Goodbye to the metropolises

Washington challenged us right at the beginning of our 2 night stay in the capital:
Blue-eyed we drove with our Amigo to the city center, in order to make then the experience that there are no good overnight accomodation places there. We finally land in Bethesda, a place in the subway periphery. There is a Mercedes workshop, which touchingly took care of our defective left brake light! Thanks again for that!

Not far from there we stood on a shopping center parking lot, the subway is within walking distance and with a three-day ticket we explored Washington and surroundings step by step by subway, bus and on foot. Airier and wider streets, buildings no taller than 13 stories and not quite as hectic as New York: that was our first impression. White House, Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument are within sight of each other. But a day’s march is necessary to get everywhere! It was almost cosy during a stroll through Georgestown, which we enjoyed very much until the evening. On the last day of our stay we visited the National Cemetery of Arlington, very impressive, despite all its touristic appearance! Then we walked past the Pentagon – nothing spectacular and still no photography! In the afternoon we started on schedule towards the mountains. (On our window there was also a hint that we didn’t want to be on the parking lot anymore…)

On the two-hour drive to Shenandoah National Park I felt a tingling sensation in my stomach: Finally the view of a lot of nature, leisureliness and the awareness that we are now gradually going to the warmer south of the American continent. 

I confess that the metropolises I visited fascinated me in a way – and at the same time exhausted me. Strong impressions at almost every corner that I could not escape. An important topic from the beginning was security: It already began with the not smooth application for my visa, continued at the US border by the (for the time being) only 6-month travel permit and met me almost at every corner. Security forces wherever you look in the big cities! Admission controls at many public buildings. I noticed bollards and barricades especially in Washington. Not only in the “government quarter”, but also on the cemetery Arlington the police presence was massive…

How much security does man need? And is it really possible to reach it through this way? 

The people on the streets, in the means of transport, in the shops and cafés have the same effect on me as at home in Dinslaken or on Texel. The service staff is mostly more attentive, friendly and service-oriented than here. On the previous trip through the country I noticed again and again the national flags at many buildings. All in all I experienced an atmosphere of: We are proud of our country! I encounter the national consciousness on brochures, boards, in advertising slogans and impressively now also on All Souls’ Day in the cemetery. Admittedly, this attitude is rather strange to me: A German flag hanging in front of the house or out of the window? Wear a T-shirt with a self-confessed statement? I’m not even going to do it at the World Cup… And actually I (we Germans) would have every reason to be proud of our country and to show it! And to remain open-hearted and tolerant towards minorities and dissenters…

I will put these lines online soon and also choose some photos for publication. Here on the campground it’s pitch dark and quite cold at 18:30 – at night it’s supposed to be minus degrees! The Amigo works: the heating is running, the water is warm and there are no more problems with electricity, neither with electricity nor with standing freely. We enjoy travelling and look forward to tomorrow’s hike. 

Greetings to all of you who we know will accompany us sympathetically: from the Ruhr area and around it, from the sunny island of Texel, from Aachen and Munich, from Saarland and Thuringia and from the brexit bagged Great Britain…