Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, 31.10.

Happy Halloween

• Today we’re taking the plane to Washington, DC.
• We try to install the Lyft app, but somehow it doesn’t work via the promo link, so we take an Uber instead, which gets lost on the way to Magda and Michi.
• Using Google Maps and a bit of common sense (well, it’s probably the huge block of flats rather than the empty field there), we do manage to find Magda and Michi’s apartment building in the end.
• Magda and Michi give us a warm welcome and we decide to have dinner together on campus.
• To do so, we cross the huge meadow using the curved footpaths, which look nice but are rather impractical from a pedestrian point of view, as they make you walk at least half a kilometer longer than what would have been necessary.

• We reach the main building, an elongated, architecturally modern glass building built into the hillside, which is quite impressive – to say the least.
• It houses the laboratories, most of the offices, seminar rooms, lecture rooms, meeting rooms and also the cafeteria and restaurants.

• We have dinner and chat with Magda and Michi in a very well-subsidized restaurant sponsored by the Research Institute, where you can only pay with a campus card.
• It’s really nice to be back among friends with whom we are familiar – we immediately feel at home here and enjoy the slightly homely feeling that we get as a result and that you miss a little after a few weeks of traveling.
• After dinner, we have a beer together in her apartment, chat a bit more and then soon go to bed, as we are a bit tired after the trip.

Wednesday, 1.11.

Campus Live or Campus Life

• Real American breakfast in the restaurant.
• Michi gives us a tour of the campus – we start in the large Janelia main building, where in addition to the restaurant and workplaces, there is also a sports center with a gym, tennis courts etc. etc. and – the highlight – a bouldering wall!!!
• The wall is maintained by a professional route setter so that there are always new routes, and we immediately decide to use it at least once during the time we are here – I wouldn’t even have needed to bring climbing shoes and chalk with me, as both are available at the bouldering center.
• The Janelia Research Center is run by a foundation that conducts research on microscopy techniques and, as Magda tells us, there are a few legends surrounding it thanks to the secluded campus. People keep wondering what is actually being researched and cultivated in the laboratories – just like in a James Bond movie.

• From my point of view the highlight of the campus – apart from the huge green spaces – is the old manor house that originally stood here.

• Next to it are the former stables. Both buildings offer comfortable seating for informal meetings, but also for simply working and reading in a relaxed atmosphere. There even is a bar in the stables that is ocassionally used for gatherings.
• We move to the manor house with Michi, who has reserved a seminar room for us. Matthäus and I briefly retreat to a very bright meeting room to Skype with our parents. And we simply enjoy the athmosphere: The bright rooms with the warm autumn sun streaming in are truly beautiful.

• For lunch, we go to the restaurant with Michi, on whom we are dependent thanks to the campus card (even for a seemingly simple task like getting into the building).
• We then take a digestive walk together on the campus island, which is located on the Potomac River.
• Fun fact, Michi tells us, the island is right on the border between the states of Maryland and Virginia. Sometimes young people where hanging out here – but whenever something happened and the emergency services or police had to be called, it was the ones in Maryland who where called, who always took much longer to reach the island.

• The island is no longer open to the public and can only be reached with the campus card.
• Magda and Michi compare it to the Donauinsel – it’s not as long, of course, but it’s a popular recreational area for running, cycling and walking.
• On the way there, we pass the building in which the head of the research campus lives, a not so super fancy but a nice and definitely big enough house.
• Then a paved path leads into the “wilderness”.
• Apparently it’s snake hatching season at the moment, because the asphalt path is full of small snakes chilling comfortably on the warm asphalt – I’m super excited (NOT).

• Signs warn us about bears and that we shouldn’t trespass.
• We take a walk along the island, which is very beautiful, and enjoy the rays of the autumn sun shining through the leaves of the trees in all their autumn colors – a great sight.

• We return to the manor house so that Michi can get some work done today, where I first treat myself to a good – free – coffee =) and then we work, read and write in the bright veranda room.
• In the evening, the music evening takes place, a great event where everyone who wants to is invited to perform a musical piece on a stage in a kind of auditorium in front of an audience.
• Michi plays in a band, which has rehearsed a few pieces – they had a bit of last-minute issues, as their singer is in bed with Covid and Magda, who also plays in the band, is also a bit under the weather and had to drop out at short notice.
• But Michi says not to worry, they’ve changed their plans and rehearsed songs that they can play with the rest of the band.
• Matthäus and I take a comfortable seat in the audience and listen to the great variety of musical performances.
• There is an amazing amount of musical talent for such a small campus and it’s fun to watch the jam.
• In between, we get beer in the restaurant with Michi (and his card) and Michi tells us that they have difficulties finding a spontaneous replacement for the singer for some of their songs – for example, “Smells like team spirit” by Nirvana has totally crazy lyrics which are not easy to get right.
• Michi and his band rehearsed the song “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica especially for us. Michi gives a moving speech in which he states that two friends of his are just visiting and since they got married this summer, he dedicates this song to them (our wedding song, after all) – super sweet, I was really touched.
• Of course, we do our part and dance the beautiful waltz next to the stage in a small space, but with more room than at many a Viennese ball – which is met with enthusiasm by the audience, as is the band’s performance, of course.
• That was a great evening!

