Suddenly there was a general movement, like a flow of water when a dam is broken. I realized I was nowhere near the front of the march so I began to travel with the flow and try to go faster. I stopped hurrying along only once to take this picture. That large black line of people are all cops, with the protesters on the other side. I don't know what they were guarding, but its probably something we should have been trying to burn down, like the Pentagon or an army recruiting station. But sadly, there was noone to do such a thing. Where could the heroes of the black bloc be? I continued my trek.

 

I finally got a chance to stop when we reached the whitehouse amid chants of "War criminal" and "Bush, Cheney, CIA, how many kids did you kill today?" I didnt even realize we were at the whitehouse until I saw the place that has become the center of so much evil loom up infront of us. It's not like Mount Doom or something where you can tell you're getting near it. Though I did sense a palpable evil.

 

Alas, the Eye of Bush did not fall upon us. As he usually does when people come to call him out for his myriad crimes he was vacationing somewhere. 

 

I broke from the march after the whitehouse and went on to find Georgetown, where I was to meet my ride and have some tapas for lunch. I wandered around since the map I had only included Georgetown and not the federal area of DC. Georgetown is actually older than DC and is one of the finest areas for dining that I know of. Filamena Ristorante and Cilantro being among my favories. I was to go to the latter and I had half an hour to do so. I was turning a corner when I discovered this scene.

 

First I saw two morons who looked pretty out of place in their army shirts and such. They held a stick and walked around claiming they'd been assaulted by the black bloc and saying that our ideas of peace and love were bullshit. The black bloc ignored them. And if they actually had been assaulted by the black bloc you can see above, they'd have been two dead fucking hillbillies, so something tells me they were  lying. Anyhow, I saluted my allies, later discovering that these guys had just come from shouting and throwing shit at a few hundred pro-war idiots including the much reviled fascist brownshirts, the so-called "protest warriors". The Black Bloc was naturally there to ensure that none of those assholes got uppity and they were clearly successful. And I have news for the two PW members who were whining on that street corner. The Black Bloc isnt about peace. It's about overthrowing your bullshit system and installing something new, something better, by any means necessary. And if that means your dumb ass has to get hit with a sign post, then I'm down with that.

Anyhow, after leaving my sign post with one of the freedom fighters I did not have the priviledge of marching with, I traveled to Georgetown on foot. Luckily DC is made up in a grid system in alphabetical and numerical order, so I figured out where I needed to go and made it in time. This is the interior and bar of Cilantro Bistro, a marvelous place. I sat down with my friend and ordered some shrimp and some hummus awarma, which is chickpea paste with beef. This is what they made it look like:

 

The prices were decent, though the portiosn were small. Thats the idea of tapas though, it's mediteranean appetizers and if I'd had the money I would have ordered a lot more to try. I hope to go back there soon. After that there were various adventures, including a flat tire and a full day of work, but I'll never forget what was by far the largest protest I've ever attended. I hope all of you have enjoyed sharing the experience with me. And if you one day want to re-create my escapades, here's a map.

 

I started out at that odd triangle near the Washington monument. I wandered around the ellipse, the mall and the constitution gardens for an hour or two, and then I joined the march and ended up near lafayette park above the white house. From there I had to pass through several police barriers and reorganize my route. I traveled north until I found K street, which was on the georgetown map. I made it from K street above lafayette park all the way to the big letters that say Georgetown in about 30 minutes on foot.