Washington, DC: More Famous Buildings

Jewish hospitality. I woke up to find Erez (my couch surfing host) tiptoeing around in his own condo so he wouldn't wake me. Since I woke up, he cut some fruit for me before leaving for work. I don't think I'm having the typical couch surfing experience here... He's the world's sweetest guy.

I've been using the DC Metro to get around town for the past two weeks. Most stations look like the below picture with this 70's modern architecture. Even more interesting, however, is that the trains are exactly the same funky ones we have in SF for BART.

Desperate for a greasy spoon, I looked to Yelp for some recommendations and this is what popped up. Pete's Diner near the Congressional Library. Greasy, yes. Ann's Soup Kitchen it is not - not even close.

Fountain in front of the Library of Congress (left) and front of the Library of Congress (right)

Beautiful architecture and detailing in the Library of Congress

United States Supreme Court building (left) and US Capitol building (right)

Union Station exterior (left) and interior (right) - one of the busiest train stations in the United States

Replica of the Liberty Bell

United States Postal Museum!

There was a display about lost mail in the Postal Museum. Back in the day, sometimes people didn't know exact addresses so mail that couldn't be delivered was sent to the Dead Letter Office. There, the postal workers would either try to figure out what the sender meant or was trying to describe or they would open the letter to find clues where the letter was meant to go. One of the examples in the exhibit was the one below to Cornell University, post dated 1883!