It's Christmas. Emma's family have flown over from England, her mum Patricia, her brother Simon, his wife Janine and their daughter Thalia and it's a full house. It's lovely to be part of a family Christmas when we're so far from home. Kamran and Emma are super hosts and Olivia and Hannah are great fun. Not only are we treated to several meals out and get to meet their friends, but we also wine and dine in great style at the house. If it wasn't for walking Lola, their cockapoo, then we'd have ended up with one of those Christmas hangovers that comes with overeating. As it is we feel really happy to be here and feel like part of the family.
Before our lovely hosts returned from their holidays we'd taken our bikes back to the train station and took a trip to see Washington's Mall. This is the stretch of land between the Capitol building and Lincoln's Memorial down by the Potomac River. In between are serveral more monuments, too many war memorials because of too many wars, the ludicrously-tall obelisk to George Washington, and most of the Smithsonian Institute's museums. These national museums were funded by a donation to the US government by Andrew Smithson, a man who never set foot in the US alive. (He's buried here.) A wealthy businessman, he gave the money to the US government not long after the war between the US and Britain that ended in 1815. With the memory of British forces burning Washington's government buildings still fresh, the US initially refused the donation but eventually accepted it. The place was busy with tourists exploring the museums and taking obligatory selfies at all the iconic monuments.
Emma has managed to reserve tickets to the new Afro-American History Museum at the Smithsonian - it's an experience. The museum catalogues the messy history and the complex ironies of the US fighting for independence and liberty while maintaining slavery. We are overloaded with accounts of the heroes and the villains, shocked by the power and simplicity of some of the exhibits - particularly of the actual sharecropper's house on display. And one emerges finally with the positive and challenging words of Obama fresh in our minds back into the harsh light of today.
It seems we are only just visiting the Great Falls park on Christmas Eve before we're celebrating the New Year. There's been some snow and some seriously cold days. We've had a lot of fun playing family games in the evenings. Now it's time for Pat, Janine and Simon and Thalia to fly home to the UK. School starts for Hannah and Olivia and Kamran is back at work. Emma is preparing her next art workshop for a local primary school and we need to plan our onward journey south.
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| making of the gingerbread houses - possibly the only things we didn't eat |
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| Christmas morning |
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no rest
for the
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| a classic Christmas dinner |
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| MLK is the first non-president honoured at the Mall |
Emma has managed to reserve tickets to the new Afro-American History Museum at the Smithsonian - it's an experience. The museum catalogues the messy history and the complex ironies of the US fighting for independence and liberty while maintaining slavery. We are overloaded with accounts of the heroes and the villains, shocked by the power and simplicity of some of the exhibits - particularly of the actual sharecropper's house on display. And one emerges finally with the positive and challenging words of Obama fresh in our minds back into the harsh light of today.
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| a famous 1937 photo of black Americans queueing for flood relief after the Ohio River flood |
It seems we are only just visiting the Great Falls park on Christmas Eve before we're celebrating the New Year. There's been some snow and some seriously cold days. We've had a lot of fun playing family games in the evenings. Now it's time for Pat, Janine and Simon and Thalia to fly home to the UK. School starts for Hannah and Olivia and Kamran is back at work. Emma is preparing her next art workshop for a local primary school and we need to plan our onward journey south.
