When I went to Washington for the first time I didn’t know what to expect. For many reasons the city was puzzling. Being a home for the government, embassies and all this official business it was so diverse than New York city and other American metropolis. Washington is really special: without skyscrapers and overwhelming noise it tries to convince you that the most important things in this country take place in appropriate context of beautiful buildings and vast avenues where memory of the past events is well preserved. I remember that the beginning of this trip was pretty turbulent before I even took off! In the morning the first stressful event woke me up: there were no places available on the parking place despite my reservation. I wanted to left my car in Bologna in Italy to take the plane to Frankfurt in Germany to continue my trip further west, to Washington DC. After almost half an hour the employees of the parking came to work after their breakfast and found my reservation, took my car and gave me a lift  to the terminal, where a wild crowd occupied the desk, the main hall and, to be exact, the whole airport. I was already late. And a bit nervous. It caused a wired reaction of retreat and for a split second I thought I should get back home instead of going somewhere. But just after this thought came to me I smiled and simply decided that despite these inconveniences this trip will be FUN! After a while, the ladies at the desk called all ‘late passengers’ to report at the desk IMMEDIATELY and so I started a difficult activity: pushing through a crowd with a suitcase. Although I haven’t become a world champion in this competition I was able to get to the desk on time to be further delayed by the bus that wasn’t there. All in all, everything was LATE. Fortunately,  my plane in Frankfurt was also late and so after this turbulent morning I finally got aboard of my plane heading to Washington. As you may imagine the plane in Frankfurt broke down and all passengers had to wait for a different plane to be prepared, including the luggage re-dropping. Right, it didn’t seam to be a perfect holiday but this nasty beginning drained the limit of bad luck for the whole trip. After all, this is not a bad combination. Unless you are fearful and the difficulties at the first stage discourage you to continue. In my case it was a favorable circumstance. Therefore, after less than 24h I landed in Washington. My visit in Washington started with an excellent breakfast next morning. I found this place by chance but I can recommend you to eat there a full breakfast, brunch or lunch. It’s Annie’s Paramount Steak House on 17thNW street (full address: 1609 17th Street Northwest). Everything I ate there was simply delicious, but it’s not only the quality of food that made me to go there more than once. It was the atmosphere of a neighborhood pub where people know each other. I enjoyed a noise of such place: I believe that you can actually hear the difference between an ordinary noise in, let’s say, subway where all people are strangers and the noise of a place like Annie’s Steak House. So, I was sitting in this pub and listening to the voices and laughs of the locals and enjoying my pancakes. Lovely start of a perfect day! With full stomach life is good! I started my official visit in Washington from a short stop in a National Museum of American History, just to refresh my memory. With its vast collection of interesting objects this museum is really pleasant to visit. You get an impression of what the American life is. I really like the idea of showing every-day-objects in a museum, especially when a huge truck or a train make a real noise! The objects displayed are not old or at least in Europe they would not be exhibited in a museum. But in order to understand the United States and the way the things are organized you need to get familiar these modern objects considering their novelty when they were first produced. I found this picture below with a funny note: It’s OK if you need to cry! Love it! As I wrote in first paragraph I was very lucky to find myself in Washington when all cherry trees were blossoming. It made every outdoor activity so spectacular! Walking around Tidal Basin or National Gallery of Art brings you to the endless flower shop. This elegant pastel pink color of cherry blossom with blue sky as a background is simply beautiful. I knew I was lucky to see it because I bought the plane ticket in advance and had no idea if I make it. But I did. And it was so bloody special! To write about Washington one post is not enough. As I spent there more than a week and saw many fascinating sites I think I will publish another post.  

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