D.C.

I've been in D.C. for the past two days, and I've had a lovely time eating food and visiting monuments. I've been here quite a few times, but there is always something new to see.



When I arrived, my sister and uncle and aunt met me and we immediately went to Maggiano's, a family-style Italian restaurant, and it was AMAZING. We order two appetizers, two salads, two pastas, two entrees, and two desserts and then we share it and then the waiters keep bringing you as many refills as you want. Which, incidentally turns out to be not that many, because our stomachs are not that large!:P



To walk off all that food, we visited the new Air Force Memorial which was just completed last year. It offers a spectacular view of the city.. you can see Arlington National Cemetery, the National Cathedral, Washington Monument and the Capitol from there.



Yesterday, we visited the Marine Corps Museum and the National Archives, both places I had never visited before. The National Archives is the place in National Treasure which houses the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and even the Magna Carta, which a nerdy former history major such as myself loved.
I stole a Marine rifle. hehe:D Nah, just kiddin'....


We visited a German gourmet stores which excited me because it felt like I was back in Salzburg. They have Milka bars and Rittersport! Hooray!:D So we stocked up on German food, then we went to a Chinese restaurant than George W. himself is known to frequent. There are pictures of him and other government officials dignitaries plastered all over the walls. We had the specialty Peking duck which was delicious.

Then we went to Old Town, this fabulous part of D.C. known as Alexandria. There are streets lined with shops and restaurants--Indian, Greek, Lebanese, Moroccon, Spanish, seafood, Italian, Irish pubs. We walked by the waterfront and then wandered to (or actually I made a beeline for) a bookstore. This store was amazing, because not only was it basically trimmed down, more intimate version of Borders, they also had a used book section on the top floor and sell 8 tracks and LPs on the first floor.

I bought enough books to reasonably last me through the rest of the summer. Well, combining that with the other books I already have waiting in line to be read...

I'll post pictures when I have more time, but the computer is being a bit capricious at the moment, so I'll hold off...

Breakfast time!