WASHINGTON D.C.

Min historielærer bad mig skrive en dagbog over de ting vi fik set i D.C, og eftersom jeg ikke har tid til at skrive det på dansk også, så får I den lige på engelsk :)

Well Tuesday Karoline, Klara and I went home and packed everything that we were bringing to D. C. The day kinda went by really fast, since we were the only ones home.. But when we decided to go to bed, it took forever to go to sleep, and we were getting up early. By early I do not mean 5.30 , but closer to 2.30. So we got about 3 hours of sleep and shut down the alarm, when it rang. Luckily we were woken up by Mrs. Maddens grandchild. So we did catch the plane in time. Bad thing about flying from Shreveport is that you always have to go to Houston in a really small plane with like 20 seats. It’s probably the size of a bus, but feels more like a box. Anyways we flew to Houston, Orlando and finally Reagan Airport, Washington D. C. It was a very long way. When we arrived the terrible rain from Louisiana had followed us so loyal to D. C. I have never seen weather like this. And we had to take to metros and a bus! When we got our condo at the hotel we decided to order pizza, but ended up having to go out to find a restaurant that we could pay for. So we went out in something looking like a hurricane and lots of rain. Found some really good Mexican food, but we looked like drowning cats from the washing machine! But everything was good though!

When we woke up the next day, we had to dress nicely, because we were going to the national congress and capitol! We went to meet with congress man Mr. Fleming, whom Mr. Jerry knows very well. We saw his office, which was incredibly cool. He had also set us up for a guided tour around the library of congress and capitol. It was AWESOME!!!! One of his younger helpers became our tourguide and he was showing us everything! The Library of Congress was incredible! It was just so big and it looked exactly like the Danish and European ones, which I haven’t seen in real life! But it was cool! Afterwards we saw the old congress room, which was extremely small, but really pretty! It’s just weird trying to imagine how everything was going on so long ago! Then later on we went into the capitol, which was just SO beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it! We saw almost the whole building, which was fantastic! But what I thought was the coolest, was the top globe, where Kennedy’s body had been laying in the center! That room was just INCREDIBLE!!! It had huge paintings and statues all over the room. And when you looked up the whole American history was painted on the ceiling. It was absolutely gorgeous and huge! Our guide said that he thought it was the coolest thing about the capitol, but that some people thought it was small which surprised me a lot! Also the whole tour was inside. Cause instead of walking in/out of every building, they had built an underground tunnel to every building, which was a much easier way to get around! To me this whole thing was the best thing I’ve seen during the trip! We also saw the senate, which was decorated with small metal squares random places on the floor. These stated the names of the senator, who had been sitting there years ago. They had Lincoln and some other presidents listed in there. These rooms were very pretty as well. Then when we were done, we decided to walk over to Union Station, which is the main metro station in Washington. It really was huge!!!! The thing that lightened up my day was a big salad bar, where you could get any kind of salad that you wanted. I have missed that SO much!!! Not only did that remind me of home! The best thing about being in Washington is that I feel so good there! Although it’s not NYC it still has the big city smell! And just by walking down to the metro, smelling the street dirt made my week! Everyone except Karoline laughed at me, when I told them I loved the smell of dirty metro. They told me that it smelled terribly of oil, old food, dirt and trash – but honestly that’s just a perfect metro to me! And the food – I mean Oh My God it was good! So healthy and fresh! And then so much walking – It was like being born again! Anyways after dinner salad bar, we went around the station, which apparently also was a shopping mall. And the best was that they had European shops including The Body Shop, which sells the best cosmetics in the world! Just thought you wanted to know, because Karoline and I did not leave the credit card in the wallets! Then we went home.. Friday was a more relaxing day. We went to the Washington Monument and then to the Smithsonian Institute. First we saw the National Museum of Natural History, where we got to study the human heritage, mummy history, Afro-American history and of course see the Hope Diamond along lots of other stones. Hereafter we went to the National Museum of American History, which I enjoyed most that day. First we got an expensive, but incredibly good lunch including pumpernickel rye bread with pastrami. But then afterwards I finally got to see the beautiful Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Since I’m a huge Garland-fan, this was so awesome, that I actually saw the famous shoes that she wore in the movie that made my favorite musical come alive – Wicked J Anyways then I saw the Star Spangled Banner – the first one ever to be made. It was really cool! We also saw The First Ladies department, where all the important suites and dresses were shown. This included Michelle Obama’s white diamond dress, which is one of the most important dresses in the world that she wore with beautiful Jimmy Choos. It was just gorgeous. Also she had 13 diamond bracelets as a small accessory. Who else has that? After this I finally got to see the instrument department, which was cool, and then Julia Childs Kitchen, that she donated to the Smithsonian in 2003 – a year before her death. It was pretty cool seeing it in complete condition. After this we decided to go back towards the hotel to get to see the inside Christmas decorations of the Gaylord Hotel. It was SO pretty! It looked like an outdoor park, which it wasn’t. Then we wanted to see the inside snow decorations at 9 pm, so we decided going back to the hotel to get dinner before. Then when Karoline, Klara and I came back to see it, the snow never did show up, which was kinda disappointing. So instead we ended up going to a world food market and buy breakfast – not different than snow at all! But at least it tasted good!

