Washington DC...Big buidlings and hot weather

Washington was in the high 90s (mid 30s) every day we were there...it was really really hot. Luckily we were staying very close to the conference centre and I had my umbrella to shield me from the sun. The conference was very interesting, there were 23,000 librarians and a couple of thousand vendors, from Peruvian textiles, to foot massages, to jewelery, to sparkly tshirts and several hundred library related suppliers. A couple of sessions were really good and some not so good, pretty much what you can expect from any conference. Highlights were a session about the 50th anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird and winning an MP3 player at one of the conference stands. The bus trip to look at four of the DC public library system libraries was also excellent. Despite all the budget cuts which have meant cuts to staff and opening hours there has been mounds of money for capital projects...so everyone is getting new and refurbished librarians, but no staff and no collections
Washington (and the rest of the US but DC in particular) is full of massive monuments, every building is BIG, the columns are BIG, the statues are BIG and the ornate decorations are BIG. Its almost as if they have an inferiority complex and have to make everything BIG! The international librarians event was held at the library of congress , another massive building. My first look at the domed reading room I took a step backwards and gasp as it was so awe inspiring. I also went to the Lincoln memorial which was also awe inspiring and the Gallery of Art...the paintings they have are unbelievable!