Well. We’re back, and Daylight Savings Time is up, and it’s decidedly chillier than when we left. The cats are back, and Oliver was thrilled to discover that I’d neglected to throw away the Harris Teeter plastic bag we’d packed our shoes in. There’s something he finds irresistible about the handles. Delicious. Apparently.
I liked DC more than I thought I would. I mean, I knew it would be a fun trip. So much to see, so many monuments to take pictures of and museums to wander through. The zoo. I love zoos. But there were times—riding the Metro, half listening to conversations in languages I didn’t understand, walking past the White House and seeing a motorcade of black cars and SUVs, eating Chinese, Japanese, and Indian food, standing in front of the reflecting pool and thinking about Martin Luther King Jr.—there were times when I just felt the weight of the city, how wonderful it was.
At the beginning of our trip, we asked Jarvis what it was like to live there, and he said that DC was an important city. By the end of our vacation, I knew what he meant. There is a feeling in that city I hadn’t anticipated. San Francisco was fun, Paris was beautiful, Bukavu was tragic, Beijing was enigmatic. Hong Kong was money. Tokyo was energy. And DC was important.
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I love zoos too. It’s amazing how you get be close to different animals and you are educated at the same time. I miss visiting zoos.
I’m overjoyed that you guys had a great time. When you come back, and you will, of course, I’ll be sure to make more time so we can wonder around and stare at massive Monuments. Wave to Jesse for me.
I love your analysis. I agree, every city does have its own “feeling.” Though for me, San Francisco will always be… I can’t really think of one word for it, but something like a combination of romantic, confident, unique, and very very ALIVE. I’ve never felt so inspired in any other city.
That’s a wonderful description of San Fran. I have to agree–it’s certainly the most dynamic place I’ve ever been. There’s simply no place like it.
I guess I just didn’t have the same experience of San Fran that other people have. Last May (2008) I drove 10 hours from Los Angeles to San Fran with a friend who lives in LA. We drove into San Fran around midnight. It was slightly foggy, and creepy. We found our hotel – a very old hotel across the street from the Orpheum Theatre. The hotel was old and dusty, and creepy. I felt like I had been transported to the Twilight Zone, and was certain that a ghost was going to pop out at me at any time. The next morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and started exploring. We walked around China Town. We tried teas (which was fun, and I bought some yummy stuff). But that cold, damp, and creepy feeling didn’t leave me. We drove to Golden Gate Park. Saw Alcatraz from a distance, and in the foggy chilly day that it was, I felt more creeped out. San Francisco felt to me like a city with a past. A city with a haunted past. A bit of the feeling I get in New York City, but a little more creepy and haunted. Maybe it was the area that we were staying in. I don’t know.
That’s so sad! Maybe it was the weather, or where you were staying… I know whenever I’m there, I’m always staying with my aunt and uncle outside the city. Their place is always sunny and gorgeous, and they have little gardens in their yard, so maybe that influences how I experience San Fran.
I’ve only had the pleasure to visit one of the cities you mentioned, but I love your one word summation of each city, and I feel even more inspired and excited about someday visiting some of them!
LOL This post reminds me of how in Eat, Pray, Love the word for Rome is “sex,” the word for the Vatican is “power,” the word for New York City is “achieve,” the word for Los Angeles is “succeed,” the word for Stockholm is “conform,” and the word for Naples is “fight.”
So, Erin, what’s the word for Wilmington?
(Maybe we should do a Wilmington wordle.)
Rachel, that’s a very good question! Hmm. I really don’t know. I’m going to have to think about it. I wonder why it’s so hard to conceptualize the place where I currently live?
I love DC. I have been a few times in my more-or-less adult life, and maybe it has something to do with growing up in Maryland, so close to DC, but I love the feeling there that even if you don’t live in it, or even near it, and you only visit rarely, if ever before, it’s still familiar and homey. Because whether or not you’ve been there, most Americans have grown up with DC in bits and pieces, through photographs, books, history, politics, and cultural references. So once you get there, it almost feels like you already know your way around, and nothing feels foreign or strange. Even though I don’t live there and years pass between visits, I always feel like “This is my city,” because it is. It’s all Americans’ city.
That’s such an interesting way to look at it–I think you’re right. There is something familiar and homey about it.