Along the way, we marveled at the beautiful houses and yards. We didn't see many (any?) lawns. Wish we could do something like that at home, but it's against village rules.
I think this might be Rock Creek. In any case, it was very beautiful! Also, we took advantage of shady spots for a slight respite from the sun. It was quite hot even at 9 in the morning.
At one point, we could see that we were very close to the zoo, but weren't quite sure how to get there as the roads on our map were not clearly marked. We asked a construction worker (in the white truck in the lower part of the photo) and he told us we needed to get on top of the bridge! We had a steep and rather treacherous climb, but made it safely.
We were quite impressed with the zoo -- another class-act from the Smithsonian. Close upon entry, they had displays about how to increase the allure of your backyard to wildlife. Brian spent a few minutes photographing this butterfly:
Here's another angle; I couldn't decide which one I liked best.
This elephant gets a public bath every day, and we happened to be in the right place at the right time to see it. He loves his bath! It was great to see him following all of his keepers' commands so that his entire body was cleaned.
I must admit that we don't really understand the hubbub around pandas at zoos. When we were at the San Diego Zoo a few years ago, we didn't stand in the hours-long line for a close look at their pandas, but we did catch a glimpse of them en route to a different exhibit. There was no line at the National Zoo, but not much panda excitement, either.
I won't bore you with all of the animal pictures we took, but here is a giant tortoise. I think she's an Aldabra, but I'm no longer certain.
We really liked the Invertebrate Exhibit, although I must admit it creeped us out a bit. There were zoo volunteers that approached us and told us fascinating stories about the animals we were watching.Brian didn't think that I showed sufficient fear on my face (there is nothing separating the viewer from the spiders), so he had to have a go (but not with his back completely to the exhibit!):
As we were leaving the building, one of the volunteers threw some crickets into the spider's web, and it was interesting to see how fast she went after them!
Our other favorite exhibit, of course, was Amazonia. We spent a long time in this building! We started out on the bottom, where there were lots of fish. The school of fish here are Australian Rainbowfish (so not sure why in the Amazon building!) but we have a school of these in our fish tank at home.
Here's Brian, looking into one of the other aquariums. The fish closest to him are discus.
In this short video, you can see one of the large fish trying to eat some zucchini. Although it may not look like he was successful, after he left, we could see that some was missing!
We then went upstairs, where the animals live together, not in cages. There were so many different beautiful species of plants and animals!
This bird was pretty good at camouflaging himself with the leaves!
This one kind of reminded me of a cardinal. He was very quick and it was hard to get a good picture of him!
In the background, you can see a scarlet macaw. We watched her eating a nut for several minutes, and then she climbed up higher and disappeared from our sight.
We later came across these birds (I think they're rheas) who were very interested in Brian!
It was very hot, so we had to stop and enjoy a breeze when we could:
We left the zoo and found a little Mexican place for lunch. Then we took the metro back to downtown DC.Brian, reading the paper like a local:
We toured the Smithsonian's Renwick gallery, and then wanted to located the White House since we had our tour the next day. There was extreme security, but you can partially see the White House in the background.
Then, we went to the Smithsonian's Postal Museum. I didn't have high expectations going in (after all, how exciting is the mail?) but we had a fantastic time and I would recommend this museum! There were many different interactive exhibits, including some where you could "solve" mail crimes.
You could sit in this carriage and there was a voice talking about what the trip really would have been like.
Since it was getting late, we thought we'd have a better shot at the National Archives than the previous day, and we did! We were able to walk right in.This picture is extremely dark, but Brian is looking at the Magna Carta from 1297 when King Edward I confirmed the document first signed by King John in 1215. I believe it's the only copy in the new world.
We also saw the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, but it was very crowded and I didn't take any pictures.
After a long day, we took the metro almost home, getting off one stop early to eat at another restaurant recommended by the vegetarian guide I referenced in an earlier post: Julia's Empanadas.
This meal was so incredibly delicious that we decided we needed to go back later on in our trip. They have at least two vegetarian empanadas every day, with one changing frequently, as well as dessert empanadas, and a nice variety of soups and salads. We wish there was one of these near us!
After dinner, we went to the Target across the street from the restaurant and bought some snacks for the rest of the week.
Here is Brian entering our apartment. Isn't the entrance adorable, with the spiral staircase and everything?
We got home around 7:30, I believe, which may seem early, but we were exhausted from all of our walking and sightseeing. Plus, we had early appointments for the next morning.
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