Today we left Washington DC to fly to New York. We were lucky as Dad received a free upgrade for all of us to sit in Business Class seats. These are bigger seats and we have attention from the air hostess.

Once we landed in New York we caught a taxi to our hotel. We then walked along 5th Avenue and looked at the amazing shops. The streets of New York are formed in a grid, therefore when you look up the street you can see is all the traffic.  There were lots of people and it felt quite squashy at times.Like all the streets in New York, 5th Avenue is very long. We went into Tiffany and Co which is an exclusive jewelry story. It was originally formed in New York in 1837.

After walking along some of New York streets we went back to our hotel. We then caught up with some of dad’s friends who live in New York.

Today we had to get through a LOT of things!

We started off by catching the train on the Blue Line to Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery is a military cemetery that was established in the Civil War to honour those people who fought in wars and for American freedom. It has about 320,000 military members and their families laid to rest, and it is still growing.

Arlington also has the grave sites of John F. Kennedy and his family. John F. Kennedy was America’s 35th President and he was assassinated in  1963. John F. Kennedy promised to end racial discrimination in America. I also saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. We visited Arlington House, which was built between 1802- 1804. At the time it was built as a living memorial to George Washington by his step grandson but then because of the Civil War it became part of the cemetery. Arlington House is on the top of the hill of the cemetery and overlooks the cemetery and Washington DC.

After visiting Arlington National Cemetery we went to the National Museum of American History. This museum displays the heritage of America. Some of the major exhibits I saw were the:

• The original Star Spangled Banner flag;
• The ruby slippers from the story of The wizard of Oz;
• The First Ladies inauguration dinner dresses; and
• Some of Abraham Lincoln’s possessions.

The Star Spangled Banner was the flag that was flown during the Battle of Baltimore during the war of 1812. This flag inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words to the Star Spangled Banner which is now the American National Anthem. At the time the Star Spangled Banner had 15 stars, which represented the 13 states and one star for victory and one for liberty. Today’s USA flag has 50 stars to represent each state and 13 stripes that represent the original colonies.

After we finished going through the National American History Museum we went to the International Spy Museum. This had information about spies and espionage from the 21st Century dating back to the Revolutionary War.

At the spy museum mum and I had to take on a persona. I was an American 13 year old girl who was traveling in Ireland. In this museum I saw lots of spy gadgets. My favourite one was the camera hidden in a handbag.

After the spy museum we had to rush back to the hotel to be ready to catch a trolley bus night tour of Washington DC. This tour took us to see the:

• White House from the South Lawn;
• Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the third President of the Unites States, signed the Deceleration of  Independence and helped write the United States Constitution;
• Lincoln Memorial, where we finally found the exact spot that Martin Luther King Jr stood and said his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech; and
• Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial, which honours marines who have fought in war since 1775.

Today my Mum and I walked to the Metro Centre to catch a train on the Red Line to the National Zoological Park.The escalator from the Metro Station near the zoo was really steep. It is the biggest and steepest escalator I have ever been on! This station is the second deepest station in Washington and is about 48 metres below the ground. My mum did not take a photo, she was too scared to let go of the rails, but I found a picture online that shows how steep it is.

The National Zoological Park has 2000 animals with 400 different species. This was another big day of walking as the zoo is quite large. My favourite animals at the zoo were the:

• Giant pandas;
• Meerkats;
• Cheetah;
• Golden Lion Tamarin;
• Gorillas; and
• Orangutans.

Some animals I have never seen before, and I thought were a little bit strange, were the:

• Naked mole rat – a rodent, but it looks like a baby rat with no fur on its body;
• Alligator Snapping Turtle; and
• Prairie Dog – a rodent but it barks like a dog, they usually live in North America.

Seeing the Giant Pandas was awesome and the most favourite part of my visit to the zoo.  Giant Pandas are an endangered species and come from China.  The two Giant Panda’s at the zoo were named Mei-Xiang and Tian Tian. They also had a baby called Tai Shan  who was sent to China to be part of a breeding program. I liked the Giant Pandas because they were very cute and playful. You can also see the Giant Pandas through the zoo’s video cam.

The weirdest looking animal was the Alligator Snapping Turtle. It was weird because it had a turtle’s body but it also had  a tail and head like an alligator. It also had teeth.

Today we went to the National Air and Space Museum, which has exhibitions about space and air travel. This museum has the largest historical spacecraft and aircraft in the world. We spent the majority of our day here because there was so much to see.

When we walked into the entrance I spotted the Apollo 11 command capsule. I was able to touch this capsule as well. Apollo 11 is an important icon because it carried the first  astronauts who landed and walked on the moon in 1969. These astronauts were Neil Armstrong (he also walked on the moon), Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

I also touched a small piece of moon rock that came from the Apollo 17 mission. It felt very smooth.

I really loved this museum, therefore I will make note of only my really favourite exhibits. These were:

• Amelia Earhart’s plane – Amelia Earhart was a famous female aviator and she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
• The Wilbur and Orville Wright’s original 1903 canvas and wood flyer. The Wright brothers invented and built the worlds first successful plane. They tested and crashed many models before successfully flying the canvas and wood flyer.
• Going into the cockpit of a jumbo jet and looking at all the controls.

