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Studying the US history has made me really miss it; as I lived there for a year. So, my boyfriend and I decided to take a two-week trip to the US. When I told my friend in Washington, D.C. about the trip, she offered me her Volkswagen van to drive down to Miami,FL to enjoy a few days on the beach. After discussing further details with her, my boyfriend and I booked our trip: we will fly on Monday,  August 4th from Vienna to Washington, D.C., drive down to Miami, FL (we will leave the van at my friends' uncle in Miami) and return to Vienna on Monday, August 18th, 2014.

The plan: 

After the long flight from Vienna to Washington, D.C. we will probably be exhausted and jet-lagged, so we will stay at the hotel the first day to relax and adjust to time. The next day we will visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to please my boyfriend's obsession with airplanes. Afterwards, will walk down 7th Street to Chinatown and the big Verizon Center. The food served in these little restaurants will hopefully be as exceptional as the holiday brochure says, and I am also excited to see the great Chinese gate next to them. From this gate we will take a walk to Vernon Square park and the nearby Business Center (further up the 7th Street) until we will meet friends of mine for dinner at night. On Wednesday, we will take the little tourist bus, which tours around Washington D.C, for sightseeing. Stops of this bus will be Washington Union Station (with an impressive train set inside and circle-arranged monuments outside) as well as the Washington Monument, the Korean War Veterans Memorial with the final stop at the Lincoln Memorial. This memorial not only honors Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of the US who ended slavery and preserved the union, but also represents the idea of freedom and equality. Freedom and equality of black people were also a major concerns of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech, held in front of this memorial on August 28th, 1963. This historic and spacious place will be breathtaking to see; I cannot wait to visit it. Also worth a visit is supposed to be the Capitol, to which we will stroll to the next day. This Capitol holds two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. These lawmakers (100 Senators and 435 Representatives), together with the

president and the supreme court,  build the three branches of the US government. Having visited the Capitol and the most important memorials and museums in Washington D.C., we will start our long drive to Miami, Fl. We assume that it will take us about two exhausting days from Washington, D.C. to Miami, Fl. Since the van is very spacious and comfortable we will also spend the night in it. Sleeping in the van will be an absolute dream come-to-true for me; I already bought sleeping bags and battery operated lights for these adventurous nights. During the day, however, my boyfriend and I will take turns driving until we finally arrive in Miami. The capital city of Florida offers inexpensive youth hostels and guesthouses but because we can sleep in the van, we will stay at a campground. When in Miami, I will walk the glamorous streets filled with exclusive clubs and shops until my feet hurt. Having seen these streets in many movies, I hope to get a glimpse of the luxurious lifestyle of the people living there; maybe even try an expensive dress in one of the shops.These unique streets are supposed to be bustling and packed with people and I will absorb all energy of this lively atmosphere. I can picture myself standing there, breathing and just taking it all in. Unfortunately, the holiday brochure says that the campground will be the contrary: small and deserted. Nonetheless, this will not stop me from making the most of our stay there. Despite the fact that the we will be staying in a more remote and filthy area of the city, I hope to be able to go to the fashionable residential districts on the outskirts and to the ones near the sea. Other than that, we do not plan to do a lot of sightseeing. Admittedly, we will just spend the time lazing at the beach until we have to fly back to boring Austria. All in all, I hope this will be an eventful and memorable trip to the US; and I cannot wait to sleep in the van.

cost:
flight (€1,100)
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (€8)
museum (€12)
tourist bus (€13)
food (€400)
gas (€600)
campground fee (€200)
souvenirs (€50)
miscellaneous (€100)
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€ 2483