A cathedral after the wedding

Huaying had asked her friend David to take me on a tour of Washington, DC. So after the wedding, we headed off across the Potomac River. Of course, even with a GPS, we still got lost. But we got to drive through Georgetown, which is a long stretch of little shops and cafes with a gazillion undergrads in seductive shorts and mini-skirts, walking around with large shopping bags.

Eventually, we found Kennedy Center of Performing Arts, where we were charged $16 for parking. The building itself was a large rectangular structure, which wouldn't be impressive if it weren't for the fact that the exterior and interior walls were made of white marble, and the interior floors, of varnished hardwood. The first floor had the Hall of Nations where flags hung from the high ceilings. On another corridor, there was a sculpture of the head of President Kennedy, and on each end of the corridor were theater stages where they had performances that were free to the public.

We took the elevator to the top floor, which was mostly empty except for the cafe staff and a couple of security guards. There was a very wide terrace that went all the way around so you could get a 360-degree view of the city. And that's what we did. David pointed out different monuments and significant buildings. Most of them are too far to get a good picture of without telescopic lenses, but it was a great idea to go there to see most of the city.

One of the places he pointed out was the National Cathedral, which took 80 years to complete because everything was handcarved. It was at the highest point in the entire city. And, since it was still early and it was not likely that the cathedral would be part of the bus tours, we decided to go. David admitted he had an ulterior motive for suggesting the cathedral -- he lived only a couple of blocks from it, so I could just drop him off.

Well, even though we couldn't go inside, we were able to walk around it and take lots of pictures. There was so much detail. Each relief was different. So was each gargoyle. And the sun cooperated, so I got good contrast between light and shadow.

Afterwards, we plotted my route using the GPS, then I dropped David off and headed back to the hotel. After getting lost again, of course.