D.C Memorials And Tips

September 14, 2015 Deby Ciui (Chewy)3 Comments

One of the main reasons tourists go to the United States Capital is to see the monuments and museums and everything else in between. I tried to post every day but there is so much to see and do that by the time I would get back to the hotel I was so exhausted that the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of my laptop so I will be posting my pictures for D.C at spread out intervals throughout this week. But before I put up and photos from my adventures I feel the need to point out things I’ve learned on this vacation.

D.C Tips and tricks

Take the metro!
- It is one of the most affordable means of transportation and goes pretty much everywhere you would want to visit. You can get a day pass for $14.50 but you can only use that card on one day so we actually decided to get a ‘SmartTrip’ card and put 20$ on it and we used that for the course of our trip and even had some money left over at the end. We’re keeping the cards in case we go back at some point.
- DO NOT take the metro between the hours of 7AM-9:30AM and 5PM-7PM you have to keep in mind that while YOU might be vacationing everyone else is not and unless you want to stand for the course of your subway ride (which believe me the locals make it look a LOT easier than it really is) you want to avoid these rush hour times.
Wear comfortable shoes.
- Believe me this is a must. We knew we would be walking a lot but we didn’t realize exactly how much. I have a fitbit now so I can tell you the first day we walked 7 miles and then after that every day was over 10miles worth of walking (~25,000 steps) so you definitely want to wear comfy shoes.
Less Bags = Faster Entry
- Every Smithsonian/National Museum has airport like security when you enter, your bag could be searched by a security guard or you will have to put it through an X-Ray machine just like airport security. The Holocaust museum even makes you sip any drinks that are open to prove that it is really water. If you don’t have a bag they let you go right though the big detector. If you’re traveling with a buddy like I was we ended up getting a backpack and then putting both of our things in there to get through the security lines faster.
Look for Groupon deals, especially the hotel!
- I was lucky enough to find my hotel deal on Groupon but I didn’t realize exactly how much it saved me until I got there. Many of the hotels can charge you for parking as well, in our case we stayed at the Sheraton in Arlington City and parking was $24 a night and the WiFi was also an additional charge. The Groupon deal covered all of these charges including the room fee. It saved us a lot of money!

That’s all I have at the moment if I think of some other things I learned I will definitely add them to this list. If anyone’s planning a trip to the D.C area and has any questions let me know!

Photography · Travel

BUTTERFLIES!!!

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

I LOVE BUTTERFLIES!

I mean who doesn’t love butterflies, they are absolutely beautiful and put a smile on any frowning face. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science has one of the BEST Butterfly Atrium I have ever been at, granted I haven’t been to a LOT of butterfly atria but I definitely loved this one. A MUST SEE!

Photography · Travel

Think About What You Saw

September 10, 2015 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Today was an extremely eventful day. I’m utterly exhausted but at the same time I am ready for tomorrow. I will admit we actually started our day a little later than we had planned today. We were so excited and nervous I think we had some trouble sleeping last night.

Never really a baseball cap kind of gal, I actually never wore them much but I think they’re growing on me I even bought one from here as a souvenir. Anyways, we definitely saw a lot today, had a breakfast of champions and started our day at the Metro.

I will say I was slightly terrified of getting on the subway for the first time. But it was shockingly simple and actually quite a fulfilling experience. I enjoyed the ride, a little surprised at my ear drums popping during the ride similar to when you’re on a plane.

After the subway ride we thought to take a perusal around the Smithsonian Museums. I will say we were,

VERY UNPrEPARED

especially on how long it would take to tour through the museums. We managed to get through the Castle and the Museum of Natural Science but those will be for another day. Tonight I will post something that I believe sticks to everyone who goes through it. And if it doesn’t stick to them then there is something seriously wrong. Because the only way to prevent the future from happening again is to remember our mistakes from the past.

Everyone has heard some sort of version of a Holocaust story. Either they read about it in school or heard it firsthand from people who lived during that time. For me I heard it from my grandmother who was alive at the time. She lived in Romania at the time and used to tell me about when the bombs would go off and she would go underneath the ‘shed’ and hold the roof up so it wouldn’t collapse on them. She worked for a Jewish family at one point and they disappeared overnight as if they were never there. If you could only visit ONE museum on your trip here I would say you should see this one.