[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ramkya1

Wow....... great to hear anothe person loved Biggles too !!!!


Your account is lovely, telling pictures, please continue... all eyes to read on more.

Thanks a lot for sharing,

--Ramky
========

Wow Ramky, that makes to of us! It is rare to find guys nowadays who've enjoyed reading Biggles.

Thanks for your comments, will surely post more.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Venu, somehow this thread got lost out on me. Nice narration of your journey and some fabulous pictures of the snow

Lucky you to see the boeing cockpit at the museum.

Please continue to share the pictures !

Ohmigosh,mention of DC has snaked its way into this travelogue too.

I am planning to file a petition with GHMC to close that road permanently

Hi Avi, my reaction is 'Nyuk nyuk'---as the Three Stooges would often utter .

I've just returned from a 'back-breaking' walk around the Smithsonian museum of Natural History and will post the pics after I get some rest.

It was indeed a good fortune to have a bright, sunny day today (though temp was around 4 deg Celsius), so I could exploit it to the full. My last 2 weeks got scr**wed up by the snowfall that rendered the Superpower's capital on its knees.

[MX6]

You get time, drive over to Shenandoah, which is a stone's throw away (as per my standards). The caverns are amazing and is a good picnic spot especially with kids. Caverns were always my haunt as I had built up enough imageries of them reading Adventures of Tom Sawyer, during school days. I was a kid yet again when I visited there. The Shenandoah Sunset drive is also cool. There's also a more famous Luray caverns nearby. But I loved shenandoah.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by MX6

You get time, drive over to Shenandoah, which is a stone's throw away (as per my standards). The caverns are amazing and is a good picnic spot especially with kids. Caverns were always my haunt as I had built up enough imageries of them reading Adventures of Tom Sawyer, during school days. I was a kid yet again when I visited there. The Shenandoah Sunset drive is also cool. There's also a more famous Luray caverns nearby. But I loved shenandoah.

Thanks @MX6. I do have Shendandoah on my radar--we plan to go there in the last week of March when my wife joins me. We might even give Luray a try, depending on time availability.

[vnabhi]

Guys, sorry for the long interlude.

Here are some more pics.

The first plane ever flown in the world---it is the same plane, only the cloth on the wings has been changed, while the original cloth is also displayed in a corner:-

[vnabhi]

Shots from the U2's Korona camera that I've mentioned about earlier (most shots are of the Manhattan skyline in the early 70s):-












The U2 plane :

[vnabhi]

Here is a better picture:

[vnabhi]

Here are a few more pictures on the National Mall and the area around the White House:-







The Dept of Treasury Building beside the White House:



The White House is beside it:

[vnabhi]

[vnabhi]

[vnabhi]

Some pics are of the surroundings of the Treasury Building:



Visitors to The White House (with prior, paid appointment)





The other facade of the Treasury Building from the White House Visitor's Gate:













Is this all there it to the most fortified place on earth? Well, appearances are deceptive.

[vnabhi]

The same road leads to the National Mall, where at the centre is the Washington Monument

[vnabhi]

The National Mall at last (can see Smithsonian Info Center at far end)

[vnabhi]

Here are a few folks of the famous Hope Diamond and some other sections of the Natural History Museum.

Until I visited this museum, I was not aware that the Hope Diamond was from India. But I did know that the Kohinoor Diamond at London was from India.

I felt kind of proud to read that prior to 16th century, only India had the know how for diamond cutting.

[vnabhi]

Here is the pic I missed earlier



One more from India

[mobike008]

Nice Pictures Venu, looks like snow galore. Did you take the open roof top city tour bus ride?