![]() ![]() The second face of Washington is the normal working city, which has bustling suburbs lined with sports bars and eating houses. The Caribbean menu at Bammy’s is one of the more affordable, with options ranging from an excellent jerk chicken main course to a tasting menu of the chef’s favourites. Pictured is the imposing Capitol, which houses Congress Seats of power: Former Washington DC resident Peter Wilson recently returned to the U.S capital for the first time in 25 years and was 'blown away' by how much the city has transformed. The best known is the world’s ‘new Rome’, the federal capital made up of monuments, museums and the seats of government, all surrounded by the official buildings and lobbyists’ offices whose inhabitants support one of the US’s broadest ranges of upmarket restaurants. The pulse and dining options vary widely, as today’s visitor is actually coming to three distinct cities rolled into one. Visitors who would once have worried about venturing into the wrong areas will now find shopping streets busy with families and young workers, and restaurants and bars packed with a mix of students, residents and tourists. ![]() ![]() Today Washington has an unrecognisable air of safety and flourishing activity, where locals insist there are no longer any no-go zones and taxi drivers are happy to drive anywhere. Twenty-five years ago the US capital was a starkly divided city, with government workers and foreign diplomats living nervously beside blighted suburbs that made the District of Columbia notorious as the ‘murder capital’ of the country. On a return trip to Washington DC, to see how the city has changed since I lived there in the mid-1990s, I had expected some differences but was blown away by the transformation. It was the feeling of calm prosperity that shocked me. ![]()
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