Saturday morning we got up around eight, having to get dressed fast so we could leave the hotel, get to another hotel and get to The White House 15 minutes before our tour. Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to. Except when we got to the second hotel, we apparently looked wrong at the clock, cause we left an hour early. So instead we were just walking around looking at the city until we were allowed into the house. Before entering we met several very tamed squirrels. It’s so funny that they just seem so calm, when you’re in a big city. Cause you really can’t hurt them.  Anyways we got into The White House and it just blew my mind. It really was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but when you’re thinking about the fact, that it is a house - then it was huge. But it was all decorated for Christmas in so beautiful colors that you just had to love. But when you think of the fact, that you so often hear, that Obama probably isn’t Christian, then it’s funny with all those Christmas trees in his house. No matter what religion he is, he has the most beautiful old fashioned home in the world!

After we saw The White House we continued down the road, right until we saw this French Café du Parc - A French modern café. So we decided this would be lunchtime. And gosh it was good! Karoline, Klara and I ordered codfish and homecut, seasoned French fries. It was delicious! Just so good! It was like when you experience one of your dream vacations in the world. That’s what one bite tasted like – Magical and dreamy. Weird to say, but it really did! It was just European! When we finished we went back to the Washington Monument and started walking. On our way we passed World War 2 monument – really pretty – and then the Vietnam Wall. And I must say it was something different than the Berlin Wall! Berlin Wall is graffiti made, this was just so gorgeous made off granite and engraved with all the names. It was really pretty with flowers along the whole wall. Then we continued to the Lincoln Memorial, which was enormous! Here was the engraving of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream”. Then of course we wanted to see the pool shown in Forest Gump. But no way we were gonna see that. They were building something ugly on it, so all the water was gone by the time we got there… We never did get to Ford’s Theater, but it’s okay, cause we didn’t see Chinatown either.. So that’s what I’m gonna do in a couple of years! It’s a huge city, which you can’t see in a couple of days. I have now been in Minden for 4½ month, and there are still places here, that I haven’t seen. So I’m positive about everything! Uh and the weather was AWESOME!!! Totally cool, but dry! Sunday we got up at 4.30 catching a plane at 7.00 with a long way to the airport. We got home about 17.00 Sunday afternoon totally lacked of energy.

 We had a great trip though!

Okay... Så det er ved at være mange dage siden sidst! Vi har haft så travlt, så jeg knap nok husker, hvad jeg har lavet! Sådan helt seriøst!

Første weekend i november tog vi til The State Fair - hvilket er sådan en omrejsende forlystelspark. Alting var selvfølgelig ekstremt dyrt, så vi gad ikke købe særlig meget. Selv uden at bruge masser af penge havde vi en super hyggelig dag, som fortsatte søndag... Karoline, Klara og jeg har sjældent grint så meget! Men vi var også de eneste, som forstod det sjove. Europa har bare noget specielt sammen, som amerikanerne ikke helt forstår :) Anyways..

