I did not sleep on the train well at all. At 3am the train picked up someone who decided to sit behind me and play music despite being on a silent carriage. That and the fact that even with two seats to myself I couldn't find a comfortable position that didn't crick my neck or dig an armrest into my ribs.
That being said, aside from a complete lack of sleep today was awesome.
I checked into my accommodation, which is clearly the home of nerds - with plenty of classical music busts, science fiction posters and much more lying around. And I finally got to do some proper washing was a plus.
I spent today with my long time friend Anna from Maryland. She came to DC by train (takes her half an hour and costs $12 for a return ticket) and together we explored the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the International Spy Museum.
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is huge! We didn't stop to stare at much - the place was big and we didn't have a whole heap of time. It was very similar to the Natural History Museum in New York that I visited, although it seemed a lot more accurate. The best part was the dinosaur fossils - although I was surprised at how small the Tyrannosaurus was, always imagined them much bigger.
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| T-rex trying to get ahead in life |
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| Easter Island Man |
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| Pure Iron Meteorite - a sample with four distinct crystal structures |
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| Meteorites! |
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| A perfect sphere of quartz |
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| The Hope Diamond - perfect clarity |
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| Dinosaur Skeletons |
Our next stop was the International Spy Museum. And it was amazing! The first place we went to was their interactive spy exhibit, where you pretend to be on a mission. It is based on the case files of actual missions and the group, as a whole, is evaluated on our performance. We failed. Which was disappointing, although the sheer size of the group and the fact a lot of children participate makes it extremely challenging to succeed. However, it was really, really fun! From there, we toured the museum, assuming a cover identity and seeing both real and fictional spy gear (including a whole section on James Bond). All in all, a fantastic experience and well worth the money and time.
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| James Bond Aston Martin DB5 |
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| An Enigma Machine |
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| Jaws' jaws |
Sadly, the day was over too soon and Anna had to get on a train to go back to her place, but not before we grabbed some Nandos! That's right - I've finally managed to have Nandos in a country other than Australia (long time readers will remember the tragedy in Dubai when Nandos was closed to Ramadan.)
I'm super tired so will sleep in tomorrow morning. That means I won't be attempting the Washington Monument til another day. But I still have plenty of time.
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