Time to bid farewell

Last day in D.C. - a quiet, warm (almost hot) sunday. Still on our itinerary: Capitol Hill, the neighborhood southeast to the Capitol building, a very quaint, wealthy residential neighborhood with beautiful architecture and lots of green, but also with the vibrant Barracks Row Main Street. This artery of life offers plenty of cafés, restaurants and bars and some shops, among them an organic supermarket and a great bakery.

Our first destination was the Eastern Market, a big market hall with outdoor vendors around the building and a sunday flea market adjacent. Eastern Market consists mostly of real food vendors - fruit, veggies, meat & sausage, baking goods etc. - and in contrast to the Reading Terminal Market in Philly there is only one restaurant inside, famous for its breakfast pancakes. Since there were long lines, we opted for apple fritters and donuts from a vendor for breakfast instead. We - and Germans in general - aren’t good in waiting for something to eat or drink … always admired the patience of Americans to stand in line to get a table or to buy a meal. We would just head on to another place.



We checked out the „flea market“, which was more of an crafts/vintage market. Lots of families around, apparently locals from the neighborhood. Since we still had enough time to burn before heading to the airport we took the Circulator bus back to the Capitol and I took a couple more photos of the Mall in the morning light.

With this superb view we also bit farewell to a city which is not easy to love on first view. It needs some more indepth exploring to get to know and like D.C., but it’s been a good start and we’ll certainly be back. At the latest for the first update of the guidebook we did research for.

We walked over to Union Station to catch another bus which brought us back to the hotel. We checked out and by train and bus - still a little complicated by public transport - we arrived at Dulles Airport, where we are sitting right now. Our plane is delayed for (at least) 1,5 hours , but fortunately they do have free WiFi, so that we are able to work.

Presidents' and Memorials' Day

Saturday it was even warmer than the days before, warmer than many summer days we have had in Germany this year. We started early and first stop was at Ford’s Theatre, the place, where President Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865.Besides the theater (see pic) the visit includes the museum (it was packed and a bit narrow) and the Petersen House across the street, where Lincoln was brought to, mortally wounded, and died.

The old theater, still in use, is impressive, whereas for museums I personally liked the Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum in Springfield/Illinois better. Nevertheless, Lincoln was a character, grew from very modest beginnings to one of the best politicians and speakers in the U.S. He was also the person who abolished slavery.

What would have been more adequate than to bestow honor at his Memorial afterwards? But first we stopped at the National Museum of American History (one of our favorites!), where the original flag from 1812, the Star-Spangled Banner Flag, is presented among many other interesting „Americana“, like Julia Child’s kitchen (the first famous female chef), locomotives, cars and items from different presidential families. A real family museum!

Didn’t get tickets anymore for the same day to climb on top of the Washington Memorial, therefore we walked from WWII and Korean Memorial to Martin Luther King, the latest memorial being installed. All memorials are in the same area, but pretty spread out with lots of greenery and water around and a lot of walking involved. I bet we walked several miles today.

Always a highlight is the Lincoln Memorial, a huge greek temple with Lincoln’s monumental statue inside. Really impressive! Walking in the burning sun and slowly getting tired feet, we crossed the Potomac River into Virginia and walked to Arlington Cemetery.

On this military cemetery casualties and deceased veterans from the American Civil War to nowadays are beeing buried. Main attractions is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - where the Old Guard - a honor guard unit - performs a change of guard every half hour, day and night - and the Kennedy Grave. Though the guard change ceremony is rather old-fashioned-stiff (if not almost a bit comical), the sun glasses the officers are wearing are really cool - they should sell them in the shop!

More than Memorials & Museums

Sun was out friday morning - what a different atmosphere! After a good breakfast (Eggs Benedict, which I love) with the PR Manager of the Fairmont Hotel in the creative Juniper Restaurant, we moved our luggage to another hotel for the last two nights. The Melrose was fortunately just a few steps up the street and completely different from the elegant, noble Fairmont: rather „boutiquey“, fancy and hip. After a friendly welcome we even were able to check into our large suite on the top floor (living room, office corner, bedroom) at 10 am already. Love it, makes life easier.

From there we took the „DC Circulator“ for a change - a bus circulating on different routes, which only costs $ 1, but is much slower than the subway because of traffic – to U Street Corridor (see pic above). We checked out this up-and-coming neighborhood with restaurants, cafés, bars and (some) shops and continued by foot to Adams Morgans (see pic), another culturally diverse neighborhood of Washington, which we actually even liked better than U Street. Perhaps one reason was, that we found a great second-hand bookstore („Idle Time“), another, that architecture is great in this area.

We took the Circulator back to Union Station (see pic) to check out the surroundings, but didn’t make it to the core of Capitol Hill anymore, because we had to be in Georgetown on time for a Washington DC Food Tour. After a pretty „walk-intensive“ day we were happy to get a chance to sit down and get something to eat. Actually, we got plenty to eat, at four different places, from charcuterie platter at J. Paul’s (see pic) to meatballs and pasta to crèpes and fantastic baking goods, though the duration of stays in the restaurants was a little too long for our taste.

