It may have been a little bit chilly today, and most certainly windy. But that didn't stop us from heading to Capitol Hill for the morning.
Hey, the great thing about going to the "Hill" before noon on a weekday is that you can actually find parking minutes from the Capitol Building or other Smithsonians and sometimes for free. Shhhhh! We didn't actually find a free parking spot and had to find our body weight in quarters. Dad almost broke out his harmonica and started busking, but luckily some very kind stranger had a huge bag of quarters and was willing to trade us a couple of singles for some quarters.
After many seemingly unnecessary ups and downs on elevators and the equivalent of airport security to get to the inside lobby of the Capitol building, we were escorted about by a very informative and somewhat humorous tour guide who spoke at least twelve languages fluently and new such factoids as the names of the two French Islands south of Newfoundland that still belong to France (St-Pierre, Miquelon, if you should care to know!)
We were taken the large cavernous Rotunda with a large beautiful fresco and carved marble, and sandstone interior. And got to see carved sculptures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Regan standing atop actual pieces of the Berlin wall. There were so many beautiful paintings and sculptures to see. And that's what I love about this city.
Gabriel did so well! He was so tired and hungry that he basically ate an "extended lunch" the entire hour tour, otherwise I'm not sure how it would have worked out. There were essentially no other strollers to be spotted on the tour. But it was beautiful and worth seeing such a monumental structure. Did you know that they finished the dome during the American Civil War? That's a pretty impressive feat, and certainly with a very divisive war on your hands.
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