Washington Monument

 
I did a “quick” walk by night to see the Washington Monument. I always thought that this big obelisk was ugly and pointless until I saw it.
Its massiveness in the middle of the empty mall gives an impression of purity and timelessness, that impressed me a lot!
With the lights on, a pure black sky behind and the silence brought by the wind, this tall memorial looked like from outter space, and out of time.


Each step closer grew that impression of being so little. I finally arrived at the bottom and looked up – that was almost scary. It looked like the monolith that fascinates the apes during the opening of Kubrick’s Space Odyssey.
It doesn’t make me an ape…I love bananas though!

It’s actually possible to go inside the monument and go to the top with a lift. I got a ticket from a very nice group of visitors from Texas, Norway, Germany and England.
Just before taking the lift , people have to wait in a little lobby. And be careful, George Washington himself watches out if you’re not messing with his monument - that he actually never saw, he died half a century before the first stones were assembled.

 

This lobby was not extraordinary but I truly appreciated its Art Deco style : marble + tiles + iron and warm lights.
In the elevator, the hostess explained that it was originally a steam elevator that used to bring up visitors. It would take 20 minutes and bread with cheese was served!
At the top, I could see the whole city and even parts of Virginia and Maryland according to the indications below the windows…It was hard to distinguish anything with the dark though. Anyway, the view was amazing, especially with the city lights! Each side of the obelisk faces the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, The White House, and something else I don’t remember the name :-p
Here is the view on the Capitol

From that point I understood how wide the city is, almost endless.
It also gave me an historical view of this country which I usually see as a place where the life culture is extraordinary and funny.
Now it’s like I was very close to the USA roots and to what this nation wanted to be on its “first days”.

First Night

Act III – The fried bacon smell
I spent 8 hours on the plane. There was a huge selection of movies, series and cartoons. The choice was hard but it didn’t matter ‘cause each time I was falling asleep in the middle of it, and each time I decided to watch another from the beginning. I haven’t completed any of them after all! But I have to say, they were censored version and it didn’t help, especially for Kick-Ass.
A friend picked me at Washington Dulles Airport and hosted me for a night in a small town of Maryland. I had a quick look around in the hood and I felt really good. The american car plates, the yellow line on the road, the sidewalk made of big concrete squares, the electric wires on huge wooden posts, small details, but important.
It was hard to realize I was in the US, in a place I saw so many times on TV or in cinemas! And now that I arrived here, I could smell the US! And it smells fried bacon, or french fries, for real! We drove along fast foods and the smell very strong, that was astonishing.



I was starving to death. The time for my first meal in the USA had come and I had to make it a success, and to make a wise choice. The number of restaurant chains was huge : MacDo’, KFC, Pizza Hut, and many others. I finally picked one I heard a lot of good about thanks to the silly Philippa – Chipotle! Caramba! Yeah I can hear you yelling, big girl!



They serve mexican food, mostly based on burritos and nachos : you pick your main ingredient (the meat) and choose any topping. I got myself a chicken burrito I  really struggled to finish. It was tasty and good though, and cheap, 6$ only.

I hardly got up on my feet, definitely became a slave to the law of attraction because of this enormous burrito. I walked away and arrived to a country fair, the kind of fair where they show farm animals, rodeo, and monster trucks wrecking cars! I didn’t get it because I was too tired, but it looked very nice from the outside! My first glance of the deep american culture :)




On my way back home, I admired the typical american wooden houses. I really like their style, especially their illuminated porchs through the night – they remind me a lot the Edward Hopper’s painting Summer Evening. I love them, so peaceful and quiet!

 

That night was special, it’s been ages since I hadn’t the feeling of discovering new things by exploration, I hope it will continue.
good night dear followers
-toto

tyre smell -> weed smell -> fryed bacon smell

yo!

"What's that title" I bet you are wondering.

Well, that's the summary of my 20 hours journey from Nice to Washington - yeah, I arrived, alive!

Act I - the burning truck

My departure date was on a Saturday 14th...which is right after Friday 13th, the bad luck day, but still! My rotten luck chased me for one more day.

