I went to DC a couple of years ago. I also went when I was a child, but I don’t remember that. I had a great time in DC. Everything is free! We flew into Baltimore and took the train (like an $80 savings) and the weather was perfect. I was stunned at how large the mall is. I mean, I knew it was bigger than I expected, but it is really huge. There is no way you can cover all of the museums in one trip, you’ll be exhausted (as I was). And the Lincoln Memorial is waaaaaaay over there.
I liked it. I know the Second Stone has a different take on it. he is right about the grassy lawn, though; it’s not maintained. I don’t know why.
Spain doesn’t have a capitol, does the Senate count? I went there with a bunch of other women from my region, one of our regional senators showed us around and we had lunch there. Another of her colleagues (from a different party and region) happened to come around while we were in the hemicycle and jokingly asked if we’d voted for him. While nobody yelled, the chorus of “um… no?” came out quite loud :smack:
As for capitals, I’ve also been to London, DC, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhague, Athens and San José; I’ve flown to/from the airports of Mexico DF and Buenos Aires, but not been to the cities themselves.
National capitals that I’ve been to are Washington DC (home country) and Ottawa.
State capitals, I’d need to think about.
I’ve been to Charlottetown. Quickest and easiest comparison is Cape May, New Jersey with fewer Italians and more French people. Touristy shops by the shore, seafood restaurants, quaint Victoriana, and an overall laid-back atmosphere.
I’ve been to Washington, DC once. Two of us were escorting a package to be delivered there. We had a couple of hours, so we walked around the Mall a little before catching the flight back to L.A.
St John’s NL - maritimes car trip
Halifax NS - maritimes car trip; excellent steakhouse meal
Fredericton NB - maritimes car trip
Charlottetown, PEI - maritimes car trip
Washington, DC - lived there for a couple of years
Paris - a week during HS
Athens - for a couple of days before getting on the boat for the Cyclades cruise
Vienna - bus trip with Grandma!
Brussels - stop-over on the way to Paris, but we saw the peeing boy
Yep, went to Washington DC when I was 10 or so. Rounded a corner near the Washington Monument and saw a bunch of homeless people sleeping on some air vents. Shocked me, had never seen homeless before. Other than that it was a great experience, the museums were neat. Traffic was not, we wound up on an expressway to Maryland when we wanted to go South.
I have skirted DC many times, but have never left the beltway.
In St Martin, it is not uncommon for us to go to market day in Marigot (French side capital) then drive twenty minutes to Philipsburg (Dutch side capital) for drinks at the Blue Bitch.
Well, the Mall is in rough shape (as your lawn would be, with that level of traffic), which is why it’s presently under renovation. But if you’re claiming that there were “dangerous slums” within a mile of the Mall when you visited a few years ago, I’d love for you to point them out. I’ve lived in Southwest DC for four years, less than a mile south of the Mall, and I certainly don’t live in a slum; hell, I’m right next to the Arena Stage, and I live across from a duck park. This is actually a pretty expensive place to live.
There are public housing projects southeast of me, but I’d be hard-pressed to call them a slum, let alone dangerous; they’re well-maintained low-rises, mostly on tree-lined streets, well-served by public transit; I walk and bike through them often.
So, that’s south of the Mall’s central portion sorted. West of the Mall is the Potomac, with Foggy Bottom north of that end; much as I like to rag on undergrads, I wouldn’t call Foggy Bottom a slum, and I don’t know anyone who would. North of the Mall’s central portion drops you in DC’s central business district (Metro Center, Archives, Gallery Place, etc - also the White House, if you head north on 15th or 17th). East of the Mall, and also north and south of the eastern end, drops you in/around Capitol Hill; yet again, a very expensive place to live, and very safe.
If you trudged perhaps a mile and a half southeast of the Mall, you’d find yourself in some lower-income neighborhoods (though generously interspersed with gentrifying bits). With a bit of luck. But the suggestion that DC is some vast slumland is badly outdated, and has been since the 90s. And frankly, it’s rather offensive.
I’ll grant you that the area in/around the Mall proper can be grey and stodgy - but if that’s all you chose to see, that’s on you.
ETA: Also, I should point out that I’ve only lived in my current apartment for four years - I’ve been in DC for over 8 years.
It sounds like you were over by Union Station, the average cost of homes in that neighborhood is a $1.1 million. I don’t know where you’re from, but that’s not my idea of a slum. Is it possible that you were anxious because you were lost and maybe unfamiliar with urban settings? Culture shock can cause people to see things through a more negative filter.
I was born in, and have lived most of my life in, Australia, and I’ve been to the capital (Canberra) many times.
I lived in England for much of my childhood, and I’ve been to Westminster many times.
I lived in the U.S. for about 12 years, and although I never actually resided in Washington, my social security number starts with digits indicating that it was issued in DC. That’s because, when I applied for the SSN, I used as an address an office that I was working in temporarily, which was a stone’s throw away from the U.S. Capitol.
Washington, DC many times, starting in 1957 when my brother lived there, then several times as a tourist or attending conventions, worked there for 6 weeks in 1971. Visited the Wall & its related statue, the Capitol, JFKs grave, major monument and the Smithsonian.
Ottawa, Lisbon, Madrid, London, Gibraltar (if that might qualify), Andorra La Vella, Luxembourg, Paris, Monaco, Bern, Vaduz, Rome, Vatican City, Athens, Beirut, Jerusalem, Amman (changed planes by walking on the tarmac), (Istanbul) but not Ankara.
Been to DC once, when I was 9 on our way back from visiting my sister in Norfolk, VA. We did the White House tour. The main thing I remember about the drive was how frustrated my dad was with all the roundabouts, something he had never dealt with. Oh, he hated driving in DC.
I’ve also been to Oslo, Norway. That’s it. No, I don’t get out much.
Southeast, and especially Anacostia (which is further southeast, across the river) was a much worse place about 20 years ago at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. Now, it’s basically just a lower income, working class, predominantly African-American area. Probably more street crime than, say, The Hamptons, but not really “da hood” anymore. Street beggars? Yeah. Storefront Pentecostal churches? Yeah. Occasional homeless people wheeling “borrowed” shopping carts? Yeah. Daily muggings in broad daylight? Hardly. If you go at 2 PM with a friend or two and don’t flash cash or jewelry, nothing is likely to happen to you.
North of the Mall’s central portion drops you in DC’s central business district (Metro Center, Archives, Gallery Place, etc - also the White House, if you head north on 15th or 17th). East of the Mall, and also north and south of the eastern end, drops you in/around Capitol Hill; yet again, a very expensive place to live, and very safe.