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”.