(no subject)
11 April
I had a day off, to recuperate after Friday's yomp. I had completed Princeton the previous day, after all: so, aside from doing my laundry, I barely set foot beyond my bed all day -- and my poor feet definitely didn't thank me when I did so. But I have to report: American television sucks.
12 April
Next day, I got the train to Trenton ("Trenton makes, the world takes" -- only I missed the photo-opportunity from the train window). And there I changed for another to Philadelphia. Checked in at my hotel, and then went out again. Wandered down to South Street, around the centre, up to the Art Museum, and then back to the hotel, via Chinatown for food. A lot of places were closed for Easter Sunday, of course, but not quite everything. The Rastafarian shops on South Street were open, for instance: although I guess the Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different date anyway. But I was struck by the fact that there's absolutely nothing else worth visiting down on South Street any more, so many places having closed down since my time (and hence no reason to linger in town the next day). My feet and legs withstood most of the walk reasonably well, although I was rather hobbling a bit for the final hour. But four hours had Philadelphia well and truly done. It's not much of a town, to be honest. Indeed, I wouldn't have bothered with it at all, only the timings of other things meant that I had a day more than I needed, and so I figured that I would punctuate my trip from Princeton down to...
13 April
Well, if it's Monday, then this must be Washington. First time I've been in this place since 1993! I got the Greyhound bus down from Philadelphia. I do very much enjoy the Greyhound. Admittedly, with a journey time of only a little over four hours, this one doesn't qualify as a proper Greyhound ride: but I had neither the time nor the inclination to embark on the full-on three-day Greyhound experience. I reached my hotel in the late afternoon, having tragically missed another truly marvellous photo-opportunity as I walked down: a campaigning float, plastered with slogans and images about how homosexuality is an abomination, abortion is murder, and taxes are too high. Gotta love them Americans, they're so funny! And then, having checked in, I went out again for a wander around the Mall for two or three hours. But nothing very special to report. This is the boring bit in the middle.
I had a day off, to recuperate after Friday's yomp. I had completed Princeton the previous day, after all: so, aside from doing my laundry, I barely set foot beyond my bed all day -- and my poor feet definitely didn't thank me when I did so. But I have to report: American television sucks.
12 April
Next day, I got the train to Trenton ("Trenton makes, the world takes" -- only I missed the photo-opportunity from the train window). And there I changed for another to Philadelphia. Checked in at my hotel, and then went out again. Wandered down to South Street, around the centre, up to the Art Museum, and then back to the hotel, via Chinatown for food. A lot of places were closed for Easter Sunday, of course, but not quite everything. The Rastafarian shops on South Street were open, for instance: although I guess the Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different date anyway. But I was struck by the fact that there's absolutely nothing else worth visiting down on South Street any more, so many places having closed down since my time (and hence no reason to linger in town the next day). My feet and legs withstood most of the walk reasonably well, although I was rather hobbling a bit for the final hour. But four hours had Philadelphia well and truly done. It's not much of a town, to be honest. Indeed, I wouldn't have bothered with it at all, only the timings of other things meant that I had a day more than I needed, and so I figured that I would punctuate my trip from Princeton down to...
13 April
Well, if it's Monday, then this must be Washington. First time I've been in this place since 1993! I got the Greyhound bus down from Philadelphia. I do very much enjoy the Greyhound. Admittedly, with a journey time of only a little over four hours, this one doesn't qualify as a proper Greyhound ride: but I had neither the time nor the inclination to embark on the full-on three-day Greyhound experience. I reached my hotel in the late afternoon, having tragically missed another truly marvellous photo-opportunity as I walked down: a campaigning float, plastered with slogans and images about how homosexuality is an abomination, abortion is murder, and taxes are too high. Gotta love them Americans, they're so funny! And then, having checked in, I went out again for a wander around the Mall for two or three hours. But nothing very special to report. This is the boring bit in the middle.