November var bare så travl! Vi havde endnu en hel weekend hos Karoline's familie, da Mimi og Poppee skulle til Lake Charles (det sydlige Louisiana). Vi havde selvfølgelig planlagt en hel masse, og endte med ikke at gøre noget af det. Vi tog til fodboldkampen om aftenen, hvilket var en kold fornøjelse. Natten til lørdag var nok noget af det sjoveste. Det startede med at Karoline stilte sig op i sengen for at nå noget højere oppe, og så ødelagde hun samtidig sengen. Den faldte simpelthen fra hinanden. Vi prøvede at fikse den, men det så ikke ud til at være holdbart. Samtidig var vi tre personer, som skulle sove i den samme lille seng, så vi måtte ligge os tværs over. Det resulterede i, at Karolines ben hang dinglende ud over sengen. Vi faldt dog i søvn efter en film.. Men midt om natten faldt hun simpelthen ned på gulvet. Så det var noget af en underlig nats søvn. Lørdag sad vi så bare på computeren, snakkede med hinanden og Danmark/Norge/Tjekkiet.. Lørdag aften tog vi heldigvis til Bossier og gik i biffen. Her så vi Jack og Jill, hvilket nok er en af de sjoveste film, jeg har set i lang tid!

Så kom Thanksgiving så småt... Normalt ville man fejre det den fjerde torsdag i november, hvilket her var den 24. - men eftersom vi skulle til Virginia den 19. fejrede vi det fredag den 18. Hele familien kom over til middag, hvilket var omkring 20 mennesker. Vi lavede mad i lang tid, men det var også det værd. Det var meget anderledes, end hvad vi ville servere i Danmark, men det var super lækkert!! Og hyggeligt! Herovre er traditionen åbenbart, at man slås om et kalkunben. Og den der får det længste stykke, får også et ønske. Det var så hyggeligt! Det er en fantastisk familie, som vi er endt med at få!

Så lørdag morgen gik turen mod Virginia. Tidligt lørdag morgen satte vi os i bilen og begyndte at køre. Det tog sin tid! Og vi var nået til Atlanta, da det var blevet mørkt. Det gode ved at køre i bil med The Maddens er, at vi har trådløst internet og strøm hele vejen. Så vi sad jo bare med computeren og hyggede os hele vejen. Aftensmad var søde små kalkunsandwich lavet med resterne fra Thanksgiving. Søndag fortsatte vi godt humør! Her nåede vi så hele vejen til Williamsburg, Virginia, hvor vores resort var. Vi kom til et meget fint og hyggeligt sted, som havde to værelser og to badeværelser, så det kunne ikke have været mere perfekt! Vi spiste på en super god italiensk restaurant den aften. Deet havde jeg godt nok længtes efter i lang tid! Mandag morgen skulle vi så op og på eventyr. Eller rettere sagt Mimi og Poppee havde et møde, som de skulle nå først, så Klara og jeg endte med at sidde og se film til klokken var 11. Så besluttede vi os for, at nu skulle vi altså bare ud af det værelse. Vi fik tøjet på og gik ud i skoven! Det var en stor fornøjelse. Vejret var helt fantastisk! Perfekt temperatur i et efterårsmiljø! Herefter gik turen videre til Williamsburg settlement, hvor vi lærte om den amerikanske indvandring fra England! Utrolig spændende selvom jeg ikke lige er historie personen.. Og så så vi en masse julebutikker efterfølgende!

Tirsdag tog vi til Jamestown og så på mere historie - det gode her var, at jeg allerede kendte til lidt af det. Vi så også Pochahontas statue - jeg troede bare hun var en disneyfigur før jeg hørte den rigtige historie - der kan man se, måske er disney ikke så dumt alligevel! Da vi var færdige med al historien, tog Klara og jeg i biffen og så Water for Elephants! Gratis biograf med nye dvd udgivelser :) Det var mega hyggeligt! Og så fik vi set Yankee candle herefter - en butik med masser af lys og dufte - større end jeg nogensinde har set! Helt enorm!!

