By the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

First day in Bethesda, and our hostess took us to Great Falls - simply beautiful (that word is getting overworked in my US journal, but have just been blown away by the colours, the countryside, the house we're staying in, everything...

This is the Great Falls Tavern, now a Visitor's Centre - and no, I won't use American spelling. We walked along the canal, and then over for our first real sight of the mighty Potomac. Juliette pointed out the height the flood waters reach and we saw the debris and trees carried down by the water. Impressive. On the way back, got some shots of a heron, but didn't manage to catch him fishing - and in any case, there are so many expert bird Blioppers, such as Sefferdog, that I wouldn't even try to post a bird shot.

J then dropped us off at the Metro, so on into Washington, which far exceeded our expectations - I'm finding it difficult to avoid the 'b' word again. Started off with the Air and Space Museum and were so fascinated that we spent the rest of the afternoon there. Walking back to the Metro across the Mall, took hundreds of photos of the Capitol bathed in pink light, and the amazing sunset sky behind the Smithsonian Castle (now that building doesn't merit the 'b' word, in fact, have to confess to finding it ... on second thoughts, better keep quiet).

Managed to find our way back to Friendship Heights on the Metro and get a taxi back to the house - only to find that we weren't too clear on the finer points of the directions and had neither a phone nor our friends' number, so getting back with our Ghanaian driver, whose GPS was on the blink, was quite an adventure. We made it, though - however, in the struggle to get our credit card to work, I put down the small camera. And that's where it stayed. So far, all attempts to trace the taxi and the camera have failed, suppose I should give up hope. Now back in Rio, where carrying the Big Camera around is not a very good option. Guess it will be back to the mobile.

Went to an excellent tapas joint in the evening with J and her two girls - delicious food, with Nouvelle Cuisine sized portions and prices, but worth it.