Washington is bigger that what I thought. In many senses.
The National Mall is huge. When they say 1 million people fit there, they're telling the truth. In comparison to the explanade, most buildings, though very big, actually dwarf. (And that means that the true grandeur of the zone can be seen best at Pennsylvania Avenue, not by the Mall).
One thing that strikes an outsider like me, is the many war memorials. The everpresent soldier-hero. A sort of cult to the soldier-hero, and to heroes of all sorts. (In Mexico we care a little more than in the US about the symbols: the flag, the anthem, the national seal, but don't share the American's passion for the heroic... nowadays mistaken by part of the US public for the passion for the famous).
The only war memorial that really touched me was Vietnam's. Every tiny name on those stones belonged to a young man, often in his early 20s, with a girlfriend, and proyects, and dreams, and parents waiting for his return only to receive a flag and a corpse. People in their sixties walking by... one said: "he was my cousin"; another, a few steps later: "he was MIA for about 20 years, then they found his body". I thought of dyslexia and his comments about his experience in the early Nam years. He's with some of his buddies now.
One night, walking with my daughter in Arlington, we found the Marines' Memorial, big bronze soldiers planting the flag at Iwo Jima. Below you can read the names of all the interventions of the Marine Corps in the US and around the world. The Indian Wars in Florida, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Veracruz, Grenada, Somalia... a very long list that fills less than two lines of the monument. The memorial has space for more interventions in the incoming 400 years.
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Downtown Washington tells you of a sober, planned, solid city with imperial aspirations. The Roman columns support and adorn the stocky and elegant edifices. Tells you of a proper capital of a big, rich, solid country. Gives you the sense that everything is under control. All in all, a good piece of urban political communication.
(Will continue later; now I gotta work).
I studied (desultorily) plans of washington in school in my forties.
Walking it was better, especially at midnight.
I remember Bob talking on a2k about not being able to approach the memorial.
you guys seem to know what your talking about. I'm also arriving at Baltimore airport on Friday but heading Washington DC at the Warner Theater. i wanted to rent a car but dont know the city 0 bit so maybe not so much of a good idea. my biggest challenges though might be comming back to the airport cause my flight is at 7a on Sunday. is there a flow of transportation there or do i just take a cab back to the airport.