The tour ended after 6 pm and we still walked up to Georgetown University - on pittoresque roads lined by beautiful homes owned by wealthy and famous people like the Kennedys or Secretary of State John Kerry – to take more pictures before trudging „home“. What a nice surprise was waiting for us in the room: a tray with different cheeses, honeys and fruit and a bottle of wine were waiting for us. A perfect end of a long, interesting, but exhausting day!

Visiting the President – Washington, D.C.

We arrived to Washington on wednesday afternoon by train and were fortunate in regard to our accommodation: We got a nice, large and tastefully furnished corner suite in the elegant Fairmont Hotel Georgetown - what a nice contrast to the rather dark, a little old-fashioned hotel room we had in Philadelphia! After check-in we left again for a walk in neighboring Georgetown, a quaint college town and sort of a world on its own, but it started to rain and therefore we returned to the hotel and had supper with provisions from the Reading Terminal Market in Philly in the room.

What a different city "D.C." is again compared to NYC or Philadelphia: very businesslike, buzzling and a bit rude. Not really "touristy", but rather a city you have to learn to love.

Thursday morning it rained hard, ugly misty rain combined with wind, till afternoon. Therefore we had to change our original plan to check out neighborhoods. Instead we concentrated on museums (which is really not difficult in Washington!) and started with the new White House Visitor Center. Many years ago we were fortunate and still able to visit the White House - nowadays not possible anymore for foreign visitors -, but the new center gives at least a good idea about what's going on behind the fence.


On to the Corcoran Gallery first (see pic), then we had a tour in the „Brewmaster’s Palace“, the Heurich House, the beautiful mansion of an interesting selfmade-man, a German immigrant who operated a brewery and had a "Bierstube" in the basement of his mansion (see pic). The National Museum of Women in the Art was, like the Corcoran, another museum, we have never visited before, though it’s our fifth visit to D.C.

The Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery was comparably overwhelming and we just cut through before heading to the National Museum of the American Indian (see pic). The café alone, with specialities from different regions/tribes, is worth a visit, but the exhibitions are spectacular as well as the architecture (see pic below).

Stopped by at the „Castle“, the Smithonian Institution Building (kind of the visitor center for all museums along the mall) and at least walked by a couple more museums along the Mall. Rain had stopped in the meantime and it was humid and warm. We took the subway (public transport is extremely expensive in Washington and really complicated to understand with its different tariffs, depending on day time and distance traveled) back to the hotel where we were picked up half an hour later by Alicia, our friend and contact at the Washington tourism office, to attend the Nationals’ baseball game (MLB).

We had good seats and it’s been fun, great atmosphere and a good game, too. The Nationals are already National League East Division Champions and will play in the play-offs starting next week. We had „bratwurst“ and a couple of local brews, and went to bed, tired to the bones with sore feet, at about 11 pm.

The City of Brotherly Love

Partly glad, partly sad to get out of NYC, we stayed in Philadelphia for the last two days. What a change! How quaint and quiet it felt, very few people at the subway stations, noise level much lower, all in much slower motion! We have been to Philly three times before, last time approximately seven or eight years ago.

Philadelphia is considered the „Cradle of Democracy“ in the United States and therefore functions as sort of a place of pilgrimage for many Americans. After the victory of the Americans against the British, in 1776 the Declaration of Independance was proclaimed. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson presented a first draft of a constitution which was discussed fiercely among the representatives of the 13 states at the time and in 1789 the Constitution of the USA, still in effect today (with a couple of later additions, called "amendments") was ratified. All of this took place in Philadelphia (see pics of Constitution Hall and Bell of Liberty) and therefore there are many historic places which have somehow to do with the struggle for independence and the geniuses who made democracy possible. Historic buildings as well as the fantastic multi-media National Constitution Center are worth being seen.

Philadelphia, founded in 1682 by the English Quaker William Penn is also called the „City of Brotherly Love“, no wonder they set up a fitting piece of art in downtown’s JFK Plaza („Love Park“) designed by Robert Indiana. A good idea of the look of the city in the very beginning gives Elfreth’s Alley with its tiny brick buildings (see pic).

Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers and lived in Philadelphia from 1723 on. He was very influential and multi-talented, perhaps comparable to Thomas Jefferson. Franklin founded the first university, the first public library, the first newspaper and so on. He also signed Declaration of Independence.

Another unusual, remarkable building is City Hall, planned in a very elaborate french Second Empire style. It's the largest municipal building in the United States; building started in 1871. We took part at a „tower tour“ (max. 4 visitors are allowed to use the elevator up and get 8 minutes to look around) and enjoyed a good view from the platform directly underneith the statue of William Penn which is crowning the City Hall Tower. City hall forms a stark contrast to modern buildings like One & Two Liberty Place and Comcast Center.

Philadelphia is also famous for its murals and for its Parkway Museums District with a concentration of high-class museums, mostly situated in temple-like buildings, e.g. the Philadelphia Art Museum or the Franklin Institute, a Natural History Museum. Especially interesting was the newly opened Barnes Foundation. While the architecture itself is rather nondescript and plain (see pic), the inside is spectacular, not only because of the high-rated collection of mostly impressionist paintings, but even more because of the unusual hanging and arrangement of the pictures: not for topics or painters or chronologically but for sizes/light/frames/colors. Absolutely worth being seen!

