Travel to Washington Dc

Washington, D.C. (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

Format: Turtleback
Author: DK Publishing
ReleaseDate: 20 March, 2006
Publisher: DK Travel
Rating:

Pictorial Guide to Washington
Well organized with helpful facts and photos to help identify buildings and key contents. A very clear guide book. It proved most useful.

This guide needs a lot of UPDATING
Also, there are quite a few inaccuracies. As a 10 year resident of Washington DC, I think that there are many areas that have developed recently that deserve to be mentioned here. Although crime and racial discrimination are part of the city living so is the new development of a multicultural city. For example, there is a large number of Latinas/os all over the city who have their own newspapers, radio stations, health centers, neighborhoods (despite the gentrification efforts by the new rich or yuppies), restaurantes, theaters (e. g. Teatro Gala), bars and discos, which are very good and cheap, and a large number of Latina/o intellectuals; also the Ethiopian community is quite strong here with lots of restaurants to enjoy so there is more than black and white but the whole rainbow of human beings are here and every one has some cultural influence on the city. Also, I think that far beyond the Mall there are quite a lot of interesting and beautiful sights that this guide fails to mention such as the National Shrine (Catholic cathedral) with some pretty sights around as the Franciscan Monastery with their catacombs and the new Jean Paul II museum among many other sights and places beyond the Mall such as 14 St. and U St. areas. DC is very expensive place to live in. Although it is not NYC or San Francisco, DC is not far behind in rent and housing prices so even a very tiny one bedroom apartment can reach $5,000 a month, depending on the location. DC is also a college town. Yes, a college town! Did you know that the city itself has ten major colleges such as Georgetown Univ. , George Washington Univ. , Catholic University, Howard University, Gallaudet University, Trinity University, American University, University of the District of Columbia, Southeastern University, and Corcoran College of Art and Design. Plus the nearby University of Maryland (one of the top ten largest campuses in the US), George Mason University, and John Hopkins University, and many local chapters of other institutions of higher education which amount to 500,000 (yes, half a million college students!). I guess this is something worth of mentioning it in a tourist guide, right? There is a new Museum too which is the Native American Museum and the Newseum is coming up by the end of 2007 and also there is an initiative to build one for Latinos. There is a lot more to see than the Mall in DC and Georgetown and that beyond is pretty as well and very multicultural. In summary, I wish that the people from this publishing company did a better job at talking to the locals and looking beyond what is classic and researched ten years ago.

The best book on DC
This book has been invaluable in planning things from the obvious like the Smithsonian's and the mall to the obscure like the international Espionage museum. There is tons to do in Washington DC and despite several trips there I have yet to see it all. I highly recommend its use for planning a trip in the area. Good DC Subway map as well as excellent recommendation on restaurants and hotels. The pictures are wonderful for understanding the various areas. .

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