Three Servicemen Statue Vietnam Memorial

When you think of the Vietnam memorial in DC, you probably think of the long, black, reflective wall of names.

The memorial actually consists of two parts, that wall and this statue called Three Servicemen.

Apparently, many people thought that the wall was too focused on death. They wanted something more heroic. The servicemen were added a couple years later.

Frankly, I think the focus on death was appropriate, but the statue is fine. The figures are not particularly heroic or grim.

They are just a few somber kids with very large weapons.

Korean War Memorial

Of all the war memorials, the Korean might be the most impressive.

Soldiers are slogging through scrub brush. They are wearing rain gear and look worn down. The statues are slightly larger than life (just over seven feet).

It's particularly creepy as it gets dark and the shadowy soldiers are up lit.

If the Vietnam Memorial Wall brings home the death of war, the Korean Memorial brings home the suffering.

Behind the suffering soldiers is a wall with etchings of all the different military operations involved in the war, from air force fighters to navy transport.

Free Hugs in Washington DC

You may remember my post about the kite festival a couple weekends ago. What I didn't mention was this couple giving out free hugs by the National Monument.

If you watch Oprah, you may know about the guy who started the free hugs campaign. I'm not an Oprah watcher, so I just discovered this when I googled free hugs.

Apparently, it is something of a phenomenon and there are photos of people giving free hugs all over the world.

It's amazing how many people stopped to get hugs from these two. Even the people who didn't stop got a kick out of it. Am I sick for thinking that kid just wants to feel her up?

Sculpture Garden in Washington DC

The sculpture garden isn't just a place for winter ice skating escapades. It's a perfect hangout in good weather too.

The park is next to and part of the National Gallery of Art. It's paths take you past all kinds of crazy sculptures - a thoughtful rabbit, freeform chairs, something that looks like you could rebirth out of it.

The picture shows the giant typewriter eraser. For those youngsters who are saying "what the hell is a typewriter eraser," I hate you. Go look it up.

The garden has an overpriced, but fairly decent cafe where you can get sandwiches and drinks (alcoholic included). Grab a glass of wine, snag an outdoor table, and soak up the sun.

Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin

The cherry blossoms were out in force yesterday, as were the tourists. This is the spot Chris and I picked for our afternoon nap.

Looks peaceful doesn't it. It would have been except for the helicopters regularly passing overhead and the occasional screaming child.

It says something about how beautiful the trees are that I'm willing to deal with the crowds and the screaming kids and the people who bring their bikes and HUGE strollers on the narrow tidal basin path.

Next year I'm going to cut out of work one day and rent a paddle boat so I can avoid the crowds.

Copan Ruins in Honduras

The Maya really knew how to pick their spots. Copan was cradled in the mountains, surrounded by trees. Hawks glided overhead.

It didn't have the massive pyramids of Chichen Itza or the monkeys of Tikal. It wasn't as large as Palenque or Teotihuacan.

It was a bit more like Uxmal in that it had a quiet ascetic. I imagine the vibe when it was populated to have been pretty much what it is now in Copan Ruinas town - chill.

On its own, I'm not sure where this city falls in my list of favorite ruins, but combined with Copan Ruinas town it shoots up pretty high.

Chinatown Gate in Washington, DC

Washington DC has a pretty sad little Chinatown. It's basically a strip of chain stores and restaurants that also have their names written in Chinese.

However, Chinatown does have one cool thin - the Chinatown Friendship Arch. The arch was designed by local architect Alfred H. Liu.

It was erected as a joint project between DC and our sister city - Beijing. It is supposedly the largest single span archway of its kind in the world. It is one of DC's more colorful pieces of public art.

Joseph Henry at the Smithsonian

This not-so-handsome devil is Joseph Henry. His statue stands in front of the Smithsonian.

Never heard of Joseph Henry? Neither had I until I ran across this statue. Henry was, apparently, a phenomenal scientist. Had he been an actor, we'd probably all know who he was.

In addition to breakthroughs in the fields of electromagnetism and acoustics, Henry served as the first secretary of the Smithsonian - hence the placement of his statue.

So now we know.

The National Christmas Tree in Washington, DC

We braved the crowds this weekend and went down to see the national tree. One of the two zillion people packed in to see it described it as a giant, deformed Hershey kiss. Seems about right to me.

Whatever you do, do not drive to (or anywhere near) the national tree. The traffic on the surrounding roads was absurd. Just take the subway to Metro Center and trek the few blocks. It won't kill you. (I can't imagine what we are going to do when the inauguration comes.)