We stayed in a historic hotel on the waterfront, at Penn’s Landing, at the edge of Old City, which is - besides midtown - the most attractive centrally located neighborhood with lots of fancy shops and bars. We loved Reading Terminal Market - a huge market hall with locally grown and Amish produce. In 1890 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company purchased this block for its new terminal, but already existing street vendors refusedl to relocate for the new building and therefore a new market was erected beneath the train shed and tracks.

Interesting City, but now it's time to check out things in Washington ...

Green New York

There were so many more topics I wanted to write about in NYC, but time is flying and days are packed. In the meantime we arrived to Philadelphia and got a whole new plate full of topics to write about... Anyway, to finish up with NYC, here are a couple more thoughts and pics we wanted to share...

Green New York: Besides Governors Island - a green oasis (see earlier blog) - we've been to the newly opened section of the High Line Park in the fancy Meatpacking district. An old "highline" from 1934 (a railroad line above ground) had been transfered into a green promenade and public space starting in 2006. It had been built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. The third and northernmost section on the park, the High Line at the Rail Yards, opened to the public last sunday. A spectacular project which nobody could imagine to be realized ten years ago!

Brooklyn Bridge Park:

Another fantastic new project, not quite accomplished, but a big magnet, especially for Brooklynites, already: The Brooklyn Bridge Park extends 1.3 miles along the East River on the piers of a defunct cargo shipping and storage complex. Several piers were transformed and landscaped and nature was brought back to this former industrial site. There are civic lawns and playgrounds (see pic),picnic/BBQ areas and nature trails, a pop-up pool and a beach, salt marshes, boat ramps, and waterfront promenades.Best skyline of Manhattan you can get!

Climate March:

On sunday a huge "People's Climate March" took place in NYC. Over 300.000 (!) participants marched NY's streets and showed their interest in a better, greener lifestyle, against air and water polution, for better food, protection of the environment, animal rights etc. Please... never ever say again that the U. S isn't caring about environmental issues. Europeans don't have the monopoly on this topic, not at all.

Better get going now. New York is history for this year. More thoughts and topics probably coming up once we are home. So, New York lovers, please, stay tuned...

Love "Da Bronx"!

Thanks to our friend Olga we got a chance to explore a new part of the Bronx, a part which is so amazingly different from the rest of the borough: City Island. It's a small island of approximately 2,5 x 1 km, with a little over 4000 people living on it. Since it's not easy to get there by public transport we were happy to be driven and got an idea about traffic in the rush hour in NYC at the same time ...

The islanders are named for their origin: there are the "clamdiggers" – descendants from families which were originally settlers of the island – and the "musselsuckers", who came later to take profit of the quaint, peaceful, idyllic atmosphere.

Formerly a hub of boat building and fishing it's now mainly a popular (and expensive) address to live, with galleries, little shops, a museum, a church and a couple of (mostly) seafood & fish restaurants rowing up along main street. The population consists of people who like the proximity to the Bronx, but prefer being "out of town" and choose the "seaside atmosphere" over the huzzling and bustling in "SoBro" (South Bronx) - the up-and-coming neighborhood - or Little Italy on Arthur Ave. From first view it's a hotchpotch of intellectuals and former hippies, artists and teachers, old-money folks and nowadays hippsters.


The Ale House on City Island, where we had dinner and great local brews with Olga and two of her friends, living on the island, seemed to be the place where the locals gather whereas the huge seafood restaurants with ocean view are mostly packed on weekends and during vacation time when day-trippers flock in. What a peaceful, quiet part of NYC and the Bronx - no wonder, that the locals refuse to have a hotel or more touristic infrastructure on the island!!!

German Pride in NYC

The German-American Steuben Parade took place on saturday along 5th Ave. – big deal in NYC! Almost one fifth of the New York population is proud of having german roots and they really show off during this parade, which lasted over 2 hours. Lots of organisations and associations, mostly headquartered in NY State – American Steuben Associations, military bands, police and firemen's groups, language schools, "turner vereins", Schuetzen Associations, carnival groups, floats of breweries, marching bands, dance groups, etc. – took part, as well as a colorful selection of invited german guests (oompah bands, performers in traditional costumes, military bands).

1957 the first German-American Steuben Parade took place and since then each September participants come together to honor their culture and traditions, and honor a guy by name Steuben. Baron von Steuben (1730-1794) was a Prussian-born military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He wasn't too successful in Germany, but came to France and there George Washington asked him to come over and prepare the American troops for the battle of Valley Forge in 1778. He became very influential and taught the U.S. army the essentials of military drills, tactics, and discipline, though he didn't speak English at all.

Many New Yorkers of german heritage were attending the parade, cheering and apparently very proud of their german roots. In the parade it's been mostly elderly people, besides a couple of student's/kid's groups. Apparently at least two generations are lost in transition, at times when nobody was proud anymore to be German. Nowadays, pride is back again and clearly shown, though it sometimes has a little old-fashioned/backward flavor.