TRIP TO WASHINGTON DC - DAY 3 - 09-04-10

We were advised to use Metro rail rather than our car for sight seeing due to parking problems in the Mall area. The Silver Spring Metro station was about 15 minutes drive from our hotel. We planned on an early start , but, managed to leave hotel around 9-30am. It was an unusually cold and windy day. It took us a bit of time to find a all day public parking and finally we entered the station past 10am.
The Metro rail is very convenient and very popular public transport in Washington DC. There are four lines operating in different routes - Red, Blue, Orange and Green. They overlap sometimes and intersect at convenient points for transfer from one route to another. Silver Spring is on Red line and we bought a all day ticket for $ 8 per head and boarded the train. We got off at Metro Center and transferred to an Orange which was one level below us and got off at Smithsonian. Most of the stations are underground but a few are at the ground level too. The trains were comfortable and well maintained.

NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM:
This museum is located on the Independence Avenue and 4th street. Even as you enter the museum the first exhibit that hits your eye is the APOLLO 11 Command Module " COLUMBIA" on display. I recalled the thrill of man's first landing on moon and the famous quote of Armstrong "... a small step for man but a giant leap for mankind.."



Upstairs we visited the WRIGHT BROTHERS 1903 FLYER and spent sometime there.You look at that first aircraft made and flown by them and you realize how much progress man has made in the twentieth century.


There were a number of other rockets and planes on display and there was quite a rush too. We spent an hour there and then walked down to our next destination National Archives.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES :
The National Archives is located at 700, Pennsylvanian Avenue.We sat outside while Chandu went to get our lunch of subway sandwiches. My interest in the Archives was ignited more than a decade back when i read Jeffrey Archer's book "Honour among Thieves". ( if you have not read it i recommend it). This museum has on display THE ORIGINAL CHARTERS OF FREEDOM.

Entry to the museum is through free passes some of which can be booked in advance on internet and some of which are issued at the museum on a daily basis. We couldn't get the advance booking through internet and there was a very long Q for the other passes. I found a much shorter Q for those with internet booked passes. The original documents are stored in underground vaults and pulled out at specified times of the day. As per the information on web site on that Friday there were two more pull outs at 2-30pm and 3-30pm. I didn't want to miss at any cost, so, left my folks saying that i would try my luck.

I went and joined the short Q of special passes. When i reached the gate i told one of the black officers there that i have come from far off India, could not get the pass on the web, it was my ambition to see the Original charters of freedom as they are sacred and could the officer help me. I must have sold my self well because he just said " sir, you come with me" and took me past the security (after a check of course) straight to the Exhibition hall where they were on display. Others must have thought i was some VIP visitor as he escorted me!!!!!!!

I saw the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and the Bill of Rights (collectively known as charters of freedom). I also saw the original 1297 MAGNA CARTA on display there. What really impressed me was the care with which these centuries old documents are preserved by the Government at a great cost and revered by the people. I thanked the officer profusely while leaving the museum because he made a dream come true for me. When i joined my group they were just finishing their lunch and were very happy for me.
Our next destination was the Holocaust Museum and we took a cab there.

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM :
Back in seventies i have read several books on Nazi atrocities , Concentration camps and Gas chambers, mostly by Leon Uris. I was deeply moved by this genocide and mass extermination of people by Hitler. Thus, the Holocaust Museum was a must see for me.
This is located at 100, Raoul Wallenberg Place,SW. There was a heavy rush of tourists at this place too. There is permanent exhibition for which entry is only through daily passes and they ran out by the time we went there. However, there were many other things to see there.

We saw a 15 minute movie called LIBERATION in a auditorium there. It included the stories of holocaust survivors and their liberators ( in first person), soldiers who freed the victims from the concentration camps. It was very touching and left a lump in my throat.
We also saw a very touching exhibition " Remembering the children- Daniel's story" which tells us the story of Holocaust as witnessed and suffered by Daniel, a young jewish boy in Germany, with a almost real life depiction through pictures and his diary.
I climbed up several steps with Chandu along and visited the Hall of Remembrance where we pay a silent tribute to the six million jews who were exterminated by Hitler and the Nazis in the concentration camps.

We returned to our hotel by the same route by 7-30pm, tired but satisfied.