When not snapping pics for myself, I snapped group shots for other tourists. Chris once had the, I think, hilarious, idea of trying to get in as many tourist photos as possible. We would have our mugs in peoples vacation albums all over the world. Eventually, we would surely run into someone during our travels who had our smiling faces in the back of one of their travel photos.

Carousel on the National Mall in Washington, DC

There has been a carousel on the National Mall since 1967. This one was built in 1947, but didn't arrive in DC until 1981. Before that it had been up at a park in Baltimore.

The merry-go-round is, undoubtedly, a welcome break for kids whose parents are dragging them from museum to museum all day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure kids are digging the airplanes at the Air and Space Museum and the animals at the Museum of Natural History. But I don't think kids burst through the museum doors like they do through the carousel gates. (Gotta get the best horse you know.)

Eastern Market in Washington, DC

The brick building in the background of this photo is the historic Eastern Market built in 1873. Sadly, the building was gutted by a fire back in 2007 and the rebuilding process has been slow. Until then, it had been in continuous operation as a market since it opened 134 years earlier.

You can still buy food at the market. They erected a temporary tentlike building to house the meat, fish, pastry, and produce vendors that used to be in the main building. Market lunch (reviewed a few posts ago) is also located inside.

It's dreamland for foodies. The fish selection is incredible. There are three different meat vendors, one of whom has an incredible array of handmade sausages. We had a lamb sausage that was absolutely perfect. If you are looking to stock up for a gourmet meal, this is the place.

Outside, on the weekends, is an art market and a flea market. Lots of local painters, jewelry makers, and other artisans display their goods. There is a rug dealer and a few furniture sellers. There is a woman who makes retro crotchet hats and someone who makes statues out of old soda cans. They pretty much cover all the bases.

If food is your thing, Eastern Market is a must-do DC stop.

Eastern Market, 7th Street & North Carolina Avenue, SE, Washington, DC

World War II Memorial in Washington, DC

The World War II memorial is probably my least favorite in the DC. It looks nice at night, all lit up, but it looks like something that could be outside a really nice shopping mall.

Each state has a pillar with a Christmas wreath looking thing on it. There are a few inscribed sayings. They cleverly designed it so that you can see the Lincoln Memorial down one end and the Washington Monument down the other.

It just doesn't grab you.

Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC

You will undoubtedly recognize the Lincoln Memorial. It seems to show up in every film set in DC. And just so you know. The memorial is far from the capital building and there is no way Reese Witherspoon walked in those heels all the way to the Lincoln Memorial in Legally Blonde II.

There's been a lot of talk about Lincoln lately. People have been comparing Lincoln and Obama (two skinny dudes from Illinois). People mention Lincoln often as one leader who moved us closer to racial justice. He's even mentioned in Will-I-Am's new song.

A while back I read Assata Shakur's biography. Interesting book if you haven't read it. If you don't know who she is, she was a black civil rights activist in the sixties and seventies. She was in a car pulled over by police in New Jersey on May 2, 1973. The police claim she was involved in shooting and killing an officer. She claims she was injured so severely by police that there is no way she could have. She was convicted of murder, but escaped and has been living in Cuba.

To make a short story longer, in her book she challenges the assertion that Lincoln was such a great guy. She points out that he never really intended to end slavery (and said as much). She's right that he said that at one point. But he did speak out against slavery before he became president as well. What he never did was advocate for equality. In fact, according to a recent Smithsonian article, he very specifically said that he was "not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people."

So here's my question. When we remember Lincoln as only the president who freed the slaves, are we doing a disservice to ourselves and future generations? Is it similar to how I have forgotten most of the nasty things my father did now that he is gone? Is that o.k.? Do we need heroes so badly that it is worth overlooking their warts? Why?

The Tidal Basin in Washington, DC

This is the tidal basin during last spring's cherry blossom bloom. Cherry blossom time gets busy around the basin, but normally it is one of the more peaceful spots in DC.

On the left is, I believe, where the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial will be. They are supposed to break ground next month.

The picture is taken from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Eleanor is also memorialized, although she doesn't get the billing she should.

Just around the other side of the basin is the Jefferson Memorial. So someday soon you will be able to walk through the moral journey of the United States by taking a stroll around the Tidal Basin.

