Washington, DC (USA)

[Mollie and I wanted to see the famous "Zoo Lights" at the National Zoo - we got an earlier start this afternoon (1500) - waited for a train for more than 20 minutes at Huntington... - fortunately, we benefited from the same Metro reroute (Yellow Line to Eastern Market on Blue Line track) - switched to Red Line at Metro Center and arrived at Woodley Park station by about 1615 and walked up Connecticut Avenue to the Zoo Entrance - weather was poor (overcast and dark early), but the lights showed up very well (even before sunset) - walked around in some of the areas that were about to close (Asia Trail) - usually, this is mobbed - but today we were treated with very few people - made it possible to see a fishing cat, red panda, clouded leopard and other furry friends of the Giant Panda (not visible) - later saw reptiles and apes (and Mollie's favorite - Przewalski's Horse) - we enjoyed several great light shows (with music) and fancifal animal displays - when we reached the end, the security man told us we should head back up the hill to get back to the Metro, so we walked the length of the Zoo Lights again - before getting back on the train, we had a nice dinner at Pasta Italiana (it was run by an Indian family - I swear there was some curry in the pasta! - pretty good food, though) - it started to pour as we finished eating (1900) and then a ton of police cars arrived at the station - decided we should leave... - waited for a red line train for a bit and then decided to catch an Orange Line train to Rosslyn - after a longer delay for the Yellow Line, we were on our way home - arrived at the house close to 2130 - fun day!]