About a week ago, I was able to go on a very rare dome tour. It was absolutely amazing. About two weeks prior I went to a lecture given by the Capitol Hill Architect. It was very informative and I liked it a lot. Afterward one of the interns I work with went up to the man and asked him if he could give us a dome tour. The intern gave the excuse that our member could not take us due to a hip replacement. The architect said that would be fine. The six other interns and I were ecstatic! We couldn’t believe we somehow nabbed a tour of the dome. When the office staff found out about our good fortune, they were so envious. Almost all the staffers have never been on a dome tour. So, as you can tell it didn’t help when all the interns came back with the opportunity to go on one.
Finally the big day came for the truly grand tour of the dome. As we sat waiting in the rotunda for our tour guide to show up, we had to sign waivers incase we were to die or be seriously injured during the tour. Once the guide came he quickly made a remark about my shoes. I was wearing three inch heels and supposedly someone was supposed to tell me that I wasn’t allowed to wear them. I quickly reassured him I would be fine and it wasn’t worth missing the tour. We started working our way up the 300 steps. The first stop was above the frieze on a balcony with windows. On one side we could look into the rotunda. On the other side we could look outside and see the Supreme Court. At this point I was debating to go further or not. It really never occurred to me that we would be so high up and still have to go even higher. I have a terrible fear of heights and my knees were already shaking. But I thought to myself that I didn’t want to be the loser who quit. I continued on upwards. The stairs became almost vertical. They were very difficult to climb, especially with high heels on. Then we got to the next stopping point, the top of the rotunda. I was just feet away from the Apotheosis of George Washington. It was absolutely breathtaking. Literally, I had to stand up against the wall as I took in the art and the fact of being so high up. I finally got the nerve to stick my camera over the side to take a picture and determine how high I was. When I saw it the people looked like little ants walking around. The acoustics up there were also spectacular. Our tour guide walked over to the other side and continued the tour by just using his normal voice. We were able to hear him as if he was speaking directly in our ears.
Once we left the inside of the rotunda, we continued up the stairs to go to the outside of the top of the dome. We finally arrived outside at the very top of the Capitol building. The view was breathtaking! We were able to walk around on a small balcony and spot every major building with in the DC area. I even saw my apartment building all the way over in Alexandria, VA. While we were up there I watched a storm across the National Mall. This was absolutely the best tour/place I have been since arriving here. I don't think anything can top it. Here are the pics from the tour...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
THE Dome Tour by: Danielle
The intern girls! This was after we signed our lives away.
The roof of the senate side.
The inside of a column. Each column is supported by 2 beams
On the balcony right above the frieze.
A view of the Supreme Court from the window.
Within the Rotunda there are numerous octagons in between the frieze and the top of the rotunda. A few of them open up like the one above. It is used by the secret service to spy on the Rotunda floor during important events.
These steps were easy to climb compared to the vertical ones.
The Apotheosis of George Washington. The interesting thing about this picture is my camera was zoomed all the way out to take it. We were that close!
Constantino Brumidi's signature and date (1861) is on the book below the barrel.
The figures are up to 15 feet tall. This is the Goddess of War.
The God of Marine.
I was so nervous I couldn't even take a decent picture.
The tour guide and two interns on the other side of the balcony.
I was getting braver to get close to the edge.
I finally stuck my arm over the side with the camera and snapped a picture. I wanted to look at it to see how far up we really were. As you can see we were very high up.
We were waving to people below us.
On top of the Capitol right below the statue of Freedom.
The National Cathedral is off in the distance.
If you look closely you can see a building poking up on the horizon line. It's my apartment!!!
The National Mall! You can see a storm coming across the Mall making the wind very strong.
The Statue of Freedom is right above the columns.
The Senate Park. I like to eat my lunches there. Except the squirrels are a little too friendly.
Union Station. I get off the metro there everyday. It took me 3 weeks to figure out it has a mall, movie theater and food court in it.
The Supreme Court. Interesting fact: The Court is not the highest court in America. On top of the Supreme Court is two basketball courts. Look it up on Google Earth!
My office building!!!
The roof of the Senate.
Straight down the street is were DC United plays in the stadium.
The east side of the Capitol. This is the new visitor center. It is all below ground as to not take away from the Capitol. It won't be revealed until November. Here is your sneek peak!
The Rayburn House Office Building.
Here comes the storm. I was trying to capture the lightning, but I just wasn't quick enough.
These stair lead straight up to the Statue of Freedom. No one is allowed up there except for every two years to clean the statue.
I read this after I came down from the dome. Also on the way down I passed an emergency defibulator, for heart resuscitation!
This is the part of the underground train system in the Capitol.
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