop off my bags. With my rucksack out of the way, I headed back to the centre for some evening sightseeing. My first stop was Trader Joe’s, the creme de la creme of American supermarkets. Cheap yet quality food. Ive been told there are cheaper, and better places to shop, but TJ’s was a welcome change from NYC with nothing but overpriced and understocked Duane Reeds. I picked up some packed lunch supplies, a.k.a. bread and ham, and kept walking. Destination-1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for dinner with Obama. Or almost, anyway. I didn’t get to meet him there, which probably was for the better. I doubt he’d have been too impressed by my Trader Joe’s sandwiches, as impressed as I may have been.

The White House itself was surprisingly unimposing and smaller than expected, a feeling reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty in NYC. I mean, nice building and all, but the kind of thing that I might have stopped by for a second, taken a photo of (if even) and walked on, had I not known what it really was. And like at JFK the lack of visible security was not what I had expected. It was even possible to walk right up to the fence, stick my camera through, and capture a few night shots.

I met up with Drew again after a while and headed to his place. He actually lived out of DC in Arlington, Virginia, yet still only five minutes from downtown. It’s been surprising actually, for a country the size of the US, how often I find myself living on state borders. First the boat on the Hudson River floating between New Jersey and New York, and now this.

I was once again really impressed by Drew’s place, not bad at all! It sure must pay well being a waiter here. Over the next few days Drew gave me the best ever possible crash-course in US culture, by which I don’t just mean Slurpees and gas station hot dogs with their free chilli and cheese. He got me hooked on those (minus the cheese), sure, but besides that I also got to join him for Sunday service at the local church. The hymns, prayers for forces in Afghanistan, US flag by the altar, boy scouts collecting donations outside…just as expected.

We later got to visit Georgetown again, as well as the Arlington cemetery where most of the stricken Kennedy family, as well as 400 000 others, have been laid to rest.

Drew was working that evening, so I again spent most of it walking round DC. Some highlights were walking by The Pentagon on the way and seeing all the memorials around the National Mall. The Pentagon was almost another walk-right-up place. At least this building was impressive by its sheer size, and there were some ‘no photo’ signs around the perimeter.

The next day started with a visit to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It was Drew’s first day on the job at the nearby Conference of Bishops, so he dropped me off there early morning. The largest church in the US, apparently. Nice building in itself. Even better was finding a small chapel inside dedicated to our very own Lady of Ta’ Pinu!

I had a tour of the Capitol Building booked for later that day, which was simply brilliant. The White House may have been disappointing, but the Capitol Hill sights (Capitol Building, Library of Congress, Supreme Court) sure were not.

My whirlwind tour of DC was completed with a visit to the National Archives, housing the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution. There’s so much more to see in town that you could easily spend weeks around. I hardly even got started on the Smithsonians, one of the largest museum complexes in the world. All of which are free.

But I was satisfied. For 3 days I got a lot done, and I’ll definitely be back soon. Till then, it’s down south. Next stop on the mega bus – Knoxville, Tennessee.