"That all men are created Equal.." Washington D.C. by Ramonq

click: American music

Washington D.C, America's political centre is not just all politics. It is also a centre of culture and some suprisingly good entertainment. The focal point of this well-planned city is of course the White House and the Houses of Congress, but this city also has the best museum in America: the Smithsonian Institute.

Oh to be in the centre of American power, now that can be quite interesting. We all hear and read a lot about this city in the news, and I thought that Washington DC is all about dreary politicians, bureaucrats, sleazy spin-doctors, party aparatchiks and lobbyists. Sadly they're all part and parcel of Western democracy, but Washington DC is also the place where ordinary Americans can spill out their anger and concerns on how their powerful country is being governed through rallies and demonstrations on the lawns of the Capitol Hill, at the Mall or near the White House. Its interesting to see American democracy in action and I was lucky enough to witness a huge rally at The Mall when I was there.

I found my visit to Washington DC, the capital of the United States of America, to be a highly educational, and it's not just because of the great Smithsonian Institute museums, one of the most impressive museums I've visited. I got to know more about the real America, and not the pre-conceived ideas about the country developed from watching too much American TV shows at home. I thought that the American constitution, which is enshrined in this city, is a most progressive piece of document. The inscriptions on the huge monument of Abraham Lincoln, one of America's greatest presidents, who dismantled slavery, was very moving. The long list of names on The Wall of those Americans who died in the Vietnam war; and the site of JFK tombstone at Arlington Cemetery were a touching reminder that this country's more recent history still leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

The city is a huge repository for anything Pax Americana. There's museums and galleries everywhere which reveal the art and history of the USA. The curators do an excellent job because the works are displayed in a dignified manner befitting the capital of this great country. And it's not just the Smithsonian. Even inside the civic buildings such as the Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and Union train station have museums and galleries inside and worth your while visiting them. I spent a lot of time in Washington DC inside these places and received some interesting insight about the city and the country as a whole. History books can be boring, but to be actually in the place where it all happens, you get a whole new perspective.

What started as colonial farmlands where native Americans once roamed, Washington DC's early history is marked by the visionary instigation of one man, George Washington, the first US president, from whom the city was named. Plenty of horse trading between northern and southern states went on to decide where to put the young nation's capital and the Compromise of 1790 settled the issue. In exchange of votes, the capital is to be placed near the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland as initially suggested by Washington, a Virginian. Washington then induced farmers in the area to give up their lands with special deals. He hired L'Enfant and Ellicot to survey and plan the new city but he had some input on the location of the White House and the Capitol Hill which were a mile apart!

There were a lot of political problems between the new states with building the new city, sometimes appearing like a Disunited States of America, yet political lobbying and sheer determination of George Washington made its existence possible. Washington DC, the city by the Potomac was built as planned, with streets in grid pattern interspersed by diagonal wide tree-lined avenues which were named after the states of America. Politicians and bureaucrats started to moved in even when the city still appeared rustic and underdeveloped.

Greater Washington DC now has population of more than 5 million. Shaped like a diamond, it spreads out to Arlington in the west, Anacostia to the east, Alexandria to the south and Brightwood to the north, connected by good roads and rail system. It's a low rise city where many of the buildings look like each other. Sixty percent of the population is of African-American origin and many of its population work with the Federal and city government. I was only able to explore the political, cultural and entertainment centres of the city as this is a very sprawling city. Apparently, there are no-go zones in Washington DC, with some of the highest murders in the whole country. Now that's one suburb I wouldn't dare go.

• Pros:Great museums
• Cons:Tight security
• In a nutshell:World's Super-power Capital