It was getting dark and Yunluo and Yan Chenyu also set out on their return journey. Because of the time difference in the past two days, they felt very sleepy around six in the evening. Today, they even fell asleep in the car. When they got home at 8:30, everyone was starving. Mushroom mm fried some home-cooked dishes, and Yunluo gobbled them up. After the meal, Yunluo was responsible for washing the dishes.
After finishing the work, I opened a bottle of Colorado beer and smoked a cigarette on the balcony. It was so comfortable. It didn't feel like I was traveling, but more like the comfort of home life. I bought beer at the liquid shop last night. In fact, beer is generally available in shops and convenience stores. When buying, you must show your ID, which means showing your passport for tourists like Yunluo and Yanchenyu.
Traveling is often a kind of sentiment. Because of the Age of Discovery, when Yunluo went to Malacca, Alexandria, Kyoto, Goa, his heart was already moved before he even arrived. Because of his favorite movie "Casablanca", Casablanca is still the place Yunluo wants to go the most, no doubt about it.
In the past, when a friend went to Spain, the bedside book he brought was "Spain Travel Notes", and when he went to Paris, he would bring "Take a Book to Paris". Before this trip to the United States, Yunluo also re-read "Sweeping up the Fallen Leaves to Survive the Winter", which is also Linda's historical and cultural series about the United States. He had a more respect for the National Mall in Washington and Arlington Cemetery.
In fact, to put it bluntly, it is the same reason why the people must go. I slept until I woke up naturally in the morning, had brunch, and then set off for Washington. It is less than an hour's drive from Gaithersburg, Maryland to Washington. When I saw the Washington Monument from afar, Yunluo knew that the National Mall was not far away.
As the capital, Washington is not really a big city, at least in the United States, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles are more prosperous metropolises, so Washington is definitely a relatively quiet capital that returns to nature. The National Mall located in the center of the city is a large lawn, and the tidal lake next to it is a large body of water, which is peaceful and far-reaching.
Park on Seventh Street next to the National Mall, then walk along Independence Avenue to the central axis of the National Mall. To the west are the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and to the east is the famous Capitol Hill. This is also a paradise for runners. In the beginning of Captain America 2, the male protagonist ran around the pool here.
Most of the tourists are from the United States and other countries. The pool in front of the Capitol Hill is the best place to take pictures of the Capitol. Unfortunately, the Capitol was resting, and the Roman columns under the dome were surrounded by a circle of steel scaffolding, which slightly spoiled the scenery. After walking around the Capitol, it was impossible to go in for a visit. Tickets need to be booked online in advance.
A few tickets are also available to tourists who get up early and line up. In addition to the Capitol, the interior of the Washington Monument and the White House require online reservations in advance. In contrast, the Lincoln Memorial is much more friendly and open to the public 24 hours a day. After dark, many tourists still sit on the marble steps to rest and enjoy the cool air.
If it wasn't open 24 hours a day, how could Megatron easily rush into the hall and destroy the Lincoln statue! I was going back to the parking lot to pick up the car and then go to the Lincoln Memorial. When I passed by the American Museum of Natural History, I went in to find the restroom. I also saw the famous elephant specimen in the lobby on the first floor. This is one of the largest African elephants in the world. Yunluo had always thought it was a mammoth.
The movie "Night at the Museum" was filmed here, and the cover of the "Washington Museum" series of travel tips also features this elephant. My godmother and grandmother are not very interested in museums, so Yunluo decided to come and visit the museums around the National Mall, art galleries and botanical gardens, which are enough for interested friends to spend a few days here.
When we returned to the parking lot, we were shocked. There was another Chevrolet parked at the spot where Yunluo and Yan Chenyu parked, while Yunluo and Yan Chenyu's car was a Passat. We searched around, but Yunluo and Yan Chenyu's car was gone! Our first reaction was that it was towed away by a tow truck. We carefully looked at the sign on the parking meter and realized that the parking lot could only be parked after 2:30.
