Gone to America

I had a great weekend in the nation’s capital, even though it was one of those periods of time when my brain seemed to have become partially detached from itself. The first evidence of this came just as I left the apartment. I was all packed and ready to go, and I had a piece of paper with all the important information on it – hotel name, booking reference, bus timetable, bus location. I was at the train before I realised I had left this important document on the table. I had to go back and get it.
Because of this I almost missed the coach. It wasn’t the Greyhound, it was the Dragon Coach – one of the bus services that ferries people from Chinatown to Chinatown. It’s a lot cheaper than other services, but you have to go to Chinatown to get it, and buy a ticket off a woman wandering around in front of a bank. I had a hard time finding exactly where it was leaving from, and I only made it because it was delayed.
I stowed my bag in the luggage compartment under the bus, but kept my laptop by my side. I always keep my laptop by my side. If I ever lost it I would instantly cease to exist. I’m convinced of this.
I relaxed somewhat on the coach, read my book, listened to my MP3 player, dozed a little. I don’t think I ever really woke up. We arrived in DC, I shouldered my laptop, put my book away and wandered off. Of course, my bag was still in the trunk of the coach. I had strolled a couple of blocks looking for a good place to flag a taxi (a Dublin habit, unneccessary in New York, but applicable in Washington) before I realised. I ran back, but the coach was gone. I rang the New York office, and an irritable chinese gentleman told me that the coach was already on its way back to the city and I should ring tomorrow.
The bag contained my clothes for the weekend, toiletries, my digital camera (so no pix), my phone charger, a book to give to my Aunt to give to my Dad, my headphones and a DVD I was supposed to watch. Not disastrous, but a real pain. And pretty bad if it was stolen. It easily could have been.
But it wasn’t. I carefully husbanded the remaining power on my phone until I was assured of my bag’s safe arrival at the Dragon Coach office in Chinatown. I bought some clothes, deodorant and a toothbrush, and had a look at DC.

And very impressive it is too. Really quite startlingly impressive. On Friday night myself, my aunt Stephanie (my dad’s twin sister) and my uncle Hubert stayed local. We ate near the hotel in Arlington, which is actually in the state of Virginia, just over the Potomac from DC. It was OK – I’d actually seen a bunch of stuff on the taxi ride. It’s very familiar to someone who watches as much West Wing as I do (they show it on Bravo all the time).

On Saturday, we hit the Mall. This is the area with all the famous buildings and monuments, like the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, various Smithsonians and, uh, another reflecting pool.
We left the Metro by the Smithsonians, and walked to the imposing Washington Monument, then further to the Lincoln Memorial. That’s pretty effective too. Then we took a taxi to the White House and had a wander around (you can’t get that close anymore – just close enough to see the snipers on the roof). We took another taxi up to Capitol Hill. Very, er, majestic.
I’ve got to say, these Americans have their monuments and political architecture down. I’ve seen a lot of large sculptural commemorative structures in my time, but never so many, of such quality and imagination, clustered together in such a way that they enhance and reflect upon each other and create a whole that’s much greater than the sum of its parts.
And they’re coupled with genuine political signifigance – two of the structures are the White House and the Capitol, and there’s a constant buzz of helicopters coming and going. It’s definitely the most focused capital city I’ve ever been in. It all comes together to create a very dignified and lofty atmosphere. And idealistic. Very idealistic. I’m not sure how accurately this reflects actual political reality in the States, but it’s very hard not to be impressed, and I wasn’t in the mood to try.

On Sunday we went to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. It was quite a distance away, but interesting. I had a look at his tomb and wandered around the grounds, and then I split off to go and have a look at the Pentagon and Arlington cemetery (I had less time in the city, so I had to cram more in).
I got off the metro at the stop called “Pentagon”, fairly confident that I’d have a good view of the place. Of course, I didn’t. This is the stop for the people who actually work there, so what I saw of it was basically a wall and a door. And cops with guns. And lots of signs saying “No Photographs”. So I just got back on the train. But I wasn’t disappointed. I may not have got a good overview, but I was closer than I ever thought I’d get – a gentle stones throw away. Not that I was going to be throwing any stones. I probably would have been gunned down.

And then to Arlington Cemetery, and another presidential tomb – Kennedy this time. But the most striking place there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – “Known But To God”. It overlooks the river, facing the city, and is attended by some kind of soldiers. Marines, or something. I watched as they laid a fresh wreath and bugled “taps”. Strangely affecting. This is a bizarre country – always a little bit different than you expect. Nothing is quite like you think it’s going to be.

On Sunday night we had dinner with some friends of Hubert and Stephanie’s, the McPhilips. It turns out that their son did the music for Ape, on which I was the sound editor. Even in America, Ireland is a small country.

Did I forget anything? Oh yes, further stupidity. On Saturday I didn’t wear my hat because it was too hot, and I got very sunburned. My skin is flaking off even as I type. And on Monday I slept in and missed the bus I wanted to get. I managed to go from being completely asleep to checked out standing in the center of Washington in about 30 minutes, but it wasn’t quick enough. Then I had to kill four hours.

So, it just remains for me to thank my very generous aunt and uncle, who didn’t let me pay for anything. Thank you!

And I’ve decided that I want one of these more than life itself.