Round The World and other travels

The day started off well with the 'Willard Breakfast' being delivered at the pre-arranged time of 0830 - a very civilised way to get things started. Bruce made contact at about 0950 and suggested we meet at Federal Triangle Metro station in about ten minutes. Sounded like a plan to me! We had already agreed that the morning's activity should be a long walk, starting across the Potomac in Arlington National Cemetery, then crossing back to DC and exploring the western end of the National Mall.

We soon emerged from the Metro system and made our way into the very famous Arlington National Cemetery, which I had previously been to in the summer heat of 1987. Nearly twenty years on, and with a completely different appearance caused by the lying snow, it was definitely time for another visit. On this occasion we didn't see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but made our way up to Arlington House, via the Kennedy graves, and enjoyed the stunning views over DC. We also managed to locate a little piece of Scotland - the Lockerbie Cairn.

Having taken our fill of the wonderful views on offer, we headed downwards and across the famous bridge that takes you to the Lincoln Memorial, at one end of the Mall. Again, it all looked rather different in the snow. It was especially odd to my eyes to see people walking and even skating on what would normally be the Reflecting Pool! We made our way towards the World War II Memorial which, although it still looked impressive in the winter conditions, nevertheless suffered slightly, in my opinion, because of the lack of the fountains that had so enhanced its appearance on my last visit. From there, we made our way towards the foot of the Washington Monument and onwards to Federal Triangle, thus completing our morning circle, if this isn't getting overly geometric!

We rode the Metro to the Chinatown area in the hope of finding a suitable eatery, but were dismayed to find that everywhere was full to bursting with families with young kids, as indeed the Metro had been. Clearly, some child-oriented event was taking place that afternoon. This, however, was a blessing in disguise, because we ended up in the Poste restaurant - a wonderfully up-market brasserie attached to the Hotel Monaco. We both had French Onion Soup and an impressive selection of tasty American cheeses with walnut bread toast, all washed down with Bloody Marys (is that the right plural?) and water. Next, we tried to make a short visit to the Building Museum, but that turned out to be the honeypot attracting all those young children, as there was some kind of toy fair going on. We had a quick look just to see the building itself - very impressive! - and left. It was time for a rest before meeting up again for the evening's festivities.

As previously, Bruce arrived about 6 and we went to work on a bottle of Moet et Chandon Champagne from one of my two minibars - lovely stuff! Then we walked to our next port of call, one of the city's theatres, for a short performance that is very difficult to classify. It consisted of two actors recreating a number of recorded interviews with the legendary and iconic actress Joan Crawford, through the unusual technique of lip synchronisation. As one review said : "While memorization may be nothing more than an act of discipline, delivering what's been saved to memory in flawless timing is a skill. It's one, like sword swallowing, that few will ever bother to master, but a skill nonetheless." And that was just it. The whole thing was done with such uncanny accuracy and flawless perfection that it became mesmerising; add in some priceless facial expressions and the whole thing worked a treat.

Finally, we ended up in a busy little fish restaurant, where it was necessary to wait for a table. The food was delicious, but as we ate, it became painfully apparent to me that a heavy cold that had been working on me ever since I'd left home, was now rapidly coming to a thoroughly unpleasant head. I began to feel more and more under the weather and visited a 24-hour pharmacy on the way back to the hotel to get some kind of remedy. I took one of the night-version capsules before going to bed and it seemed to work well, as I had a long and therapeutic sleep, uninterrupted by symptoms.