Yunluo and Yan Chenyu parked their car at 1:50. It is possible that their car was towed away for illegal parking, but that is not scientific because the coin-operated meter was in normal use. Yunluo and Yan Chenyu also paid for two hours of parking and collected the money, but something went wrong!
I called the towing company and they said they couldn't find Yunluo and Yan Chenyu's license plate information and it would be better to ask again after 40 minutes. During this time, Yunluo and Yan Chenyu sat on chairs by the roadside to rest. Yunluo also ran around half of the National Plaza. He hadn't run for a long time and his energy was a little tight!
After calling again 40 minutes later, there was still no towing information. Yunluo went to confirm the parking location and happened to see a staff member driving a tow truck preparing to tow another car. He went up to ask. When he asked for the first time, he said that he could not find the license plate information of Yunluo and Yan Chenyu. He felt disappointed, thinking that the car could not have been stolen.
Yun Luo and Yan Chenyu were not mentally prepared for the theft of their car and could not accept it! The second time, the towing worker went to find his colleague and finally confirmed that Yun Luo and Yan Chenyu's car was indeed towed!
The fine for illegal parking is $30-50, but the towing fee is more expensive, at least $100. Labor costs in the United States are too expensive, plus the $40 ride to the towing company, this accident directly caused Mushroom MM to lose about $200. This was also the first time she had experienced a tow in her life! After a lot of trouble to get the car, it was already 5 o'clock.
Everyone was quite depressed and had no intention of shopping anymore. We couldn't find a good parking place near the Lincoln Memorial, so we just took a look from a distance and started to go back. When we got back to the community, we caught a gorgeous sunset, which made up for the regret of not having a good time shopping today.
Today Yunluo traveled alone. After getting up and having breakfast, he set out in order to rush to Washington as early as possible and visit museums. Museums are always the most interesting part of Yunluo's travel. Since childhood, he has been curious about things with stories.
First, there is the mammal and marine life museum on the first floor. The wild animals that have been made into specimens are still bright-eyed and lifelike. Among them, the giant octopus** specimen in the marine museum reminds me of how much a pound of squid shreds costs. Such a big octopus should make a lot of money.
The "Stone" Pavilion on the second floor also took Yunluo nearly an hour to look at. The stones included various meteorites, rocks, crystal minerals, metal ores and various gems.
There are five things that left a deep impression on me: 1. Meteorite fragments that are older than the solar system 2. Fluorescent stones of various colors. When the lights in the exhibition hall are turned off, it feels like walking into the world of Alice in Wonderland 3. Gold mines 4. Hope Blue Diamonds 5. The diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his wife.
The Butterfly House in the Rainforest House requires an additional fee and requires a long queue. Although I didn't go in, I was able to browse the Animal Fossil House. The human skeleton in the house is said to belong to Grover Krantz, an anthropologist who dedicated his life to the study of wild men.
In addition, there is a special exhibition of Egyptian mummies during this period, with three real mummies on display! I was lucky. Last year, I didn’t have the extra money to buy a ticket to the Mummy House at the Egyptian Museum to see those corpses that have been dried for thousands of years, but now I can see them in the United States.
Yun Luo didn't feel scared when he saw the mummies. Instead, he felt at home. He felt at home when he saw everything about Egypt. On the first floor of the entrance to Constitution Avenue, which is also the first floor below the main entrance to the National Mall, there is a skull of Tyrannosaurus Rex, which represents the American dinosaur fossils, a stone statue from Easter Island, and a dinosaur fossil museum that is being restored.
You can also see a complete Triceratops fossil through the crack in the door. When Yunluo came out of the Natural History Museum with a feeling of unsatisfied desire, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon, which was much later than expected. Then he spent another hour visiting the Aviation and Space Museum. After all, Yunluo was also a graduate of a related major. He had to see the aircraft that had appeared in textbooks.
In the end, there was less than an hour left for the National Gallery of Art. Yunluo only regretted that he had not gotten up earlier in the morning. If so, he could only return to Maryland from his trip to New York and then find time to visit the museum in Washington. The museum was very large, even if he only wanted to see some of the museum's treasures.
