"I'm just a bill"
We then visited the Library of Congress which was awesome! There is a not-so-secret passage which passes between the Capitol and the Library, which was a welcome respite from another blisteringly hot day.
We opted to take a guided tour of the Library and were very pleased as Dennis the docent was very informative. We saw pages from one of three Gutenberg vellum bibles in existence as well as a Mainz bible (these books were taken to Fort Knox for safekeeping when 9/11 happened until it was determined they could safely be returned). The building itself is beautiful with mosaics, marble sculptures and cool sayings adorning the walls (i.e. 'knowledge comes but wisdom lingers' or 'science is organized knowledge'). Honestly I just loved visiting an institution where books in all forms are celebrated. The main reading room was amazing, different disciplines and statues of experts in their field were on display (Dennis informed us there is no secret staircase at the librarian's desk for those Dan Brown aficionados). FYI the library has the largest collection of comic books in the world. We perused Thomas Jefferson's library, it was definitely fit for a renaissance man. It was hard to pick what to buy in the gift shop, so many books, so little time!
Who can use the library? Anyone from young (on left) to old (on right).
We came back to the hotel to drop off our purchases and then headed out on the metro for a late lunch / early dinner (we really need to get our meals back to their regular times)! We chose Jaleo a tapas bar and had an excellent meal, details at the following link:
We walked back to the hotel from the restaurant and determined that the city can go from beautiful to scary in one block (we're fine, we just know now to take a different walking route when returning)! It's strange how empty the city is in certain areas.
However it's 7:20 and we're already in bed - the heat here is exhausting. Tomorrow some new adventures.
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