Washington, DC (April 2009)

Here’s a very brief description of my exploits in DC.

First of all, Nika and I spend a lot of time carting the two kids, Elliott and Quinn around, which was quite fun (except for the nappy changes and Elliott’s frequent tantrums).

We visited some of the traditional sights: the Capitol, the National Mall and Memorial Parks, the Freer and Sackler Galleries (Asian art), the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Memorial Museum (recommended), Arlington National Cemetary, the Phillips Collection (recommended), and some more.
We took an interesting and fun Washington DC Hop-On-Hop-Off Open-Top Double-Decker Bus Tour twice (once Nika, the kids and me, and a second time woth dad, An and Bert).
We also spend a weekend (and Nika’s birthday) at a gorgeous old “cabin” (made up of two ancient cabins, but very luxurious) in Virginian country.

The day before I left we rented a big and boring Chevy Impala to go to Great Falls Park, and its opposite neighbor, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. It did prove my car driving skills are quite rusty, especially in a big a car as an Impala – which has zero visibility front and rear. An and dad were quite nervous when I drove along Virginia’s country roads. Luckily speed limits there are so severe that I didn’t hold up traffic that much. I’m sure they were very relieved I handed over the whell after less than 10 km.
That evening, we went to see Dengue Fever at the State Theater, Falls Church, VA. Nika got invited/pushed on stage to sing a song with Chhom Nimol, the lead singer of DF.

Here are some photos.