It takes half a day. Yunluo can only look for the must-see paintings one by one according to priority, which feels a bit like the orienteering activities in the field training during work. Leonardo da Vinci's "Ginevra de' Benci", Van Gogh's wheat field, Van Gogh's self-portrait, Monet's Rouen Cathedral. And Picasso's family saltimbanques.
Louis David's Girl in White is also very beautiful. If you don't know Louis David, you should know the famous painting called "Death of Marat". Yes, it was painted by him.
After the museum closed, the evening sun was shining brightly, so I started walking around the National Mall. I first went to the Washington Monument, looking up at this ancient Egyptian obelisk that represents freedom and independence, with a circle of American flags flying around it. I recalled the price of freedom mentioned in "The Anxiety of History", and I was quite touched.
ps: No other building in Washington is allowed to be taller than the obelisk! Then I walked around the Tidal Basin and saw the golden light of the sunset shining into the hall of the Jefferson Memorial, illuminating the bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson, one of Yunluo's most admired founding fathers of the United States.
Jefferson's philosophy is big people and small government. He has always insisted on strictly abiding by and interpreting the Constitution, and advocated limiting the power and size of the government and giving the people more freedom.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Next is the Franklin Memorial and Martin Luther King Memorial Park, both on the Tidal Basin, and finally back to the westernmost section of the central axis - the Lincoln Memorial. I won't say much about President Lincoln. Apart from Washington, the founding father, Lincoln has always been the most respected president in American history.
Afterwards, we went to Springfield on Route 66 to see where Lincoln lived for a long time as a lawyer. The Lincoln Memorial is also the place where most tourists gather. Perhaps most people will come here to rest after being tired of visiting, and leisurely look at the whole view of the National Mall and the monument reflected in the pool.
Today's sunset was also very beautiful. I was lucky to take a photo of the scarlet clouds at the Lincoln Memorial. If you love someone, take him/her to New York. If you hate someone, take him/her to New York. As the capital of the world, New York's charm cannot be described in a few words.
Yunluo is not a person who likes big cities, let alone New York, which is already a crowded, dirty and messy city in the United States. But Yunluo has to fall in love with New York, because Yunluo likes "Friends", "Sleepless in Seattle", "When Harry Met Sally", and "National Treasure". Just like Casablanca mentioned before.
Yunluo is the kind of person who will often become fascinated by and look forward to a place because of a book or a movie. He will even go to see some related movies and books in order to have higher expectations for a place. I would like to highly recommend a movie called "Cairo Time". It's very good!
I have talked too much nonsense. Yunluo and Yan Chenyu did not drive on their trip to New York. 1. Driving is tiring and the tolls are not cheap. 2. Parking in New York is troublesome and expensive. So they chose to take the bus to and from New York. The hotel they booked is near Times Square in Manhattan, called the Row. It cost more than $600 including tax for two nights, which was so expensive that it was a bit painful, but this is New York!
Of course, living in Brooklyn or Queens would be much cheaper, but it would take a long time to travel every day, and the ground transportation expenses would be quite high. Yunluo and Yan Chenyu only had three days to travel, so they still took into account the convenience of travel.
It was a little after 1pm when we arrived in New York. Before we even got off the bus, we had our first impression of New York: dense! Yunluo could even imagine himself turning into the Hubble telescope and pointing it at Manhattan. What a spectacular and neat forest of steel and concrete he would see, with tall buildings and narrow streets.
Even at noon, it is difficult to feel the sunlight on the road. There is much more garbage on the road than in Washington and Maryland. Pedestrians run red lights and vehicles do not give way to pedestrians. New York's traffic design is reasonable. The north-south ave (5th Ave is the famous Fifth Avenue) is a two-way lane, and the east-west streets are one-way streets.
The complexity of the intersection has been halved, but the density of vehicles and people in NYC still makes the traffic situation here worrying. The subway, which is more than a hundred years old, still operates non-stop even though it exudes a damp and decaying smell. (To be continued...)