To America We Go

The sky was cloudless and very hot again today; over 30°C and very humid. The weather forecasters are predicting record highs for tomorrow.

We made our way back to the National Mall after a Starbucks breakfast and located and rode around the White House before finding parking. In the beginning of this trip we were afraid to park anywhere except 100% legal parking spaces, but as we've gone along I've learnt what you can get away with when parking a motorcycle and now just slot the bike between cars close to where we want to be.

Our next stop was to be the Lincoln Memorial, but after riding around a huge block three times I was unable to find anywhere close to stop the bike. The roads are all one-way in the area, and a circuit around the monument means riding over a bridge to Arlington Cemetery, round a circle, then back past the monument all the way back to the Washington Monument. After the third attempt I gave up and we headed west along the Potomac river for a scenic ride.

An hour later we were back in the mall area and stopped near the Washington Monument to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The museum documents the state of affairs that led to the rise of the Nazi Party, the displacement of the people deemed undesirable, the "final solution" and the trials at the end of the war. There were quite a few people moving though the exhibits and it was eerie to be in a museum with such a sombre atmosphere; few talked, and those that did, in whispers. The exhibits of the personal possessions confiscated from the death camp victims, artifacts from the camps and videos screens with graphic footage left us feeling very sad. We weren't allowed to take any pictures in the actual exhibit halls.