Catching cherry blossim in the capital city

Although the University of Illinois has some cherry blossoms near the Japan House, we thought it would be fun to visit Washington, D.C. to see more blooms around the Tidal Basin. However, catching these delicate flowers turned out to be more challenging than we expected. We booked our flights based on historical peak bloom data, but still missed the peak—wind and rain had swept through just a few days before we arrived. Despite the timing, we thoroughly enjoyed other aspects of DC, especially the art galleries, museums, and the (long-awaited return of) giant pandas!

We didn’t have much free time during the semester, but we still made sure to travel whenever we could. Fortunately, we found a great deal on round-trip tickets between Champaign and D.C., which made the trip much easier to plan and allowed us to fit everything into just three days!

We didn’t head straight to the Tidal Basin. Instead, we first stopped at the Library of Congress, the Capitol, and several monuments along the National Mall. Since both of us had visited D.C. before, we mostly just passed by familiar sights—except for the Library of Congress, where we went inside to explore Jefferson’s book collection. It was fascinating to see that he had collected some of the most famous foundational textbooks in mathematics and physics—how cool is that!

In the evening, we finally made it to the Tidal Basin and took some beautiful photos of the cherry blossoms. There weren’t many left, but we still appreciated how delicate and beautiful they were. Before heading back to our hotel, we also walked to the Lincoln Memorial and captured a great photo of the Washington Monument lit up against the night sky.

As I mentioned, our main goal for this trip was to catch the cherry blossoms—but just as important was seeing the pandas! They’re finally back, and we couldn’t have been more excited—well, really, it felt like everyone in the U.S. was excited about their return!

Besides the giant pandas—which you really have to visit early in the morning to avoid the crowds—the Smithsonian National Zoo is also home to several other adorable mammals, including the charming red pandas. We were lucky enough to catch them while they were full of energy, playfully climbing from tree to tree.

And here’s a photo of one of the giant pandas—there are actually two of them, but the female was in a separate fenced area. This one looked perfectly content, happily munching away on a big pile of bamboo!

After picking up some souvenirs from the zoo—including an adorable red panda stuffed animal—we stopped by a nearby Thai restaurant called Donsak. As usual, we ordered Thai papaya salad along with some grilled marinated pork neck. The food was delicious and incredibly filling—to the point that we weren’t sure if we’d even have room for dinner later!

In the afternoon of our second day, we had a packed schedule of museum visits around D.C. We started with the National Gallery of Art, which I had missed the last time I visited with my parents. impressionism artists. We enjoyed a wonderful collection of paintings from several of my favorite artists, including works by Monet and Van Gogh. It was such a treat to see these masterpieces up close and to spend time wandering through the beautiful galleries.

Here are some of Monet’s paintings—they looked absolutely ethereal in person, with soft colors and dreamy brushstrokes that seemed to bring each scene to life.

Next, we headed to the National Archives. I had no idea you could actually go inside, but Poy knew all about it—he had tried to visit 10 years ago but gave up after seeing how long the line was. This time, we managed to get in and saw the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence with our own eyes. The visit was brief, but it definitely satisfied our curiosity about U.S. history. (We had taken some U.S. history courses during our first year here, so a bit of that knowledge still stuck with us!)

Our next stop continued the U.S. history theme—Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was assassinated. We went inside and learned more about this historic event from a staff member who gave a talk on the stage while we watched from the balcony above. After the presentation, we also visited Petersen House, just across the street, where Lincoln spent his final moments. It was a sobering and reflective experience, standing in the very place where such a significant moment in American history unfolded.

We wrapped up the day with a quick dinner at Kura Revolving Sushi, one of our favorites! We didn’t eat much since we were still full from lunch, but it was a fun and satisfying stop. To end the evening, we visited the National Portrait Gallery. One of the highlights was seeing the official portraits of all the U.S. presidents—we even took a selfie with our favorite, Teddy Roosevelt!

That was everything we managed to pack into just two days, and we couldn’t have been happier with how the trip turned out. D.C. remains one of the best cities to visit in the U.S., especially if you love museums and history like us.