I decided that since the train was only $30.00 each way I would go to Washington DC as it wasn’t an overly huge distance from New York City.
This post talks about that part of the trip.
One cool thing I noticed about the DC metro is that when a train is approaching the lights on the platform start to flash and will continue to flash until the metro leaves. They will continue to flash if another train is close behind and will only stop flashing once the train has gone and no others are due in the next 30 seconds. You can see that from the video below.
Some of the stations have an upper level and a lower level with rails and platforms. I guess it’s to save space. It’s pretty cool. You can see this at Pentagon station in the image below.
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Today was an early start from New York as my train was at 08:05 from Moynihan Train Hall and it was about 45 minutes from leaving the hostel to get to the station. I also needed to be there 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time.
I grabbed myself some food and waited around in the departure hall for the train. They have a weird way of boarding in the US. You are told 10 minutes before departure which platform the train will be boarding. You then have to queue up until they let you on to the platform and then get on board. It was a very strange way of doing it.
Once we were on the train, the conductor came down and checked our tickets and popped a card above the seat to say that the tickets were checked. They said if you moved seats you needed to take the card with you. Seems like an easy way to fare evade. The train journey was around 4 hours and it was a daytime journey which made it a bit better as I had a window seat and scenery to look at. Jamie and I made the journey between New York City and Pennsylvania back in 2006 to get her visa for the UK. Some of the journey was familiar and some not so much.
I arrived at DC Union station around 11:45 and got off the train and was awed at the size and grandeur of the station. I headed for the metro to get my travel pass so I could go and check in to the hostel and drop my bag off so that I could go out into the wilds of DC.
The DC metro is very grand. It has Soviet levels of size inside. It’s crazy how huge they are inside. You can see this in the picture below.
All of the stations I visited were on this scale. I digress.
I got to a station that was about a 20-minute walk from the hostel. I walked to the hostel and it was a nice walk (even though it was 29 degrees). I got to the hostel and luckily there was someone there to let me in. It didn’t look too good from the outside and the reviews seemed to be right. I ignored them for the cost. You do get what you pay for. I walked upstairs and checked in and they didn’t have a lower bunk for me so they had to make up a new bed.
The hostel had serious serial killer vibes. It was untidy and dirty. Lots of long-termers. Not at all a hostel but more a motel. I was happy to drop my bags off and head out. I found out where the closest Walmart was and headed out to it so I could look for some clothes and something to drink.
As I got off the bus I saw the US capitol building was really close. I got what I needed from Walmart and headed towards the Capitol building and The National Mall. It was a nice easy walk. I walked around Capitol Hill and noticed that for a huge tourist attraction it was eerily quiet. I walked around and got some pictures and found a cop on a bike to ask where I could find some souvenirs. He stopped and pointed me to where I could find some. I asked him why it was quiet and he said it was because the capitol building was closed on Saturdays.
I walked around some more and walk down towards where the Smithsonian museums were to see if I could find some souvenirs. I went into the National Gallery of Art and had to go through a metal detector and have my bag checked before I could walk around. I was also only allowed to carry the bag on one shoulder. They had a souvenir store but nothing that said Washington DC. I left and walked towards the Washington Monument. I was in awe at everything that was on either side of the street.
I got to the Monument and it was weird to see all the flags at half-mast for dear old Lizzie. The Washington Monument’s size isn’t really done justice in pictures. The lift inside takes you up 500ft (more about that on day 3). As I sat at the monument, I was just watching the planes coming in to land and I could have sat there all night (shame I didn’t have any food or drink). As I was looking around I saw The White House out of the corner of my eye so I headed toward it to see what kind of pictures I could get. I was able to get some at the end of the South Lawn.
I saw a cop and asked if that was the only view where I could get pictures and he said I could go to Pennsylvania Avenue and get some pics from that side. It was cool to actually see it that close only ever having seen it in pictures in books and on TV.
After I was done here, I decided to head to a Subway to get some food and charge my phone. I was in here for about an hour and then decided to continue the walk back to the hostel so I could get some much-needed sleep.
Today was a really good day and I enjoyed walking around.
Total steps: 24,621
Total miles: 11.91
Below are some pics from today
