Getting around D.C. is easy on the Metro rail, which is sleek, modern, clean, safe and fast.

Even before checking into the hotel, I am awestruck by this gleaming symbol of the foundations of The American Experiment, a tribute to the man who became known as The Father of Our Country as he led the American Revolution to freedom for us all. Nearby, the Capitol Building, too, reflects those shining early days of our nation. This is it, I think, the very epicenter of the capitol of the most powerful nation in the world.

Checking in, bits and pieces of long-ago learned history drift from memory banks. In the 1700’s, America was a barely more than a wish, an almost impossible dream stemming from the visions of freedom and self-determination almost certainly in the hearts of humankind from the beginning of time. When 56 brave and determined men signed the Declaration of Independence, they knew their goals were high.

In the Federalist Papers, James Madison admitted that theirs was a “political experiment” which depended “on the capacity of mankind for self-government.” And Thomas Jefferson concurred, fully aware that the journey ahead would not be easy. “We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed,” he cautioned.

The Old World watched the American Experiment with skepticism and doubt. Such experiments had been tried before. Various small communities had tried. Ancient Greece had established democratic societies, as had Rome, and ultimately, all had failed.

By the time we emerge from the hotel, darkness envelopes the city. The great ivory obelisk of the Washington Monument seems pearlescent now. So does the Capitol Building, topped with the 19-1/2 foot tall, imposing allegorical bronze statue of Freedom.

Strolling the streets, The District seems more European than any American city I have seen. Virtually every edifice is historical, or designed to look so. Height limitations keep everything to a human level. Charming outdoor cafés dot the streets here, where the climate is temperate most of the year. People stroll everywhere.

Watching the bustling crowds and chatting folks of this city of 550,000, it strikes me that nearly everyone I see works, directly or indirectly, for the government. The Federal Government is the largest employer. Then there are the trade associations, labors unions, lobbyists(the name derives from President Grant’s disdain for the interest groups who loitered in the Willard Hotel’s lavish lobby), an enormous profusion of lawyers and consultants, embassies and delegations, international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

And, of course, the vast number of service personnel, the servers and chefs, cooks and busboys and general kitchen staff of the restaurants and cafes where the leaders of our world conduct their power lunches, dinners and breakfasts. Not to mention the nightclubs and bars that sooth the nerves of the powerful and their staffs, or ply the pliable (residents here consume more wine per capita than residents of any U.S. state). And the maids and chauffeurs and housekeepers and nannies and others who serve the elite and their guests in their homes. It’s a safe bet, too, that the 4,000 psychiatrists in Washington D.C. derive a great percentage of their work from the job-stressed and anxious.

After a wonderful dinner at a little French bistro, and a good night’s sleep, I venture out again to gaze more closely at that magnificent Washington Monument.

It is composed of marble, granite, and sandstone. Designed by Robert Mills, a prominent American architect of the 1840s, the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It opened to the public on October 9, 1888. It was the world's tallest structure, a title it held until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris, France.

The Washington Monument reflection can be seen in the aptly named Reflecting Pool, an edged rectangular pool extending westward in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial.

Not far away is Capitol Hill. The U.S. Capitol Building houses both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Like the Washington Monument and several other sites in the city, The Capitol also sits behind a large reflecting pool. This is another technique used in the district to multiply the beauty of several attractions. Spread out on a hill, this imposing building seems to almost reverberate with the votes and decisions that impact us all of the days of our lives.

Like many great cities, Washington D.C. is a place where, if you hurry, you can see everything in a day. Or, I think, you could spend a lifetime here and never see it all. I see what I can, but to me, every building here, evdery monument, every walkway, is cause to pause and daydream and reflect.

There is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial with waterfalls, walkways, and inspiring messages, this is a place to dream, to believe, to remember that once in a while, there is such a thing as a war worth fighting.

The Jefferson Memorial seems to symbolize the intellect and careful thought of another of our great early leaders. Jefferson always admired the Pantheon in Rome, so architect John Russell Pope drew from the same source when he designed this graceful memorial facing the Tidal Basin.

The magnificent Lincoln Memorial, with the somber Daniel Chester French statue of the seated president, in the center, gazes out over the Reflecting Pool. The sculpture, 19 feet high, is composed of 28 interlocking pieces of Georgia marble. Inscribed on the south wall is the Gettysburg Address, and on the north wall is Lincoln's second inaugural address. Above each inscription is a mural painted by Jules Guerin: on the south wall is an angel of truth freeing a slave; the unity of North and South are depicted opposite. The memorial served as a backdrop for the Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech I remember so well in 1963.

This is not my first trip to Washington, so I had thought that two days and three nights might suffice. I had not counted on the city’s impact after all of the sad and frightening events of the first five years of the 21st Century, a Century that began in euphoria and a climate of goodwill toward all.

So it seems fitting that my final morning in Washington is not in the glorious green and gold sunlight in which I arrived, but in a thunderous torrent of rain. Still, I gaze once more back at that glorious Washington Monument, soaring, gleaming, in the downpour, and I think of the words of Alexander Hamilton.

"It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country by their conduct and example to decide... whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force."

The Pentagon has 17-1/2 miles of corridors.