Another drizzly day… I get myself ready and just as I am going to leave I notice the table in my room is full of ants!! Ugh! I have left an open bag of lemon drops on the table and it is now full of ants. I take the bag to reception and tell the guy there. He explains to me that if you leave a bag of sweets the ants will come in from outside. Really, I didn’t know that… imagine living 60 years and not being aware of ant behaviour…. please! The problem is I can’t stay in a room full of ants… comprendez? He seems a bit flustered about giving me another room and after much ummm and ahhhhing says the problem is it’s check out time so none of the rooms are ready. I explain that I can pack my things and move to another room later, I am going out now anyway. He agrees to this, so I make my way back to the room and pack my things. The ants are still there by the way….
As I’m packing there is a knock on the door and a woman, who I assume is the housekeeper, tells me room 151 is available now if I want to move. Oh good, I’ll do that then. She says there are no towels at the moment, but I’m not bothered about that right now.
I finish moving my stuff and am again on my way to the Museum of the American Indian to spend the day there having a really good look at the artefacts and culture.
Here is a view of the Senate and Arboretum
and across the road is this… it is just parked there, no-one is in sight so I’m not sure the purpose of it other than to be seen…
I arrive at the Museum and the queue is much shorter than yesterday so I am soon inside the building. The building itself is huge
and a fantastic shape… I don’t know if there is any significance attached to that.
Once inside there is a huge hall with seating and some exhibits. It also has a small coffee shop and a restaurant serving traditional indian foods.. mmm will come back later for something to eat.
The next level up is almost all taken over by a shop. There are loads of souvenirs to be had, from really expensive jewellery to small plastic items, I have a good look around, but don’t purchase anything.
There is a small exhibition dedicated to the Hawai‘ian Islands… it is absolutely fascinating. I wasn’t aware that the indigenous people of Hawai‘i were trying to regain sovereignty from the US and are campaigning quite vociferously… never hear about that in the UK. They talk of Hawai‘i as an occupied country. I of course think of Northern Ireland as I’m sure many Peoples all over the world have the same view of their own countries that have been colonised e.g. Cyprus. I spend quite a long time reading all the information, which I am not going to reproduce here, but if you are interested then here is a link…
There is also information regarding the first and last Queen, Lili`uokalani, who seems to have been a very strong and respected leader.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani
Up a further level there is a side exhibition ‘The Inca Road’ which I have a brief look into, it describes the trade route carved out of the Andes by the Inca from the mountains down to the sea.. not really my thing.
Throughout the spaces there are exhibits covering many indigenous Peoples of the Americas, from the Inuit of the Arctic Circle,
through Canadian native tribes, into the US where there are over 500 different nations still in existence – which is pretty remarkable given the attempts by the immigrants to obliterate them,
to South America
and the Hawai‘ian Islands.
A very broad topic, which I have to say was pretty sparsely covered in terms of exhibits.
I was expecting it to be a series of much bigger galleries, perhaps each one devoted to the different regions. So I actually only spend just over an hour and a half having a look around.
There are numerous placards with quotations from various people…
I thought that was interesting… some very inspiring words.
When I get back to the restaurant it’s shut.. so disappointed. I make my way outside and there are some other items on view…
All in all I thought it was worth it and I did find it an enjoyable and interesting experience so I’m glad I went there.
Aye aye, I think I’m being followed…
I am really very cold and don’t have a warm jumper or top with me so I take the Metro again back to Forever 21 and have a browse… I manage to get a couple of things to warm me up. I also have a look in Macys department store and SAKS, they are pretty much the same as John Lewis’ in the UK, which as some of you will know is my most favourite shop in the world 😉
So, I think I’m done…
I return to the hotel via Uber, another great experience and only $3 from Rosslyn Station… just great.
I get back to my room and take the opportunity to repack everything ready for tomorrow as I aim to leave the hotel on the shuttle bus at 10am to catch another bus to the airport. I don’t fly until 5.30pm, but I’ll just plot up somewhere and catch up the blog. I check the towel situation and of course there aren’t any… I call the front desk and someone brings a couple of bath towels.. no hand towels though, I hope they don’t think I have pinched them tomorrow.
I was planning on an early night, however there is a good film on the telly so I am up late watching it… hope I can get up in the morning.
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