Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine March 2015 | Page 136
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Travel | Washington DC
© f11photo / Shutterstock
The first time I visited, I had
an itinerary in mind. Like most
travellers, I wanted to explore
the National Mall, the long
stretch of museums and
monuments that Abraham
Lincoln stares at from his
marble throne.
I remember pondering the glass-sealed
Declaration of Independence at the National
Archives, standing on my tiptoes to catch
a glimpse of the Hope Diamond at the
Natural History Museum, and stopping by
the American Museum of National History
to say hello to Kermit the Frog.
were badly infested and diseased. All 2,000
had to be burned. The news was mutually
distressing for both countries, and plans for a
second donation were hastily made. Another
batch arrived two years later, this time
amounting to 3,020 trees and suitable for
planting. Another 3,800 were sent in 1965.
As I checked items off my list, I stumbled
upon something unexpected: an orchard of
pink and white blooms. They had sprung from
thousands of Japanese cherry blossom trees
that ring a reservoir called the Tidal Basin.
A subtle, rose-like aroma filled the air while
delicate petals fell like snow. Snap-happy
visitors eagerly tried to frame monuments with
the blooms. Even a bride and groom posed for
photographs with the trees as a backdrop.
The blossoming trees were so well received
that merely a decade after they were planted
a festival was founded in honour of the gift.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival
continues today and has grown to include
musical and cultural performances,
fireworks, a kite festival and a parade.
Once I had caught sight of these spring
colours, it was hard to imagine DC without
them. But there was a time when it seemed
they wouldn’t blossom at all.
Trees frame the Thomas Jefferson
Memorial, which was modelled after
the Pantheon of Rome.
Japan first sent the USA the cherry trees as a
symbol of friendship in 1910. But by the time
they crossed the ocean to Seattle and then
made it across the country to DC, the trees
Look closely around DC and it’s not hard to
spot other gifts and influences from around
the world. Except for its colour, the front
façade of the White House mimics the
Leinster House in Dublin, Ireland. And the
elaborate sculptures, Ionic columns and
grand marble corridors of Union Station
would be right at home in Rome. Even the
layout of this planned city is modelled after
Paris, with a grid of numbered and lettered
streets intersected by wide, diagonal
avenues and roundabouts.