Last night I saw the Dutch Apple Holiday Show again and I honestly felt that it was 100 times sharper and more energetic this time. Both Sonny and Sarah maintain that it was because everyone was so happy to have a day off the next day! Afterwards we adjourned to a bar, sang some karaoke (including a dire rendition of Rainbow's "Since You've Been Gone" on my part) and generally had a great evening chilling out.

I can't thank Sarah (and her mum and Sonny) enough for making me so welcome and being such great hosts. I loved every minute of Lancaster and miss the Dutch Apple already! I'm very excited for Sarah and Sonny moving to New York after Christmas, no doubt destined for great things, I'm certain.

Today I took my penultimate Amtrak journey of this trip (terribly sad!) and my destination was Washington, DC. I arrived and spent the afternoon wandering around, in awe of the sheer scale of the buildings and the administration they house.

The Capital has a reputation for combining government with ghetto - given its midway location between North and South (slave and free states) and the draw of the Capital for those who have a cause to protest. However, I can report that I was pleasantly impressed with what I saw. Granted, there are a lot of homeless (black) people, and significant parts of the city are still roadworks or construction sites, but it seems that on the whole, DC is now a modern, clean, young and business-like city.

One odd thing, though, the people here seem to be constantly suspicious of each other and give you shifty looks as you walk down the street. I guess that's politics... or maybe it's just me!