Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Walking Into Another World

Today while waiting to unload in Washington, DC, I went for a walk. I had mapped out the shortest route to the nearest Starbuck's and headed out while Ed sat in the truck. After crossing several of The District's alphabet soup of streets, I quickly crossed H and I Streets and wound up on K Street, smack in the center of Chinatown.

Gazing up at the Friendship Arch, the largest such archway in the world, erected to celebrate the friendship between Washington, DC and its sister city of Bejing, China, I knew I had come to a crossroads. As one would expect in such an international setting, a Starbucks rose before my very eyes, complete with the name scrawled in Asian lettering:

As I leisurely sipped my latte and munched on my Maple Oat Nut scone, I listened to conversations and honking horns as I stood on the corner, watching everyone scurry around me. My walk had been invigorating and the people gazing was a treat.

I arrived back at the truck refreshed and happy, as I had gotten in a walk consisting of about three miles and got to snap some pictures as well. Ed, on the other hand, was still waiting for the truck to be unloaded.

Since I had a captive audience, I showed him my pictures and told him of my little adventure; including the unusual discussion I had about travel with a toothless old woman on the street who stopped me specifically to ask, "what exactly are you taking pictures of?"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how often famous street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson had to answer the same question.

Twisted Cinderella said...

Very cool. It is amazing to get peaks into other worlds in that way.

Lisa M. said...

*Laughing*

LIfe is always an adventure.

Amy said...

I was there last year about this time. We came up from the subway, and there was the arch, all lit up with spotlights....It just stopped me in my tracks. Very cool.