Day 13

One of the things I really like about living in DC is the Metro and the ease with which I can travel almost any place in the city I want to go for a small fee. Subways are almost a necessary accompaniment of great modern cities. They are the preferred way to move large crowds from point to point without contributing to traffic congestion and street crowding. It's hard to imagine New York, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, or Madrid without factoring in their subway systems as essential components of the experience. I sold my car when I moved to DC in 1993 and have never regretted the decision. Most of where I need to go I can get on foot. Occasionally I run out of steam and need to sit down and be delivered to my destination. That is when the Metro is essential. Our apartment is about five blocks from the Eastern Market Metro Station, making it about as convenient a stop as possible. From there I can get to multiple destinations in Maryland and Virginia as well as most neighborhoods in the District. The glaring exception is Georgetown, which objected to having a Metro stop (you can imagine any number of reasons), and is now one of the most crowded and traffic congested pieces of real-estate in the area. Their decision sure didn't keep the riff-raff out. When I go there I have to take the Metro to Foggy Bottom and then walk a half mile down M Street. That isn't a killer but it sure is inconvenient - so I don't much go to Georgetown.

Today I took the Metro home after walking down to the Sackler Gallery of Middle Eastern Art which is located underground behind the Smithsonian Castle and connects to the Freer Gallery of Oriental and American Art on the National Mall. I especially like the exhibit rooms of ancient Chinese bronzes. The oldest have design patterns that are so similar to widespread design motifs of Northwestern American Indian art that it's very difficult not to buy into the notion that American Indians were originally Asians who crossed over a frozen Bering Straight ages ago. And the focus on numerous dynasties that came to great power and then disappeared fits nicely with my current reading (Tainter's _The Collapse of Complex Societies_). But a couple of hours standing and walking slow in the galleries did in my enthusiasm for climbing Capitol Hill so I decided to ride home.