Last night, when Heathrow was very quiet, we had a little assignation.  A phone call with a ten minute warning to grab my bags and head for the valet parking, where a wave from my hero signalled me to put them in the boot as he went off to sort out the paperwork.  The last packing adjustment was complete and all my Bernina notes, London clothes and a couple of small purchases which didn’t need to be taken across the ocean and back were left in the car – and I hoped that I hadn’t left something important behind!

 

 

The travelling companions were glad to be together again!

 

 

The vehicle of choice for today was an A380 rather than the 205.   We were headed for Washington Dulles Airport, sitting somewhere in the red bit of the swoosh.

 

 

Seven and a half trouble free hours later and there we were.  A bright, crisp afternoon with temperatures hovering around zero and thankfully, no snow!

 

 

With my hero switched into US-driving mode, we headed into the city and checked into our hotel.  It’s remarkably quiet here, hardly any traffic and not so many visitors either, which is great.

 

 

We couldn’t linger and wanted to make the most of the bright sunshine to ease the time difference so wrapped up and set off four blocks west to Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

 

You know who lives there, don’t you?  We didn’t have a dinner invitation though and no-one was skipping on the lawn today, so we took the pictures and moved right along.

 

 

No, of course we weren’t the only ones there!

 

 

The Capitol building is shrouded in scaffolding, but that’s fine because we’ve been there, done that, even if it was a few years ago!  We kept on walking though, as much to stay warm as to stay awake.

 

 

I was amused by the signs here – I guess that you shouldn’t attempt to simply drive through without stopping?!

 

 

We decided to leave the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for another day and instead, walked up the Mall towards the Capitol.

 

 

It turned out that we were walking the Federal Triangle Heritage Trail.  Who knew?

 

 

 

So that’s what we did.  Except that around about the half way point we were starting to get hungry.  And cold. We quite fancied a drink, too.

 

 

So turning up 7th St and spotting Carmines, we went right on in!  This Italian restaurant was new to us and seeing the prices, we wondered if we’d chosen wisely – it all seemed rather expensive for the simple, Italian family food it was offering.  But all soon became clear – it’s served “family style” – a huge bowl of pasta for several people.  Oh my goodness, we were stuffed when we left!  But it was good, it hit the spot and the lack of fuss suited us perfectly.

 

 

We walked back to the hotel through bustling streets and past a couple of familiar restaurants – Rosa Mexicana and Legal Seafoods are amongst our favourites in New York and Boston respectively – though whether we’ll sample them here, we’ll see.  We passed so many great possibilities for our time here, I very much doubt that we will go hungry.

 

 

So there we are.  Goodnight Washington.

It’s going to be warmer tomorrow and the forecast for the next few days is weird:  it was 0C today and the predicted temperatures for tomorrow, Saturday is 8C, Sunday 13C, and then on Monday it suggests it will be 22C.  What?!  So maybe we’ll wear two layers tomorrow, wear just one on Sunday and then on Monday, perhaps we’ll just need a T shirt and sunscreen?!

Whatever the weather, we’ll have fun.  That I know.