One of the best parts about being on exchange is going away and exploring new cities. I managed to see quite a few different places last semester so this weekend I returned the favor when my friend Louis came to visit this weekend. It is always nice to be able to show someone the city you are living in, and your favorite places to go to. Louis arrived on Thursday night and got the shock of his life when getting off the plane coming from LA – the average weather over there has been in the mid-70s, whereas in DC it has been below freezing with icy winds!
In true DC tradition we started our Friday morning with Brunch – for Louis this was great as he had gotten too used to healthy food in LA. 
This was not the case at Founding Farmers! After this we set off on our adventure around DC checking out the national mall and Dupont. We found a great little café called Kramerbooks & Afterwords 
it was a book store with a cute little café out back with amazing cakes and tea. After this we headed over to the Capitol and were surprised to find that the water in front of it had been iced over. 
Unfortunately it was not enough for me to stand on it! He headed over to the other end of the national mall to check out the Lincoln Memorial 
and also watch the sun set on the steps. 
After seeing the White House, we went for dinner at a great restaurant across from it – Old Ebitt Grill. For anyone who is visiting DC or is looking for a fancier meal, this is the place for you! 
That evening we headed out to U Street to explore the other parts of DC – as an exchange student you can sometimes get caught up in staying in Foggy Bottom and not exploring further out in other areas. On Saturday we headed over to Hains Point to watch GW Rugby play against Ivy league school Columbia. It was a tough game with a muddy pitch and unfortunately the boys lost by 3, but it was still a great game. 
The slight upside though was the great sunset we managed to see
Louis was meant to stay till Monday afternoon however due to the Winter Storm coming; he had to fly back on Sunday unfortunately. And luckily that he did as we got over 6 inches of snow on Monday! 
This meant another snow day! I was hauled up in the apartment due to upcoming Midterms this week. However come Thursday it will be Spring Break!! I can’t wait!!
Blog entries written by recipients of the GW Inbound Exchange Blogging Scholarship.
