DAY 7 USA 8th November 2011 – Washington D C (The Capitol)

I cannot stop raving about the DISTRIKT hotel (http://www.distrikthotel.com/) or staff in that hotel. Definitely worth a visit if someone wants a recommendation for a nice hotel. It doesn’t have the grandeur expected from a hotel but location and service are essential to its soul. A little walk around the city and a little more shopping on 5th Avenue and then it was a race to get to the train to DC…Believe it or not I walked 7 blocks carrying 3 bags and wheeling another one. And yes I was sweating like a pig. I got to Penn Street Station and booked what is my first First Class travel on the express to D C () The service on the train was exceptional and loved the Wi-Fi, the relaxing stress free atmosphere and the meal was better than any airline food ☺ It ran 15 minutes late in Jersey and who cares really…well not I. I made it to Union Street Station Then from there to The Morrison Clark highly recommended if you are staying in DC. The first stop was to head down to the White House What I noticed along the way were squirrels and protestors but just a great place to walk to. I had a few hours to kill before I was due to catch up with a friend (Dana) for dinner later that evening. Equipped with my camera and a body recovered (somewhat) from the marathon I continued walking for about 2 hours… Loads of photos and I am already in love with DC. Somewhere deep inside I still reminisce about going to Uni and having that dream job as an economic policy maker… Well, its never too late. Dinner was at this amazing little wine bar with a bottle (maybe two) of kiwi wine and Dana’s mesmerising company discussing law, studies and job prospects. Talking about career, drive and success and she reminds me of a young Hany who thought that working hard and delivering the impossible is the true gate to happiness as it’s direct delineation of measure of worth. Much older Hany now does not hold those same beliefs and although it’s very tempting to explain that to her; however, we agree to leave the topic alone and agree that some lessons are only learnt by personal experience. I have to say that for a gen-Y, she clearly has intriguing perceptions of her surrounding world and a level of maturity and smarts not easily demonstrated by people much older than her young years. It’s funny that we meet again after our one off chance meeting in Lisbon early in the year. The world is a very small place.