Jefferson, who struggled with the immorality of slavery, although he owned slaves his whole life, begins the journey. Next comes Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the rights of African-Americans, Jews, Catholics and Native Americans, but whose record was marred by the internment of Japanese and Germans in World War II. Eleanor was even more progressive than FDR. She was also instrumental in the writing and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Finally, there will be Martin Luther King, Jr. What can you say about MLK? Faced with terrible violence and constant degradation, he led a movement of inspirational peace that changed the world. Even in my recent trip to London, the inspirational poster in the subway was Martin Luther King. I doubt there is a corner of the globe he hasn't inspired in some way.

The route from Jefferson to Roosevelt to King will be covered in cherry trees. The first trees were a gesture of friendship from the Tokyo mayor in 1912. This friendship was short lived, as Pearl Harbor was just 29 years later.

Yet by 1965, just 24 years after Pearl Harbor and 20 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 3,800 more trees were given as a gift from Japan. It's incredible when you think about it. In the Middle East people are still holding grudges from the Crusades. Meanwhile the United States and Japan rebuilt their relationship in less than twenty years.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC

The Jefferson Memorial is beautiful. I prefer the view from across the tidal basin though. When I'm actually in the monument, looking at the quotes, I have mixed emotions to say the least.

If nothing else, Jefferson was a poster child for how opposing thoughts, emotions, and deeds can reside in one person. He wrote against slavery, but had slaves. He was constantly referring to god, but wanted a strict separation of church and state. He was a moralizer, but had a lifetime affair and several unacknowledged children with his slave (and wife's half sister) Sally Hemings.

Korean War Memorial in Washington, Dc

The Korean war memorial is trippy. Life-sized soldiers slog through foliage in their rain gear. Their gray faces are pained and grim. It is a huge display, maybe twenty soldiers. There is also a wall with sandblasted portraits. It is particularly spooky as the sun is going down.

The memorial captures the drudgery of war, if not the carnage or the politics. How are we supposed to avoid more wars if we only remember the sacrifice of the soldiers and not the stupidity of the politicians?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is by far my favorite in DC. It's huge and broken down into areas by his presidential terms. I believe these men are supposed to be on a soup line. If things keep going the way they have been, we'll be seeing a lot more of these.

The memorial is particularly gorgeous during spring when the cherry blossoms are out, but any time is good for a chill walk along the tidal basin. Perhaps if we all spend some time there reading his and Eleanor's quotes some of their inspiration will rub off on us. We could use it.

Rollerblading in the London Silence

Hyde Park has a section where people rollerblade. Central Park in New York also has a section where people rollerblade, but there is a crucial difference. The people in New York are jammin. The music is blasting and the rollerbladers are dancing.

There's no music in London. It's weird. The entire time I was in London and Oxford, I don't recall a single store with music blaring out. I came across one vehicle in Oxford that was politely blaring the car stereo (just loud enough for it to seep out the car windows).

Coming from Miami, where everything is done to a soundtrack of blasting stereos, it seems bizarre to me. Life without music just isn't life.

Deceit at Buckingham Palace in London

Buckingham Palace is a rather homely building. The gates are topped with silly unicorns. There is tacky gold paint everywhere. Nevertheless, I was very excited about going.

Mainly I wanted to participate in the tradition of trying to make the guards flinch. I had a choreographed jig all planned out. There was no way they were going to keep a straight face.

Then I arrived and discovered that, not only were the guards far, far away from the gate - they were fake! How can they use dummy guards? I know finances are tight right now, but we're talking about the queen of England for Pete's sake. Surely she can shell out a few bucks an hour for someone to stand there. Aren't there some jewels she can sell?

Very disappointing.

London's Sci Fi Architecture

This photo really sums up London for me. To the left is the Tower Bridge. It was built in 1894 and crosses the Thames River right next to the Tower of London (circa 1078). It is, in short, the London you imagine from literature and high school history.

The kooky toppled over egg to the right is the London City Hall (circa 2002). It is like something out of Gattaca. These incongruous pairings are found all over the city. It feels a bit like Londoners are screaming out, "Look! We're modern, we're hip! It's not just Dickens and Jack the Ripper you know!"

Me thinks Londoners doth protest too much. Unlike Mexico City, where the different eras somehow work together, in London it is startling. In London's defense, I must point out that much of the city was destroyed during The Blitz and so it isn't as though they knocked down gorgeous old historic buildings to put up their (often egg shaped) futuristic experiments.

I was expecting to be transported back into a Dickens novel and ended up in a 1950s sci fi television show. Beam me up Scotty.