So, on the highway, while I was taken to the airport, I was on "my toes" regarding what could happen since I wasn't unlucky enough the day before, on the 13th. I guess my bad luck was as late as I was that morning to catch my flight.

That biatch quickly showed up causing a traffic jam by burning a truck in the middle of the highway, at 5:30am in the morning, when highways are usually empty!

reconstitution

And just to tease me, I was among the first stuck cars! The boarding was occuring 20 min later,  and I still had 10 min to drive there. Hopefully the firemen arrived very quickly and handled the situation in 10 min, repoening the circulation. I can tell you how nervous I was at this time...I think I have a really bad karma. What do you think Ms Bassi?

I finally got my flight riiiiiight on time, 5 min later and I would have been fckued! 

I took my seat at the rear of the plane : the emergency exits next to me, window side, an ol' niçoise lady already asleep and dribbling, the beautiful dawn and Boards of Canada in my ears, everything started to finally work fine...until the air steward said he ain't go no Orangina for a fool like me, preventing me to feel really good - and yes, an Orangina can be savoured at anytime.

Anyway, the plane took off smoothly and I rapidly dismissed the absence of my favourite drink by watching that wonderful scene :

+ dayvan cowboy.mp3 = weuuuuaaaaahhhhh.......

Act II - A'dam

I had 4 hours to kill during my transfer in Schipol Airport in the Netherdlands...So I went to Amsterdam.What an unexpected visit!

I rushed to the trainstation, got two tickets for only 10€ and 20 minutes later I was in the capital walking along canals.

The luck has suddendly been keen to me and introduced me to a v nice dutch girl in the train, she was tall like me! We blended perfectly in the tallest population of the world - that reminds me I have a far dutch ancestor. Maika - that's her cool name - took me to a street with lots of Coffee Shops straight after having grabbed her bike from one of the countless racks. 

I never saw so many bikes in my life, they were all over the place, everyone was riding one! It looked like a giant sect - if you don't have your bike, your life has no meaning then! Ride or die!

Then Maika and I had to leave. Our ways separated in front of coffee shops, where the smell of weed was triggering emotional dizziness in us. I left that tall and skinny, dressed in a perfecto silhouette being swept away by a cyclists wave. Then I walked very fast during two hours to see the best parts.

It was a bit too fast to be truly appreciated.

Coffee Shops

Rose Museum

Anne Frank House

outfit for Deena

This capital is just like a big village, it seemed there’s no big stores nor food chains. I might be blind, but I haven’t seen a single McDonald’s, eventhough I was super hungry at that time. I headed back to the airport and got my flight, happy of this improvised visit and of my ephemeral meeting!

Next and last chapter of the journey in the next article : the arrival!

stay tuned and good night dear followers. please feel free to leave comments!

-toto

Ciao ciao

yo

This is the first time of my life I'm making a blog, and it's not gonna be a random one, but one about my life! Yay, cool!...

It will all be about my travel to the US, to Washington DC, that starts in...4 hours!
I'm going there for my studies, one semester, August-December 2010.

So...Where do I start? I need some pro-blogger to help me find inspiration about what to write, send me a message please! Tell me what you would like to know, what you would like to see, etc!

For those who (still) don't know me, I'm Anthony, but you can call me Toto or Tony.
I am from south of France by the way - oh yes baby, what time is love?

See my face when I finally agreed on writing a blog.

too much excitment kills excitment

This picture was taken by my mate Florian just before we headed to a gig of the Pantiero Festival, right next to the beaches of Cannes and their famous posh hotels. We saw Two Door Cinema Club and The Foals, that was ok-ish.

That was also the moment to take a "goodbye France" picture.

Goodbye seaside

I have to say merci to Flo Am & Morggy for cheering me up today.

And don't forget to say Thank You in the comments to Philippa aka The Gipsy Queen, my cool friend from London that pushed and convinced me to exhibit myself on the internet...great

I see you soon, directly from DC!

Good night my dear followers.

-toto