ワシングトン第四番写真！

During the lunch break today, I ran back out to 'The National Mall' part of Washington DC, a few blocks from where my conference is meeting. I took another picture of the Capital, but my goal was to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial, which I didn't get to visit on Sunday when I took the last set of pictures.


I also took the opportunity to stop in a few of the famous museums here. This is the Natural History Museum. I just got this one picture of a stuffed African Elephant. I didn't visit the rest of the museum, I just came in for a minute to cool off, it is really hot and humid in Washington!


Next I stopped at the American History Museum, which I visited many times since I was a kid growing up here. They used to have the original Ft. McHenry 'Star Spangled Banner' flag from the War of 1812 hanging here, but now its been moved to a side gallery where its undergoing restoration. The restoration center is viewable from behind a window, but no pictures allowed. :-(

THIS flag is the one that was hung on the wall of the Pentagon after the September 11th attacks. Not necessarily as historically important. But an appropriate replacement.


But the reason I came in was to get a picture of this. Its a famous (infamous) statue of George Washington that was made in the 1800s. I recall reading that it was stuck in the basement of the Capital because it was considered horribly tacky and somewhat sacriligious to see George Washington's face on an otherwise classical statue. A wait, the whole story is here.

It somewhat reminds me of that ambiguous statue they have in Nagasaki though.


The Washington Monument. Do you notice that the difference in stone color and size at the top and bottom of the monument? As you may know, during the US Civil war in the 1860s they stopped construction and didn't resume for more than 10 years. when they restarted, the stone was slightly different.


Next I went to the new WWII memorial and took a few pictures and looked around. Its not too bad, nice classical design, but a bit too much of an unfocused kludge perhaps? The posts around the outside list the names of all the US states and territories at the time, the left side represents the Pacific War, the right side the Atlantic war. In front of each side is a listing of the major battles of each side.

There are also some bronze reliefs on the steps leading into the memorial showing random battle scenes. AND some quotes from famous leaders on the walls in several strategic spots. Like i said, a little unfocused. :-P


Here some old photos were left by the family or friends of someone who fought in the battle of Okinawa. There were several letters, flowers and pictures left at different places around the memorial.


The memorial is at the opposite end of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln memorial.


Some ducks were swimming around.


I took another self portrait.


Next I walked down to the Vietnam War Memorial. I remember when this one was opened in the late 80's. It was very controversal when it was first proposed and constructed. Some veterans complained that it wasn't like a normal memorial that honored a war. But the focus of this memorial is on the war dead, the veterans and their families, not the war itself. The names of all the dead are written on the wall. Which of course makes it a much more personal memorial, and therefore much more unique.



A Yemeni news crew was here filming visitors to the wall. You can see the polished black granite w/ the names on it, and at the base a plaque left by a friend or family member.


Nearby is one of two statues added to the monument. This one shows 3 soldiers, another later addition shows 3 nurses. It should be noted that this wasn't part of the designer (Maya Lin)'s original design, but rather was forced upon the memorial as a compromise to people demanding a more 'conventional' memorial (they really feel like they need a statue to memorialize?)


OK, thats enough for tonight. I have a bunch more picture from the Lincoln memorial and some more from the Air and Space museum (again), that I'll put up tomorrow or friday!