The Mall

Hi everyone. This week we have spent quite a lot of time visiting the museums around the Mall. The Mall is this long, green rectangle of open space in the middle of Washington and many of the Smithsonian Museums are housed around it. The Capitol Building sits at one end and at the other is the Washington Monument, with the Lincoln Memorial behind that. We spent a bit of time in the Mall on Friday, having a snack and Pia enjoyed feeding the pigeons, and it had a nice, lively, summery atmosphere.

The girls have done some interesting things this week. On Tuesday, they went to a kids art talk at the National Gallery of Art. A guide gave a talk on one of the paintings (Interior of the Pantheon, Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini) and then read a story. Finally, the children did an art activity, which in this case was decorating their own version of the Pantheon. Pia had hers covered in squirrels (these are now her favourite American animal, she says!)

On Wednesday, we headed back to the Natural History Museum, fast becoming one of the girls' favourite museums here. This time we saw the exhibition on gemstones and minerals, which included the Hope Diamond (the largest diamond in the world). We also saw some of the dinosaur exhibit, although this was huge so we will have to return to finish it another day.

I have been struck since we've been here at how much some parts of Washington remind me of Paris. The monuments and museums are so huge and much of the architecture reminds me of buildings you would see in Paris. I'll include a photo of one such area near L'Enfant Plaza in which the archways and cobblestone paths could be straight out of Paris!

On Friday, we went to the Ripley Discovery Theatre, which is just behind the Smithsonian Castle. The girls watched the Franzini Family Circus Show in which they learnt about such things as balance, circular motion, centrifugal force and air pressure! There was a magical science dog, clown and crazy professor who, of course, made it all fun. They also had a ride on the merry-go-round which is in the middle of the Mall.

The rest of the week we have spent at the local park, where the girls get to meet some American playmates,the local pool and hanging out at home. The weather has been a bit kinder this week, with not as much humidity, which has been a nice change. This afternoon, I am off to do a tour of the Eastern Market / Capitol Hill area.

James also wants me to report how much Pia has been enjoying learning about American Presidents, past and present. He has bought her several readers on Obama and Abraham Lincoln. Pia was not overly impressed at first, but she has actually enjoyed reading about their life stories and their journey to become President. The park just down the road, Lincoln Park, has a statue commemorating Lincoln's emancipation of the African-American slaves, so Pia gets reminded of this fact each day as we walk past. I'm sure by the time we return, she will have learnt about many more Presidents!