Art in Washington DC

During my trip to Washington DC I went to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery which are both in the same building. The building features an amazing central courtyard that was finished in 2006. It is the third oldest Federal building in the city. The American Art Museum features wonderful modern pieces as show below. 

The National Portrait Gallery has a wonderful collection of Andy Warhol pieces as well as classic portraits of the founding fathers such as Benjamin Franklin. Entry is free to both galleries.

The Nation's Capital. DC

I went to DC last week after getting return bus tickets for $2.5 with Megabus. If you book early enough they have fares starting at $1 plus 50cent booking fee. I arrived at 6am into Union Station which is just to the left of the Capital Building and the start of the National Mall.

I walked along the National Mall past the National Gallery and Smithsonian Museums. I had been to them on my trip last November so didn't revisit them again even though at that time they weren't open.

The Washington Monument is at the end of the National Mall. The Monument was damaged by an earthquake that occurred in 2011 which I actually felt when I was in NY. It is known as the Virginian Earthquake.

Last time I was in DC the reflecting pool was being repaired and was empty so I was rather excited to see it had been fixed and reopened. The reflection with the National Monument is really amazing.

The Lincoln Memorial was were Martin Luther King Jnr gave his famous I have a Dream speech. The Lincoln memorial features a museum below the statue that details event surrounding that speech.

From there I walked up past the infamous Watergate Complex from Richard Nixon's presidency to the White House. In this light it doesn't look that white but at night it is extremely white. Previously I had seen Secret Service forces on the roof. 

Right next to the White House is the United State Department of Treasury. Finally I walked past Ford Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Avicii at Radio City Music Hall

Last night I went to an great show at the Radio City Music Hall. The performer was Avicii who is a Swedish DJ/producer. I was lucky enough to be given free tickets to the show.

The stage set up was amazing with him performing on top of a large head structure. The sound and lighting effects were wonderful especially with the colours and L.E.D. display.

I personally don't like his sound of dubstep/house as I think it is pre recorded to match the lighting effects. But in terms of an overall performance it was great. The crowd really got into it.

You can see a clip I recorded of his most famous song, Levels, below.

Rockaway Beach and the End of Summer

A few weekends ago I went out to Rockaway Beach in Queens for my final Summer of George adventure. Rockaway Beach is at the end of the A Subway line and takes around an hour to get there from Manhattan.

While there I went to the famous Rockaway Taco. They had amazing fish and chorizo tacos as well as nacho chips and salsa.

The Barrels and Kegs event was on at the 98th St Beach Bar. The event was sponsored by Beer Sessions Radio that had amazing folk, rock and roll and American music playing all day.

As the day wore on a storm rolled in and in more ways than one it felt like the end of summer.

New Travel Fashions

Previously when I went on day trips I would carry my 15 inch Apple Mac Book Pro in a leather Gucci bag with a handle. Obviously holding all of that weight with one arm while walking along way would get rather tiresome. I finally gave in and decided to get a backpack. I picked up a backpack online from Asos on sale for $21AUD.

Also to help out my body while on day trips I decided to swap my leather Chuck Taylor Converses and went with a new pair of Nike LunarGlide 4 flurou yellow running shoes. I picked them up from Zacky's on Broadway in the NoHo area of Manhattan for the bargain price of $69.90US. At nearly every other store they are selling for $110US.

Hopefully now my feet, back and arms won't get so sore after walking over 15kms each day trip.

The Town Movie Locations

On my trip to Boston I went to find some of the locations used in one of my favourite movies, The Town. The movie is set in Charlestown, Boston and is about a group of bank robbers. It is directed by Ben Affleck and stars himself, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively and Jeremy Renner. Below is one of my favourite scenes from the movie.

The first location I found was the location of one of the bank robberies. This was in the North End and was actually a laundromat not a bank.

The second was the actual laundromat where Ben Affleck comes to speak to Rebecca Hall. This is in Charlestown on Bunker Hill St.

Next was the ice hockey rink where the criminals meet up after the robbery. Around the corner from there is the bar where Ben and Jeremy meet as well as where you first see Blake's character.

The final location was the garden which Rebecca Hall's character maintains. The movie must have put in their own plants because it seemed quite run down when I was there.