Unearned déjà vu
Comments: 13
Right at the point of the cab ride from Dulles airport to my hotel where the fortieth or fiftieth anonymous glass office block was making me wonder just where exactly I was (and how long before I wasn’t), the car swept around a bend in the expressway down onto a ramp behind the Lincoln Memorial and I caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument over the tops of the trees with the Capitol shining in bright sunlight in the background.
It was breathtaking.
It’s strange to be in a place where you recognise so much without actually having seen it before. There’s a kind of unearned déjà vu which is both a gift and a challenge to work harder in your appreciation of where you are.
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Posted to General Rants • 2005.05.11 (Wed) • 19:29
Comments
Posted by Richard 2005.05.11, 20:53
I get it completely. No matter how I feel about the politicians who inhabit the city, the feel of DC as a city space as well as the feeelings the visual icons bring up is significant.
I highly recommend visiting the Vietnam War Memorial (the wall) while you’re on the mall and the gift shop in the Museum of American History (of course, the museum itself) is amazing.
Posted by Kristen 2005.05.11, 21:45
I can see the whole city in my mind’s eye, even though I haven’t been there in probably ten years. DC is a remarkable and memorable town. I’m glad your inaugural US visit starts there.
Posted by David Ely 2005.05.11, 21:49
I sometimes go the The Old Post Office for lunch, and every time that I cross Pennsylvania Avenue and look left to see the Capital I’m amazed at how well the city lines up for those sorts of architectural moments.
Posted by David Kaspar 2005.05.11, 21:59
I really liked all the free entrances to the many museums in DC (I was a poor student back then - now I am a poor employee).
Posted by Adam Rice 2005.05.11, 23:46
I had a similar feeling on a visit to the Art Institute in Chicago. They have a number of pieces that are iconic—Sunday on the Grand Jatte, Nighthawks, etc—and although we all know these paintings from a hundred art books, seeing them in person was electrifying.
Posted by Evan Joes 2005.05.12, 01:19
So very well put.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) 2005.05.12, 01:41
I felt the same way as Adam Rice when I went to the Art Institute in Chicago the first time. My Mom had gone to college in Illinois, art was her minor, and so she had lots of museum books that I grew up with. The first time I saw some of those paintings in the flesh, I sat down and cried, I was so overwhelmed.
As for cities, London was the one that gave me deja vu on my first trip there.
Posted by Pascale Soleil 2005.05.12, 02:41
Glad you’ve arrived! Offer of coffee with a stranger (who reads your blog) still stands…
Despite my many disagreements with the policies and actions of our government, I nonetheless still get a patriotic lump in my throat when I visit the Mall. DC is a grand and livable city, an unusual combination anywhere in the world.
Posted by Durf 2005.05.12, 10:40
Careful where you wave that camera … we don’t want you getting a free side trip to Guantanamo.
Posted by Steve Ray 2005.05.12, 11:47
You obviously picked a good week to be here. The weather is fantastic. I’d say that May and October are the best months for good weather in D.C. You’d have to visit in August to know how bad it can get. Enjoy.
Posted by Jim O'Connell 2005.05.12, 14:16
It’s a bit like Mount Fuji, in a way, or a harvest moon - they tend to pop out unexpectedly and make your heart skip a beat…
Posted by Josef Habr 2005.05.14, 15:19
i was also in DC recently, just on the top of spring, and loved it.
Posted by Robert 2005.06.16, 00:24
For me, it too was London, coming across a bridge and turning a corner and recognizing the same low stone wall and wrought iron gates in front of Wesminster Cathedral, where all the lilies were arrayed on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral.
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