Rajeev's World

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Honouring War Heroes!

I have about two hours till my next meeting across the Potomac, in Virginia. And this was perfect time for a quick whirlwind around the memorials with my Uber driver, Joe!

My first stop on this whirlwind was at the National World War II Memorial at the far end of the National Mall...

The monument is dedicated to the Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during the Second World War. The monument consists of 56 granite pillars and a pair of small triumphal arches surrounding a plaza and fountain...

The arches depict the theatres of war - the northern arch is inscribed with "Atlantic" and the southern one, "Pacific"...

This is a fairly recent memorial...

The 56 pillars are inscribed with the names of each of the 48 US states as of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands...

A seal on the floor of the memorial using the Second World War Victory Medal design...

Commemorating the attack at the Pearl Harbour in Hawaii...

The Washington Memorial as viewed from the war memorial...

And the Lincoln Memorial...

Honouring the women heroes of the war...

The stars and the stripes...

And now heading to my next stop, with the very friendly Joe...

The Smell Of Power...

With my morning meeting successfully concluded, I stepped out into the sunny streets of Washington DC, where the smell of power reigns supreme...

I walked a bit to get a view of the residence of the most powerful person in the world today, the White House...

The view of the grand building from Lafayette Square. Since the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, is in town and is being hosted by the Obamas for a state dinner tonight, the areas ahead are cordoned off...

Some Russians supposedly campaigning for a "Vote4Peace" at the Lafayette Square...

The equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in front of White House - Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the United States...

InterContinental The Willard Washington D.C. - this hotel has an interesting history - it was the origin of the term "lobbying" and "lobbyist" - the grease that "oils" the cogwheels of politics not only in the United States but all over the world...

Anecdotal history of Washington, D.C. suggests that the term lobbyist was coined by President Ulysses S. Grant during his tenure in office in the 1870s. Grant used to visit the famous Willard Hotel frequently to take a break from stress of work. Despite his best efforts to keep his outings private, individuals standing in the hotel lobby would approach Grant and ask him for special favors or jobs. President Grant apparently referred to these people as lobbyists. And the term continues today, though it has evolved into becoming a well paying profession in the United States...

I took an Uber cab to save time to get to the memorials and my cab driver, a friendly and talkative middle-aged African American. Realising that this was my first visit to the District, he enthusiastically stories of the places we passed by. The Old Ebbitt Grill is quite an institution that has been here since the 1850s and has been a quick mealtime getaway for the occupants of the White House including the Bushes, Clintons and the Obamas...

The headquarters of the Organisation of American States - a pan-American organisation...

The Red Cross office on the 17th Street NW...

Flags of the United States, District of Columbia and Italy...

This reminds of how flags line up the Rajpath in Delhi, when foreign heads of state come visiting...

The Lockkeeper's House, a historic building at the corner of 17th Street, and Constitution Avenue, Northwest. This historic building has been here since the 1830s and has been preserved...

Glimpses of the Washington Memorial...

The Grand Lady Of The Hill...

On my way to my meeting from the Pennsylvania Avenue NW, I spot the United States Capitol building, that prompts me to take a short 5-minute detour to take a quick look...

Viewing the "Grand Lady of American Democracy" from the First Street SW...

The fascinating Capitol Building, is the home of the United States Congress, and is the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The magnificent white building sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall.

The building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, particularly with the addition of the massive dome and expanded chambers for the two houses, the House of Representatives in the south wing and the Senate in the north wing.

The Capitol is being prepped up for swearing in of the new president who will be elected in the next few days. And that's probably why hotels in DC are either fully booked or are exorbitantly priced - the upcoming elections have brought in the press, politicians, lobbyists and all kinds of people associated with elections...

I was quite fascinated by glistening dome. The dome is 88 metres in height and 29 metres in diameter. The dome was a subsequent addition and was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol. Constructed between 1855 and 1866, the dome was constructed at a cost of USD 1.05 million (equivalent to USD 232 million considering 2015 price levels)...

And this was really surprising - the dome is not stone, but cast iron carefully painted to appear to be made of the same stone as the main capitol building. And another surprise - this is actually two domes, one inside the other, with a total weight of 6,400 tonnes...

The dome is crowned by a statue - the Statue of Freedom made of bronze. The statue had been installed here in 1863...

And now I got to rush - I have exactly 18 minutes to make to my meeting, a short 10 minutes away!

A Walk Around Pennsylvania Avenue NW...

And here I am in Washington DC...

I woke up a big early at about 4 AM EDT, my body clock is still on GMT+9, I guess, thanks to jet-lag...

The day's schedule involves a few meetings - a 2 hour meeting till about 11 AM and then an afternoon meeting starting at 2 PM, going upto 6 PM. In between, I hope to walk around and visit a few monuments in Washington DC...

Heading out of my hotel - it's about 6.30 AM and I am looking for a decent place for breakfast. But the Union Market opens at 8, so I decided to head down to the downtown area and have a quick breakfast and checkout the architecture before my meeting commences...

I took the Metro to get to downtown and then walked down to the Pennsylvania Avenue NW close to where I would be having my next meeting...

Architecture from the 1940s...

The United States Navy Memorial Plaza straight ahead...

A quick breakfast at Starbucks with my favourite English Breakfast tea and the Wall Street Journal for company...

Stepping out to head to my meeting - I have over 40 minutes, so I decide to have a good look at the place - the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site...

And straight ahead is the building of the National Archives...

"What is past is prologue"

"Study the past"

This area is also called the Federal Triangle...

The Naval Heritage Centre with the Stars and Stripes flying resplendently...

About the National Archives...

"The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future"

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"

The original memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt - the idea grew out of a conversation that Franklin Roosevelt had with a Supreme Court judge, Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1941, in which he's believed to have said that if he were to have a monument in Washington, it should be in front of the National Archives and it should be no larger than his desk...

A homeless person sleeps behind Roosevelt's memorial...

The monument stands out for its simplicity - it is 3 feet tall, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide and was funded through an anonymous group of friends whose names are sealed into the base. The memorial was dedicated on the 20th anniversary of Roosevelt's death, April 12, 1965...