Thursday, 2.11.

Washington D.C.

How close can you get to the White House?

• We set off early today as we are planning to spend the day in Washington, D.C. and use the Janelia Shuttle, which is actually designed to take employees who live in Washington to the campus.
• So we take the empty shuttle into the city, where we take the subway to the Mall, where one Smithsonian Museum follows another and where all the official government buildings are located.
• At a small café, we first get ourselves a small breakfast, which we eat sitting in the café, observing the many hurried people who quickly grab something before work – all very smartly dressed, most in suits and business attire. Many know each other, nod to each other or make a little small talk while waiting for their coffee.
• The café is very close to the White House. Therefore, we stroll over towards it – although we realize that you can’t get very close and have to look at the building from quite a distance.
• Nevertheless, it is impressive to see the building where so much history was written.

• Past the obelisk, ah “No, Magda, not the obelisk, but the Washington Monument”, says Michi, we walk to the Tidal Basin, a large round bay, on and around which many memorials are located in memory of wars and statues in honor of all kinds of important presidents.

• Once again, the autumn sun doesn’t let us down and shows its best side, which is of course great for strolling along the Basin and viewing the monuments in their full splendor against a bright blue sky.

• We walk back along the Mall to the Smithsonian museums, where – on Magda and Michi’s recommendation – we take a look inside a few.
• That’s really great, the well prepared and beautifully designed museums are all free and so it’s totally okay to just have a quick look inside one, for example to admire the architecture of the beautiful buildings more closely.
• First we visit the Natural History Museum, which houses dinosaur skeletons and mammoth skeletons and – the highlight – a manatee.

• We walk through a sculpture park to the arts museum, where we discover that there are two paintings by Vermeer. Those interest us, as we recently watched a film about the large Vermeer exhibition in Amsterdam and visited the Vermeer Center in Delft.

• We also find some Monets (a painter whose work I am fond of) and funnily enough we discover the very Monet we have as a poster with ships – really nice.

• The original turns out to be super small, which takes us by surprise- having been looking at the picture in a much larger size every day for the last few years.
• The next and also very exciting Smithsonian museum we visit is the Space Museum, which is actually split into two museums. The outpost, which houses many of the large aircraft and spacecraft models, is located outside of Washington. Only smaller models and a condensed exhibition can be found here in the city – especially as the museum is currently being remodeled and expanded.

• Nevertheless, we see original flying machines from the Wright brothers, which is very impressive.
• And we can look into the cockpit of a Boeing 747, which is also really exciting – nice!

• Finally, we end our walk at the Capitol, which forms the crowning glory of the Mall and we caught glimpses of its white splendor for a long time already.
• Unfortunately, everything is now closed and we can only view the large building from the outside before taking the shuttle back to the Janelia Campus – watching a beautiful sunset from the bus.

• Michi and I go bouldering and Magda doesn’t boulder, but joins us in the bouldering hall (and takes great photos instead =)).
• It’s great fun and I’m really impressed by the variety of routes here – really nice!

• We round off the evening in Magda and Michi’s apartment before we all fall into bed quite tired.

Friday, 3.11.

Washington, D.C.

Hipsterquarter und Secret Agents

• Once again, we take the shuttle into the city.
• Today we thought we’d take a look at other neighborhoods that are supposed to be quite nice and start our tour at Dupont Circle.
• There, as is tradition, we first sit down in a café where we have breakfast.
• Then we take the tour suggested in the guidebook we borrowed from Magda and Michi, which takes us through the neighborhood.

• The area is teeming with embassies, which are scattered all over the neighborhood.
• In between are very, very dignified housing estates that mainly offer living space for diplomats (nobody else can afford it).

• Suddenly the street is closed and we wonder what’s going on, but the way the other people react, it’s part of everyday life here: shortly afterwards, an embassy car, or rather an embassy motorcade – consisting of several fat black SUVs with mirrored windows – drives past under police protection.
• From Dupont Circle, we stroll towards Georgetown, another fancy but also beautiful neighborhood teeming with mansions.

• To do this, we cross a bridge.
• We stop on it and look down in amazement:

• I tell Matthäus: “Look at the river, shining beautifully in the sun.” Matthäus looks at me in bewilderment and then slowly says: “Marie, that’s the highway…” I take a closer look, yes, it is the highway. Matthäus: “But ok, don’t look so closely, then the illusion remains, ooh, how beautifully the river rushes over the stones…”
• The tree-lined streets with the brick buildings look even better in the autumn sun.

