Our last day in Washington DC

The Greenhills crew checked out and had an early Tuesday start to leaving a rainy downtown Washington just after 9am.  The last but not least stop on our US itinerary was Potomac Mills, a shopping outlet not far from Dulles airport.  The hours flew by as the shopping bags multiplied and after a hurried lunch, it was back on the bus again to head to the airport.  After a speedy check-in, it was all aboard to a relatively empty aircraft, where the Greenhills girls stretched out and snoozed their way to Heathrow and after a quick transfer, Dublin where the JF coach was waiting to take the tired but happy group back to Drogheda.

 

 

Monday's Washington DC highlights

On Monday morning, we travelled by subway to the US Capitol, the seat of American government since 1800 (made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate). The two highlights were 1) a visit to the Rotunda, a ceremonial space where presidential funerals have been held since Abraham Lincoln and 2) a walk around the House of Representatives, where 435 state-elected Representatives meet to discuss legislation and cast votes.

Strolling around the US Capitol

 

After lunch, we moved on to the media-focused Newseum, starting with a 4D film (complete with moving seats) on the historical role of the investigative journalist. On the top floor's panoramic deck, we then had a chance to take some photos in the warm Washington sunshine. The first exhibit illustrated the media's role in the Vietnam War, and showed how Americans' decreasing support was reflected in the news coverage from 1965 to 1971. Other interesting exhibits were on the Civil Rights movement in 1966 and behind-the-scenes news coverage of the 9/11 tragedy. Before leaving the Federal Triangle, we visited the National Gallery of Art, with its impressive collection of Dutch masters, Impressionists, Ancient Greek and Roman bronze sculptures and the only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in America, the Ginerva de Benci.

#

Ben's Chili Bowl

 

We ended our final evening with a visit to Ben's Chili Bowl, where President Obama visited during his Presidential campaign, and a history quiz at the hotel.

Sunday's Washington DC higllights

On Sunday morning, we headed off by bus to the Holocaust Museum, stopping off en route at the Jefferson Memorial, commemorating the author of the Declaration of Independence. The Holocaust Museum chronicles the Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany and the occupied territories from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the end of WW2 in 1945. Exhibits included a railway car used to transport Polish Jews to Treblinka concentration camp and mounds of shoes from executed Jews. We then returned to the Mall area to visit the Air and Space Museum. First stop was the original Wright brothers plane from 1903, the first aircraft ever to make a piloted flight. Also from the early flying days, the classic Spirit of St Louis, the first plane to be flown solo across the Atlantic in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh, was suspended from the museum ceiling. Five years later, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic, who then landed beside Derry city. Moving onto spacecraft, the Apollo exhibition showcased the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spaceflight programmes which resulted in the first landing on the moon by Apollo 11 in 1969. Other impressive exhibits showed how the International Space Station was created and 30 years history of the Space Shuttle. After a quick stop at the White House (designed by Irish man James Hoban) the Greenhills crew hopped on a bus to Georgetown for an Italian meal at Buca di Beppo.

Plane flown by Amelia Earhart

Plane flown by Wright Brothers

Waiting for President Obama!

The White House

Today's Washington DC highights

After a great rest and a big breakfast of  homemade waffles and eggs, the Greenhills girls headed off for a guided tour of famous Washington DC Memorials. Some of the most impressive parts of the tour were the Lincoln Memorial, also the site of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech during the US Civil Rights struggle.

American School Bus!

 

 

The Great Depression (Roosevelt Memorial)

 

Lincoln Memorial

 

 

 

Roosevelt Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial

Korean War Memorial

 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial displayed the names of 58,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War from 1959 to 1975, a sobering display. Our next stop was Arlington cemetery, where J. F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie and other family members are buried. The morning ended with the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, commemorating soldiers who lost their lives in both World Wars, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

After lunch, we headed for the Mall, where the majority of

Washington's museums are located.  Our first afternoon stop was the Museum of American History, where we saw an original Huey helicopter used in Vietnam and the Greensboro lunch counter as part of an African American exhibit. After an evening stroll through the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden and a quick stop at the Ford Theater (where Lincoln was assassinated), we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  To end another exciting day, we had a coffee in Starbucks Chinatown on our way back to our hotel.

Arrival in Washington DC

After a very early start from Dublin and a speedy transfer through Heathrow International we all arrived at Washington Dulles just before 4pm. En route from Dulles airport, we dropped into the Udvar Hazy Center - the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's annexe. Some of the most iconic air and spacecrafts from the last few centuries are displayed in this impressive hangar-style museum. These included the Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, the Space shuttle Discovery, the impressive Concorde and many of the war planes and helicopters used during the Korean and Vietnam wars. A truly memorable first afternoon in the US, and we even managed to squeeze in a pizza before we all retired for a well-deserved rest at the Comfort Inn Downtown Washington!

Enola Gay

 

Discovery Space Shuttle

On February 19th, a group of senior history students and teachers are headìng off to Washington D.C. USA. Stay tuned for our daily updates......