Reunion in the Capital

It was finally time to leave NYC for Washington. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to Penn station to take our train to D.C.

The Amtrak train was very comfortable, with ample leg space, comfortable seating and personal power-plugs. It was a very short ride and we arrived in D.C. after 4 hours. We headed straight for our Airbnb to settle in. For the D.C. part of our journey, we met our 3 wonderful sisters (technically cousins but does not make a difference to me so they are my sisters!) and my Aunt. Two of my sisters, Amrietha and Archnashree, were living and working in D.C.! My aunt had flown in from Austin, Texas to join us and my oldest sister, Anandani was flying in from Denver to join us. We met everyone at our Airbnb apartment and because i/we had not seen them in so long, so it was awesome that we all got the chance to hang out/ catch-up again. As Anandani Akka (that’s how we address older sisters) was coming in at midnight we were only going to meet her the next day. It was pretty amazing catching up and hearing all about their work and lives. It isn’t everyday you get to meet family that lives thousands of miles away on another part of the world. What a day! We did have to sleep eventually as we all had a busy first day.

The next morning we all met at a brunch place called Busboys and Poets. It was a very interesting mix of a brunch restaurant and a bookshop. It had books on every issue that the US grappled with, whether it be healthcare, guns or effects of racism. The food was really good and once done, we all headed for the the all too familiar landmark. After a short walk, we reached The White House! I could not believe that i was finally here. I had always wanted to see the White House and i finally got to. The place of such central significance in the world order, in front of my eyes. Just Wow! Unfortunately we were not granted a tour but we had a nice view from outside. After we had our fill, we headed over to the Washington Memorial. Everyone knows it as the “big pointy structure” that appears on TV every time D.C. is shown. It was a massive, beautiful structure and it is really not done justice on TV (just like most of D.C.). After numerous photos, we sat down to enjoy the area. It was actually a gigantic park, with people playing American football in certain areas, people riding bicycles and some people just having picnics. What a spot to have a picnic tho, with the Washington monument next to you and within view of Capitol Hill and Lincoln Memorial. Following the Washington memorial, we headed past the lake to see Thomas Jefferson’s Memorial nearby. For people unsure, he was one of America’s founding fathers and the third president of the USA. The Memorial was really nice, with the greek style and verses from the declaration of independence but the view of National Mall from the steps of the memorial was sensational. This pretty much concluded our day and we had one lat stop before heading home, Ethiopian Food! Our sisters brought us to an Ethiopian restaurant and having never had this cuisine, i was quite psyched. It was pretty good and had many similarities to Indian food. After dinner, we headed back to our apartment and that was pretty much it for the day. Great start to our trip in the Capital.