Washington DC -- Day 5

Today, we had our reservation to tour the U.S. Capitol with a staff person from Senator Hutchinson's office. Like other days, we took the public subway, and today, I got some pictures..............




We were supposed to meet at the senator's office, and we were about 40 minutes early. We decided to walk some of the four floors of the building. We sound some interesting names on a few of the offices........





We started at the Senate Office Building, and traveled in the underground tunnel to get to the capitol building.. In the tunnel, they have their own carpenter's shop for making desk and office furniture, metal worker shop, and much more. They also have a miniature subway to cut down on the travel time to the Capitol. I got a picture of the new subway cars, and one of the old cars that was on display......



Although we took a general Capitol tour yesterday, today's tour was much better, We saw what we saw yesterday, plus much more. One of the things that we were able to visit was the old Senate Room. The guide took a picture of Patsy and I in it. We also saw the Speaker of the House' office near the new senate chambers.



Yesterday, we took a picture of the continuous picture that was painted on the capitol dome wall. Today, we got a little history that the original artist fell, and refused to go up and paint again. A second artist took over, but was fired when he painted his face on the trunk of a tree in the picture! Here it is.........




We also saw the old Supreme Court room. Yesterday, we saw the Supreme Court's own building. The 'old' room was small, but I was able to take a picture of the Judge's seats up front, the lawyer's seat and tables in the middle, and the spectator area in the rear.................


After the Capitol tour, we went to tour the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. They did not allow photographs, so all we got was a photograph of a million dollars in $10 bills.........



After the Bureau of Engraving tour, we visited two art museums. The first, the Hirshhorn Museum, was a 'lot' on the abstract side, and here are some of the exhibits. (the first on the outside, the second showing what to do with about 200 excess paper-covered wire hangers from the cleaners, the third was an old iron bed with the wire spring turned into a spider web, and the latter looked like parts to a project leaning on a wall!!!):

The second museum was The National Museum of Art. It had artwork from several centuries ago. It was much more interesting. It also was well decorated with sculptures and fountains. Here are a few pictures (the portrait is a Rembrandt)..............