• We also see Halloween decorations everywhere.
• We decide to make even more use of the beautiful weather and walk to a country house, almost a castle, which has a garden/park all around it where, according to the travel guide, you can take a “wonderful walk”.

• Conveniently, you only had to pay admission until the end of October, but from November on you can enter the huge park for free.
• The truly beautiful landscaped garden practically invites to be the subject of an inspiring novel.

• In fact, many diplomatic meetings and espionage took place here:
• For example, I found a Washington Post article describing one such scenario (‘Spies spies everywhere – A journey through D.C. espionage’): “In a scene worthy of a John le Carré novel, Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. intelligence analyst and spy for Israel, conducted a clandestine meeting with his Israeli handler on a bench in the gardens of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. In the idyllic setting, the two negotiated the pay Pollard would receive for classified documents.”
• As we stroll through the garden, we naturally wonder in which corner this meeting took place…
• There is a park behind the garden, but we can’t get into it – we come across a padlocked door that blocks our way.
• We really enjoy the beautiful garden in the fall sun – it’s wonderful and really relaxing.

• We head back into the hustle and bustle, which is already getting denser, and sit down in a café.
• The hipster district is now full of people on a Friday afternoon night out and shopping.
• We cross the Potomac River over a large bridge and reach the neighborhood from which our shuttle is returning.

• As we still have a bit of time, we take the subway to a Target a little further out to get a Spirit Island game for Magda and Michi, which is exclusively available at Target.
• We pass the Pentagon, but you can’t see much of it from the subway.
• Back on campus, we stop by Magda and Michi’s place and chill out in their apartment again, where we organize a game night with the new gift.
• There’s laughter at first, because Magda and Michi’s last experience with the game was more of an epic fail: they were with Anna and Felix, who are real Spirit Island fans, and after a long set-up and an even longer explanation, Magda managed to spill her glass of water across the board, so they spent the rest of the evening drying all the playing cards.
• We dared to put the glasses of water on the table anyway, but I admit we were extra careful.
• It’s great fun and we a first step to cope with the trauma a little.

Saturday, 4.11.

Discovery, Concorde and Enola Gay

• As Magda and Michi have the weekend off, we decide to do something together today and go to the Smithsonian Space Museum.
• This consists of several huge, interconnected halls, in which there is both an airplane and a space exhibition.

• We start with the airplanes, as they are closer to the entrance and halfway chronologically.
• However, after an hour, when we are only at the 5th (of 50?!) aircraft, Magda sensibly says that we should at least move a little faster if we want to make it to the space exhibition.
• Matthäus discovers online tours on the museum’s website and one of them is themed “Women in Aerospace”, which of course immediately excites me.
• We discover some great things on the tour:
• The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a super sleek, elegant black plane, the fastest jet-powered aircraft in its day and an important milestone in the Cold War era.

• Marta Bohn-Meyer, who was operations engineer for the F-104 and F-14, became the first female crew member of the Blackbird.
• We see a Curtiss JN-4D, an aircraft that was used extensively after the war for air shows and stunt flying, including by Bessie Coleman, who became the first African-American female pilot in 1921, receiving her International Pilot’s License in France.

• We also see the Enola Gay, one of the planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.

• And another highlight of the exhibition is certainly the Concorde, which dominates the large aircraft hangar with its size anyway.

• As the first aircraft to reach supersonic speeds, the Concorde has of course gone down in history – Jacqueline Auriol was the first woman to fly the Concorde as a pilot and the second woman to break the sound barrier.
• Above the Concorde hangs the Beechcraft King Air 65-90, an aircraft made by the Beech Aircraft Company, a company that was headed by Olive Ann Beech as president and chairwoman and which was also involved in the large US space program.
• Olive Ann Beech became famous as the “First Lady of Aviation” as she received more awards, honorary appointments and special citations than any other woman in aviation history.

• We have to laugh a little when we discover that Felix Baumgartner’s capsule is on display here.

• So finally we make it to the space area, where you can’t help but stand open-mouthed and full of “ooohs and aaahs” in front of the Discovery, which dominates the whole area.

• The space shuttle is one of the three surviving space shuttles from the famous US space shuttle program.
• You can see that it has been used, because it looks a little worn.

• Thanks to a gallery, you can admire it from all sides, including from above, which we naturally do.

• We take another look at the space exhibition before heading back.
• At the campus, we treat ourselves to one last lunch together, and I can’t resist trying the crazy dish that seems to be all the rage, chicken and waffles.

• You get exactly what it promises: chicken and waffles with syrup and whipped cream to dip both into.
• I drink a coffee with it, although I am briefly confused as to whether I should still consider it breakfast or rather lunch.
• We take an Uber back to the airport and it’s time to say goodbye to Magda and Michi. Thank you for a great time!