U.S. Capitol Building

I visited the US Capital city in August 2008. It was a short trip, so I was only able to visit the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and Union Station. There were lots of activities on the Mall. When I go back and have more time, I hope to tour the capital and check out more museums.

I really enjoyed my visit to Union Station. There are some nice stores for shopping. It is a beautiful building. The food was really good too.

In the centre of Washington DC on top of a small hill is the US Capitol building. It is the home to the House of Representatives and the US Senate. It was first used in 1800 even though the building was still far from finished. During the years the old building became too small - both because the senators and the representatives started to require a staff to help them out but also because the USA were crowing admitting still more states to the union.

The most notable feature of the building is the dome - it is the designated centre of Washington DC and all streets are number according to this point of the city. Originally there were talks about burying George Washington under the dome but he had insisted on getting buried on his own estate Mount Vernon. Hence nobody is resting under the dome of the capitol building. The present day dome is never than the building itself and were constructed during the civil war to replace an older wood structure.

The two wings were also later additions to accommodate an ever increasing number of people working in the building.

You can only visit the building if you got an invitation from a member - or if you go on a guided tour. I did not have a personal invitation hence I had to join the guided tour. The tours are free but you need to go and pick up a slot for a tour and then probably come back a couple of hours later to actually join the tour. And you will need to come fairly early in the day otherwise all the tours will be booked out for the rest of the day.

The tour will take you into the building where the guide will tell about the building. The first stop is the dome area where the big paintings are on all the walls with important scenes from North American history. Other stops on the tour are the room where the House of Representatives used to meet before they were moved to a bigger room. Today the room is full of statues of ordinary Americans who had a big impact of the life of the people in their home state. Most of these people are pretty unknown to the general public because they actually did something in the 19th century and are long forgotten - if it was not for the statue in this room. On the flour of the room are 7 small plagues with the names of the members of the house which also served as presidents of the USA. The most noticeable is probably the names of John Adams and Abraham Lincoln. Adams did actually serve in the House after he retired as president becoming the only former president to serve as a representative.

A couple of other rooms you will visit on a tour include the former home of the US Supreme Court and the old Senate room. The old senate room is only accessible if the congress is not in session.

After the tour you will be able to explore the halls on the main level of the building where you can have a look at the decorations of the walls. Some of the walls contains paintings of important historic events and is updated from time to time with later important event like the first flight to the moon.

It is really hard to give a review. While we were there, we were unable
to get close to the capital. There was one bike cop chasing people
away, then cops came from everywhere, firetrucks, etc. They blocked
about 4 blocks in front of the capital-don't know why. People were still
walking around, we were walking back to our car across the park. Then
we moseyed on down to see Abe-well mostly under construction and big
fencing around-hard to get close-there wasn't alot open, as on Sundays
washington closes down, attractions under construction. We just wouldn't
recommend this, unless you like to run around like a headless chicken.

Having interned for a Congressman my last semester in college I had the chance to see the capitol slightly differently then the general public. While on the subject if you happen to be going to D.C. and want a tour of the capitol, call your representative (whether you like him/her or not) and set up a personal tour through their office. This will keep you from being herded around in the large official groups and also lets you see some things that they are not able to see.

While I interned I had to pass the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, and the Capitol everyday on my way to work. The sad thing is that after a month or so I stopped even realizing it. Yes the capitol can be seen in an hour or so, but take time and sit in on the gallery and actually watch what goes on. It is likely to completely change your thoughts whether good or bad.