100 years of the cherry blossom festival

I got to Washington DC in good time. One of the interesting things is that this city is twinned with many capital cities around the world. No doubt it gives each of the civic leaders a reason to visit on expenses. One of the cities it is twinned with is Sunderland. Yes Sunderland.
Well of course Washington is a district of Sunderland and is the ancestral home of George himself. I can't think there's much in it for the Washington DC elite, but the Sunderland councillors must have a lot of networking visits in their schedule.
I arrived about midday, checked in, and set about taking in the city. It is a criss-cross road pattern, like many new cities. They are numbered in one direction, and lettered at right angles. The Marriott is at 12thNW and G. A few roads cut across them diagonally, like Pennsylvania Avenue, and Constitution Avenue. It makes getting about very simple.
I got to the Washington Memorial and looked at the Lincoln Memorial. The 'reflecting pool' was dry, for maintenance. Then down Jefferson Avenue and the Mall, to Capitol Hill. The White House itself is visible but slightly hidden away so I didn't see it at first. It was funny to think of the President no more than a quarter of a mile from where I was standing.

Along the walk between the Washington Monument and capitol Hill there was a stage and a steel band playing. Above the stage was a sign indicating that they were celebrating 100 years of the cherry blossom festival. The famous cherry blossom is everywhere, and I found a picture for you.

The festival marks the planting of white and pink cherry blossom trees, a gift from the Japanese people. They themselves mark the beginning of spring. Each year, for the last 100 years this festival been an occasion to show off multicultural and international cultural events. The steel band was from a local high school. As if to demonstrate how far they have come, multicilturally, here in DC, there was not a single black face in the band players, and there was no self-consciousness or embarrassment either that they were essentially playing black music. They were just having fun, and so was the audience.

I going to go on one of those hop on hop off bus trips now. Walking is good, but tiring. I'll tell you about it later.