My most favourite activity at this museum was riding in an interactive  F-4 Phantom II jet fighter simulator. In this simulator there was a pilot and a gunner. I was the gunner and had to shoot attacking fighter jets. My dad’s mate, Justin, was the pilot. When Justin moved the controls to fly the jet it moved the simulator from side to side, and spun it up side down. Therefore when flying the plane Justin flipped the simulator and us upside down. Justin and I both screamed like girls the first time we were hung upside down. After a few flips we just thought it was funny and I actually shot some enemy. I think that we would not make very good fighter pilots

The National Mall is not a shopping centre. The National Mall is where all the national museums and monuments are. The Mall basically begins at The Capitol and you can then walk all the way along it to the Lincoln Memorial. Yes, it was another day of walking The National Mall is sort of like Canberra’s Parliamentary Triangle.

Our first visit was to the National Archives. Out of the front of the building are lots of large columns, which reminds me of the National Library in Canberra. The National Archives hold a lot of history on America. It is also where you can see the original copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; altogether these documents make up the Charter of Freedom. These documents were the first documents to form the United States, after the Americans fought the British for their freedom and their rights to no longer be part of the British Empire. The United States Declaration of Independence was signed on 4 July 1776.

I also saw two other exhibitions they were:

1. The Public Vaults – this was a mix of exhibits about American history from about  the late 1700s up until today. We also saw a patent for a solar hot water system dating back from the mid 1800s.
2. Discovering the Civil War – this was about how North and South America fought each other over State Rights, Politics and the abolition of slavery. The Civil War lasted for four years, 1861 -1865, and many Americans died in this war. At the end of this war the President, Abraham Lincoln, made the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which outlawed slavery.

After visiting the National Archives we walked along the National Mall to visit the Washington Monument. It was built to honour George Washington, who led the country to independence in 1776. This is the tallest freestanding stone structure (about 169 metres) in Washington. If you look closely the Washington Monument has two different coloured bricks. This is because the Government started to build it in 1848 but run out of money to complete it, then there was the Civil War as well. It was finally finished on December 6, 1884.

We then walked further along the National Mall to visit the National WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial was built in 1922 in memory of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America. The memorial was built because Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery and give freedom and rights to the black Americans. This caused the American Civil War. Lincoln Memorial is where people come to celebrate and protest about civil rights. It is also where Martin Luther-King, Jr, gave his ‘I Have a Dream‘ speech, on the 28th August 1963.

I have learned so much about American history in the last few days. My legs are also getting a good work out

Other photos you may find interesting that we took:

• National WWII Memorial
• Vietnam Veterans War Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• Attacking squirrel

The day started by walking from our hotel to The Capitol. The Capitol was built in 1793, to house Congress,  where the US government makes decisions on laws. It is similar to what happens in the Australian Parliament, i.e. it has a Senate and a House of Representatives. However, I think The Capitol is way more impressive than Parliament House. The Capitol has quite a lot of history about it. It was built, but then during a war (early 1800s) it was burnt by the British and had to be rebuilt. The Capitol was built to also recognise how the Americans had to fight for their freedom of independence from the British. On the outside on the top of The Capitol’s dome sits the statue of Freedom.

My mum loved The Capitol because of its beautiful architecture. It is similar to architecture you would find in Greece and Rome. My favourite things at The Capitol were the paintings, which were from the late 1700s and from the 1800s. I also loved the rotunda and the dome. At the top of the dome is the Apotheosis of George Washington, which is a painting of George Washington surrounded by maidens. Two maidens represent Liberty and Victory, while the other 13 represent the 13 American States that existed at the time. Now there are 50 States, America has grown a lot since the 1700s.

We then visited the Library of Congress, which holds the largest number of books in the world. This building is beautiful because it is covered in mosaic tiles. The coolest thing I saw was Thomas Jefferson’s library. Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States and he helped write the Declaration of Independence. In Thomas Jefferson’s library was the collection of Thomas Jefferson’s books, some were from the 1500s. Through an interactive computer, I was able to view a few of the books and the pages within them, some were written in Latin but the computer translated it to English. I also was able to view the Reading Room, general visitors are not allowed into the actual room. This room is also very beautiful.

Our third and final stop was the National Museum of Natural History, this was really cool. I saw the Hope Diamond and the the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, both these diamonds are a rare blue colour and flawless. Both have also been worn by royalty. I learned that diamonds are made of carbon atoms. I also saw some of the exhibits which were used in the movie “Night at the Museum”. I saw the T-Rex exhibit, other dinosaurs and  many fossils. You were even able to touch some of the fossils which were millions of years old.

When looking at the exhibits, Mum and I became separated from Dad. When the museum was closing Mum and I were told by the security people we had to leave. We were not sure where Dad was and I became worried that he would be locked up in the museum. After all who knows what could happen in the night at this museum . Dad did eventually find us.

Wow, what a day. My legs were really tired after all the walking we did.

G’day, this is Hannah’s Dad, Steve. I’m just borrowing Hannah’s blog for a moment to let folks know that today, 27 November 2007, is Hannah’s 10th birthday.

She’s managed to make double figures without major damage to herself and has turned into quite the remarkable young lady – smart, funny and worldly. I have high hopes for her next 10 years.

I’m sure she’d be stoked if you were to comment here and wish her a happy 10th birthday.