America Trip 2 - Day 17, 18, 19

On Saturday we did the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress, and even got to go underground between them. On the way we passed Union Station, which is big and designed by the person who also designed Grand Central Station.

The US Capitol Building has hosted the Congress since 1800 and has grown when the country has grown. The right wing holds the Senate and the left wing holds the House of Representatives. The dome is actual made out of iron with the statue of freedom on top.

The plaster model was made in Italy and shipped to America so that they could make the statue. We also saw some statues, and later found out that each state has donated two statues of people that have done something good for the state or nation. There are additional statues like a statue of Rosa Parks as the country donated her.


 The rotunda holds state funerals, and rises 180 feet high to a mural. The mural is called The Apotheosis of Washington, and was painted by Constantinople Brumidi. He also painted the frieze, which is a lifelike mural showing famous scenes in American history.

We also saw important items in American history before we ended our tour.

We had lunch at the cafe in the Capitol Building, before going over to the Library of Congress, a giant library with amazing books. It beats the library at my school by far. There are 470 languages represented in the collection, 14 million photos, 5.5 million maps, 8.1 million pieces of sheet music, 70 million manuscripts, more than 38 million books and other print material.

We then wandered round the grounds near the Capitol Building, and saw things like Grant's memorial.


On Sunday, we decided to do some of the Smithsonian museums.

The first museum that we did was the National Museum of the American Indian. There were four floors in the museum, but I only got to saw one. I received the sad news that Opa had died, and that caused me to sit down and think about him.

We ate lunch outside the first museum before going across to the Air and Space Museum. Mama, Papa and Nana went on a free guided tour, while me and Karl did our own things. I meet up with Mama, Papa and Nana later, and joined them on the end of their tour. I enjoyed all the things that I did, including seeing the original Wright Flyer and one of Amelia Earhart's planes.

We watched the time when America stops, the Superbowl Final.

On Monday, it was a clear but cold day, which was something I was happy for.

We looked at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial first, and I found it ironic that he died 50 years after the signing of The Declaration of Independence. The statue was big and the scenery was breath taking. We then hoped on the bus again and went to the Lincoln Memorial. I stood at the exact stop Martin Luther King Junior stood when he did his "I have a dream" speech. Karl and I did the junior ranger badge for the memorials, and went to the Washington Monument.

We then went to the Holocaust Museum, which is something that I found quite devastating. I stayed with Papa most of the time, and looked in the younger children area with him because I was scared of what I might see. Papa told me that he had asked, and 80% of the museum was in one exhibit. We only managed to do the top floor of the main exhibit before having to leave.

We then went back to our apartment so that we could go to bed.