Arlington journey notes – by Henry Oliver

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It is thrilling merely to be in America, the place the warmth means the pine timber actually scent of pine, and saying good morning to the breakfast server leads to a very good humoured dialog, and the birds are so unafraid of pedestrians that you could stand shut and watch them quarrel over a bagel or see them hopping and gliding from tree to tree, shut sufficient to observe their head tilt as their colors shift within the solar. We have had good shut viewings of a Northern Cardinal and a type of astonishing American robins.

The first British-American distinction we observed was on the airport. At Gatwick, you set a pound in to get a baggage cart, which you later get again. We obtained three. At Boston you pay $7 per cart ($6 at Reagan). We obtained two at Boston and one at Reagan.

On our first full day in Arlington, we took three journeys on the Metro and every time somebody voluntarily gave up their seat to our clearly exhausted youngsters. This has occurred at bus stops too. At Boston airport, there was a respect for moms and youngsters (younger households board first) at safety and the gate that merely doesn’t exist within the UK. People are simply nicer right here. Maybe I’m evaluating London to a smaller place, however I do suppose London is grumpy as a result of the British are grumpy. (Yes, I’m grumpy.)

Americans wish to work. They decide up stray litter. They reply promptly. It is claimed that the English are good at queueing, however we’re good at standing in queues, whereas the Americans maintain the queue shifting.

In the world of north Arlington we’ve got been staying in, you see extra folks strolling their canine than pushing a buggy or strolling with a toddler.

Behind the primary roads, that are filled with vehicles and companies and look pretty ugly, there are rows of good-old-fashioned American homes, with white fences and basketball hoops arrange in yards. North Adam Street is great from begin to end. Hostas appear to develop wild right here. Black-eyed Susans are out in large vibrant clumps. The lightning is placing and spectacular however makes little impression on the locals. Flood warnings are laughed at, and appear to be usually incorrect.

We requested two armed guards outdoors the White House and Treasury the place we may discover a bookshop in D.C. They blanked. Then we stopped a pleasant wanting man: blue swimsuit, glasses, waved salt-and-pepper hair, and a normal manner of the standard mild-mannered American gentleman. He blanked too. A minute later, he ran again and crossed the road to direct us to Second Story Books at Dupont Circle. He was charming. At Second Story I obtained two biographies of Jonathan Swift. It’s an excellent bookshop.

The transit system is difficult to know at first however the buses are glorious, straightforward to make use of, and really common. Although increased costs on the Metro make it cleaner and fewer crowded than London (it prices extra relying on how far you experience, extra so than the London zones so far as I can inform, and the day go is a few $14; youngsters don’t experience free, which is an outrage), additionally it is much less intuitive to work out what your journey will price.

The escalators run so slowly right here. Un-American speeds.

Walking round on this humidity is horrible. How did the founding fathers get something completed of their wigs? They based a rustic on this climate!? Presumably the climate is why so many Americans drive in all places. I walked for half an hour in the course of the hottest a part of the day and the particular person I used to be assembly was shocked that I had completed so and supposed to take action once more. I used to be grateful to be given a raise by them. This will not be the one one who gave or supplied me a raise on first assembly.

Presumably Americans are used to including gross sales tax of their head. Why the charade? Is this what Burke referred to as scenting tyranny on each breeze? I discover this afresh each time I go to. In normal, conversations have been unpolitical. The depth of American politics has been fully absent from all my discussions, other than one taxi driver who ranted about corruption. It is far simpler and extra rewarding to speak to strangers right here, even accounting for my traveller’s benefit.

Three pastries and two cups of espresso set me again some $23 in a single place. (And I used to be anticipated to tip.) It is kind of straightforward to get an honest salad. But Americans appear to be glad simply to eat a big bowl of lettuce. What some American eateries name a hen sandwich, I name a hen burger. Graham crackers are usually not crackers: they’re biscuits. The WholeFoods roasted, unsalted, Californian almonds are fantastic. But some two-thirds of what they promote in that retailer is junk meals. It is likely to be natural, with a homely model, however it’s nonetheless junk meals.

The British like to scorn; the Americans like to smile—, however they will also be brusque. This brusqueness is commonly within the service of effectivity. One girl in a authorities workplace was comparatively sharp with me after I was 5 minutes late (complicated system for poor English traveller), however she then turned out to be proactive and useful and actually solved an issue for me. In Britain, bureaucratic brusqueness is a way more unfavourable sign.

At breakfast within the resort we befriended a southern lawyer and his son who had interned in Congress. They had been good, pleasant firm. I used to be struck by how the son referred to as the daddy “Sir”, and the daddy referred to as my son “Sir”, within the pleasant method of eighteenth century British audio system, one of many cultural survivals that we English have misplaced. We chatted within the roaming method of fellow travellers—books, historical past, parenting, native tradition, touring anecdotes, that are the most effective cereals—and the time fell away within the relaxed nature solely an early breakfast in good firm can acquire. Contrary to the persistent English stereotype (like these silly jokes about Oscar Wilde in Four Weddings and a Funeral), Americans are clever, curious, fascinating folks. In America, one thinks in dialog in regards to the topic at hand; in England, persons are pondering what different folks consider them. I count on my views of those opposing traits to converge over time, however not fully.

Staying in a resort room with youngsters is an journey and a trial. There are moments of excessive hilarity and moments of screaming irritation. Although they tire extra rapidly, youngsters are extra adaptable and accepting. Sometimes, they sit on the giant triple window and watch Arlington the way in which they watch tv. However early we open the blinds, there are vehicles on the street.

Here are my earlier notes about visiting Arlington (one other a part of city). Here is New York. And Wisconsin.