NPF ‘09 Gallery NPF ‘09 Itinerary

Read yesterday’s post here.

Day Eleven: Naughty Naomi

Ok, now that’s a more R-rated heading than really needed, but it’s apt. If you’ve been following me since last year, you’ll know that I don’t do travel very well. I’m trying to teach myself how to handle it, and yesterday things started unravelling. I didn’t really eat much, which is where the naughty part comes in (is there any way to phrase that that doesn’t sound like it’s adult?), because not eating whilst travelling is one of the worst things I can do. I thought I was fine, until (as continued on from the end of yesterday’s diary post), I headed out to Union Station for my first activity. I thought I’d grab dinner on the way, but the place I wanted to go looked closed, so I just thought I’d get something at the Station. (I am again grateful for pre-planning and printing out the train line maps, because using the train in DC is much more confusing than in Atlanta… although other things are just as confusing as you’ll see in a moment) I got some fairly ok Chinese food and this is where things went downhill mentally-wise. I think my body got a jolt of energy, woke up, and just went, "oh , I haven’t eaten much today, I think I"ll freak out now". 

No, you’re not seeing things. I took this picture on an angle on purpose, cause I got sick of looking like a tourist and wanted to do something artsy. The Washington Monument at night, on diagonal…

Well, I had some time to kill before my tour, so I wandered around Union Station (no pics of that, sorry) and managed to get accosted for the third time this whole trip by someone begging for money. I think I should start wearing my old clothes I’d packed to wear on the plane so I don’t look like a target 

Now my tour said to meet at the main entrance of Union Station - and seeing as how I’d been there this morning, getting off Amtrak, I knew roughly where to go. It’s right outside, where all the tourist buses sit and collect people…. right? No. You have to go inside, to a totally unmarked and unnoticeable desk, and get your ticket stamped and exchanged for a proper boarding pass. I wouldn’t have known this except on my way out through the main doors I saw what looked like the tour-bus desk; and worried I was in the wrong place, I went in to double check. Except they were they wrong tour company… It didn’t help that the company listed on my eticket was not the same company listed on the actual tour company desk and bus. Anyway… I finally manage to figure it out and get on my tour.

It’s a Monuments by Moonlight tour on a trolley, which basically means it’s the trolley tour only you get on at 7.30pm. (Tip: if you try to book, don’t use the link above. It gives some sort of security error. Instead, go to viator.com - not partner.viator.com) You do a two and a half hour tour around DC, with a few stops: the FDR Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial… Check out my Flickr set for more pics. The trolley is a good way to see everything, seeing as it’s open-window/no-windows (up the back at least), and is small so you get a more intimate experience. The bus driver/guide was very good, informative and chatty, even throwing in a few relevant and current jokes on various political events. My favourite part of the trip is probably seeing the Lincoln Memorial (at night it is pretty spectacular, even if a cliche of American TV and movies), both the memorial itself, or turning around to see the Washington Monument lighting up the ponds below. (I do wish my camera did better with the lighting, but hey, what can you do?)

All of this would have been much more fun if I weren’t having mini panic attacks the entire way through. It really hit me hard. I guess the combination of bad sleep, overall stress of travelling, and not eating properly today just got to me. By the time we got back to Union Station, I was done - wrap me up in a box, send me home already.

I took the train back to where I’m staying, which was a semi-good idea. I had planned on taking a taxi - it was 10.15pm by this time and I really hate being out after dark in a strange city, even if there are lots of cop cars about here - but there was a huge line and I couldn’t be bothered waiting. Taking the train luckily was pretty easy going back, now that I knew what I was doing, and quick too. 

I have another tour (pretty much the same thing, only during the day and with a few more stops/sights) tomorrow, but won’t be taking it. I’m going to spend the day doing nothing, eating (making sure I eat rather, instead of rushing off to do tours and not giving myself a chance to eat properly) and lazying around. I know it seems like I miss a lot of activities, but actually, I’m more worried about just taking care of myself than missing out on sightseeing. There’s no point in marvelling at the buildings/history/memorials/etc if you feel like you’re about to panic.

… So yeah, I think I’ve hit a wall. And am very much looking forward to coming home now.

Read next day’s post here.

Want more? Help build a puppet!