Onsdag var så lidt anderledes.. Nu skulle der shoppes! Williamsburg havde et af de største udendørs outlet malls, hvor der bland andet var Clavin Klein, DKNY, American Eagle, Adidas, Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren osv.. Endnu et kæmpe center - som man siger: "USA er stor, men det gælder også alt i landet!" Vi fik så shoppet næsten hele dagen! Eller rettere sagt indtil klokken 21.00 :) Så da vi skulle pakke bilen torsdag morgen, havde vi et mindre problem... Vi kunne ikke se ud af bagruden eller flytte os det mindste inde i selve bilen, men det gik :) Vi kørte hele dagen torsdag og endte op i Asheville, North Carolina. En by der var meget europæisk præget. Da det var Jerrys fødselsdag, ville vi gerne finde en fin restaurant. Det var også Thanksgiving, så næsten ingenting var åbnet og det der var, var også fyldt med mennesker. Dog fandt vi en hyggelig lille restaurant med den dejligste franske mad! Det var alt, hvad vi håbede på! Sjov lille bemærkning - vi kørte forbi en McDonalds, som lignede en million og havde et stort flygel stående indenfor! siden hvornår har musikken været en stor del af McDonalds tema?

Fredag morgen stod vi op og kørte til Biltmore Castle - USAs største hjem. Det var bygget af Vanderbilt oppe i Blue Ridge Mountains - fuldstændig gemt i mellem en masse træer. Det lå langt fra hovedvejen og tog 45 minutter i hestevogn for at nå huset. Hertil var bygget en meget fin stald, som nu blev brugt til restauranter og små gavebutikker. Der var de sødeste små ting og fin mad, så vi hyggede os. Biltmore var kæmpestor! Der var så mange værelser, 43 badeværelser (da det blev bygget, havde de fleste ikke toilet indenfor, så det var ubeskriveligt - isæt at have 43 af dem!) I kælderen var et stort svømmebasin, bowlingbaner, idrætshal, omklædningsrum og et rum, som sendte luft til orgelet placeret i spisestuen ovenover. Det var så smukt indenfor - sjældent set noget ligende! En oplevelse jeg aldrig vil glemme!

Da vi var færdige ved Biltmore fortsatte vi i bilen imod Nashville. Da vi ankom lørdag morgen fik vi gået en tur gennem byen. Vi fik mødt Aaron og Anna, som var Josh's bedste venner, som de så stadig har kontakt med! de var rigtig flinke. Herefter kørte vi til Partheon, som er den eneste rekreation af det græske Partheon i Athen. Meget flot - dog lidt underligt at se i Nashville, TN, når vi kan se det i Grækenland! Da vi havde set det kørte vi gennem gaderne med alle recording studierne - det var jo et drømmested! Og så så vi Ryman Auditorium - country musikkens Carnegie Hall. Vi fik en guidet tur derinde, og så derfor alle dressingrooms inkl. Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash og June Carter - Og vi stod på scenen! Det var helt fantastisk! Herefter fik vi en dejlig frokost på Hard Rock Cafe :) Det var altså også noget af en oplevelse! Så kørte vi ellers videre hjemad og nåede Memphis søndag morgen - her så vi Graceland (Elvis' hjem). Det var godt nok flot og stort! Han havde alle hans Platinum Records udstillet, samt hans guitarer, kostumer osv. plus han og hans familie lå begravet der.. Det var så lidt creepy, men super interessant!

Søndag aften var vi hjemme igen! Og så startede skolen jo ellers igen... det var jo så godt nok, men kunne godt lige have brugt et par dage hjemme, istedet for at være på farten konstant! Det er ellers noget af nogle oplevelser vi får med The Maddens!