Christina Bauer - Washington DC Tour Guide

06/24/2024

Something new at 7th and Indiana Ave! The door opens when QR code is scanned.

06/18/2024

This morning at the U.S. Navy Memorial.

04/08/2024

During the eclipse today I was giving a tour for students at the Washington National Cathedral. It was so fascinating to see their reactions to the Science and Technology window which commemorates the flight of Apollo 11 in 1969. A moon rock collected by Neil Armstrong is embedded in the glass.

04/03/2024

Waiting for my guests today at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

03/22/2024

A Cherry Blossom Festival light show tonight at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.

03/18/2024

March Madness memo #4: This morning at the Bishops Garden at the Washington National Cathedral. Meanwhile, in the background, repairs of the damage caused by the 2011 earthquake continue.

03/18/2024

March Madness post #3. There are other trees in bloom in DC right now. This a saucer / tulip magnolia.

03/04/2024

March Madness post #2. Sidewalk sign at 17th and I St. NW.

03/03/2024

The D.C. version of March Madness has started ...

And we're off! Small green buds are appearing on the Yoshino cherry trees in the park, marking the first of six stages on the way to peak bloom.
🌸/🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Learn more about the blossom stages: www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/bloom-watch.htm

Photo by National Park Service.

02/03/2024

Drifting beyond what we think of as "recent history," fewer and fewer people feel as connected to the Vietnam War. For many of those who lived through that time period, the long and complicated American involvement in southeast Asia continues to be like the open wound the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is meant to represent. For generations since, blurry images of combat and protest – and visits to the memorial itself – may hit hard, but fade away. For those who want to better understand the war as it happened on the ground, few events stand out more than the 1968 Tet Offensive.

January 30, 1968, marked the first day of the Vietnamese lunar new year celebration, called Tet. As American and South Vietnamese forces prepared to observe the holiday with a truce, more than 84,000 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong troops attacked major cities and military bases across South Vietnam. Caught by surprise, January 31 proved to be the bloodiest day of the entire war for the United States, losing 246 people. Unable to hold their ground and dealt incredible losses in the following weeks, Tet was a devastating military failure for North Vietnam, but proved to be a political turning point for the American people.

Sobered by nightly images of brutal combat and a mounting body count, support for the war dropped dramatically. In February 1968, anchorman Walter Cronkite announced that it seemed “more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.” Despite mounting opposition and a bleak outlook, more than 58,000 young Americans died in the conflict over the following years. Their names are listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Photo by National Park Service.

01/27/2024

Images from Sicily. More than I ever imagined.

01/20/2024

Your favorite tour guide is in Sicily for a convention of the World Federation of Tour Guide Associations. We are visiting Catania, Siracusa, and Palermo.