Washington, DC

The Programme finished on Friday. I enjoyed almost every minute of it, learned a lot about American politics, became interested in learning a lot more, and made what I hope are some enduring friendships - particularly with Wafaa from Egypt, Ingrida from Lithuania, and Conelius from Indonesia - but I was glad for it to finish. For a start, I didn't want to go another day without seeing Graeme, Bridget, and Hugh.

They arrived in Washington at 6.30 am on Saturday - absolutely shattered by the marathon trip, and, no doubt, at least in Graeme's case, by preparation for it. Bridget caught a cold and a tummy bug somewhere along the way, and has spent most of the last three days in bed, although I did drag her down to see the White House today - couldn't have her visit Washington and not see that! Graeme and Hugh are recovering from the trip, but are still tired, and both are fast asleep now at 9.00pm.

I have loved Washington DC. There is so much to do here: the free museums, the crazy memorials, the parks, the political buzz of it all. Just snatches of conversation are entertaining - when we were walking past the National Women's Democratic Party Headquarters, for example, a young woman coming in the other direction skited to her friends, "we sued them".

The rooftop picture above was the view out of the first hotel I stayed in.

This guy is posted outside the White House.

These were some of the thousands of bits of political memorabilia; I could have spent a fortune but, fortunately, restrained myself. There'll be time enough when they have running mates!

In the last 10 days I've visited the (outside of the) White House; Capitol Hill (where we saw Hillary Clinton and John Kerry on the floor of the Senate - big thrill!), the Lincoln memorial (which pretty much made up for the only-paying-to-paint-one-arm painting in the Boston State House); the Vietnam memorial (spooky - you walk down a reflecting wall with the names of the 55,000 US soldiers carved into in chronological order. By the time you get to the bottom corner the wall is seven feet tall, and the feeling is one of quagmire and horror); the Korean War memorial; the Second World War memorial (they know how to do large and glorious here); the Library of Congress (ambitious, self-conscious, gorgeous); Filene's basement (discount shopping goodness); Howard University; several art museums; the Natural History Museum, McDonalds inside the Air and Space Museum before Hugh got too tired and we had to go back to the hotel; the National Archives; the National Acquarium; and the National Botanical Gardens.

All great. And, it is such a good walking city - flat, wide streets, and excellent crossing signals .

But, tomorrow we leave in the early afternoon for the first leg of our journey cross-country, hoping to make it as far as Waynesboro. We're also hoping Bridget is going to be OK to take a long drive. Phase II begins!