I survived the Greyhound experience! The mumbling man who wasn't going anywhere, the man whose beard covered his whole face, and the woman who kept shouting and laughing did not ruin the trip and I managed to survive the whole seventeen hours. Not the most fun I've had, especially as a little Mexican man decided to sit next to me rather than the people with short legs so I was forced to crumple up behind a fool whose chair was fully reclined.

Arrived in Washington D.C. at 12, only to be told I couldn't check in until 2, and the lockers I could store my stuff in until then would cost $4. I just sat in the reception reading my book to fill the time, no need spending unnecessary pennies: that and the fact that I didn't want to inflict the smell of clothing that I'd accumulated on the bus making me smell just like a Greyhound user!

Nothing much happened that first afternoon, I simply wandered to the Safeway and found out that I was in the minority in downtown D.C. Although I did see a hugely obese woman in an automated wheelchair reverse into a mother to prove a point that her daughter was in her way! Random.

I managed to get up to the top of the Washington Monument on my first day, I couldn't get up until noon though so I had to kill a few hours until then. I wandered over to the WWII monument, the Lincoln memorial, and finally to Arlington Cemetery. I saw JFK's grave and the rows upon rows of military graves, but didn't make it to the tomb of the unknown soldier for the changing of the guard as I hadn't realised quite how far the cemetery was from the monument. A speedy walk back meant I made it to the queue just before 12, but my brow was in need of a mop by then.

The lift took about 87seconds I think the guide said, although when we got to the top I was disappointed by the state of the windows, the pictures are murky as a result. The views over the Capitol were very good, as was the view over toward the Lincoln memorial. I was shocked by how southern the accents were of the locals when I was walking around the monument, but then I suppose we are close to the states of North Carolina and Kentucky, just shows how limited my geography is of the US. I'll have to get some lessons from Catlin. There were a few free outings and meals listed in the hostel so I was sure to sign up for the free meals in particular (pasta on Monday, tacos on Tuesday), but also for one of the outings to a free classical concert at the National Gallery of Art. Our guide was an elderly man who took about eight of us on the short walk to the gallery, stopping by Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot, and the house where he died, which had a helpful sign displaying 'the house where Lincoln died'.

The concert was singing rather than simply music as lots of us had expected, it was still good of course, but the strange arrangement of the hall wasn't a good aid to our views. One of the girls from the hostel found it more interesting to read her Twilight book during the concert, whilst a bloke next to me, again from the hostel, played Uno on his iphone. Both English, doesn't say a lot for our supposed manners does it? The guide was amazed that I live so close to the Cadbury factory and have never been, so I'll have to rectify this when I go home! After the concert a few of us Brits went to the Capital Brewery for a drink, it was quite strange hearing so many English accents after so long, took me a while to get used to it. I think I liked being a rarity. I managed to get a cup of chilli and cornbread for just $5 and what I think was just a half-pint of Belgian Tripple, which was very much like the strongest ale at the Wrekin Tap! Managed to finish it though, took it slowly mind, as the cheeks do redden quickly these days.

I took another of the organised tours on Monday to the Smithsonian Castle. It was literally just a walk to the castle and then pawning us off to the actual Smithsonian guide, but at least I got to chat to a few other people: there was a Brazilian lady, a man from Montana, and one of the hostel staff who had studied in London for a year. The tour guide made reference to the English burning down the Capitol building and suddenly I wasn't as fond of being the only Brit! We learnt about James Smithson and his random gift to the US government, particularly as he had no American family and had never even visited the place. It was interesting to learn that when his body was offered to the American government by the Italians, after they wanted the gound beneath him for marble, Alexander Graham Bell and his wife were the people who went to claim his remains. I didn't make it to all 19 Smithsonian institutions, but did visit the African Art Museum, the Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, and Museum of American History. The African Art was disappointing, as it focused on Western and Central Africa so I couldn't equate it to my travels, and the Natural History Museum was just more stuffed animals and fish, there's only so many you can view on one trip. Maybe I'm just becoming a moron. The Air and Space Museum was very interesting, although I didn't spend too much time reading about the displays I did take lots of photos and look at all the varied machines. I took a fair few snaps of the Douglas plane too! The American History Museum was pretty good too, although the exhibit with Dorothy's shoes was quite small, there was an exhibit about the price of freedom displaying all of America's wars. Again I felt a little out of place when the British were mentioned in the first part of the displays, particularly when the Americans in the exhibit referred to us: I kept my mouth shut.

My final day in D.C. started with an early start to get tickets for the Capitol tour: I arrived at 8.45 after a few directions from the policemen and managed to get in the 8.50 tour. Result. There was a fifteen minute video about the origins of the building and the congress, and of course the English burning down the original building, and then a twenty minute tour of the building. The tour was quite good, although we ended up with a bearded tour guide whose tie was loose and top button undone, not a good ambassador for the Capitol. It wasn't quite as awe-inspiring as I thought it would be, I was more impressed by the outside to be honest. The Library of Congress was very good though. Following my dalliance with the powers that be I wandered over to the Vietnam Memorial: in my ignorance I hadn't realised until I went to the museum that the war had lasted over twenty years. Shocking. After buying a hoody from one of the many carts selling them I went to the Archives Museum, letters to the President asking him not to cut Elvis' hair, and offering a dollar for a loaf of bread taken during the civil war were quite captivating, although I managed to get told off by the guard when my flash accidentally went off. I said I was only taking a picture of a wall rather than an artefact, but he just repeated 'no flash'. Yes sir!

On the day I checked out I managed to smuggle two bagels, a banana, and a peanut butter and jam sandwich from breakfast for my six hour bus ride to New York. Impressive. I sat in reception for an hour after checking out and then made my way to the Megabus pick-up point: the bus arrived at 1 ready for a 1.30 departure, but just before it drove off again the driver told us it had broken down. Most mobile broken down bus I'd seen. After telling the next bus driver to pull in that she had to give up her bus, which resulted in her walking off, we were away for 2pm: New York here I come!