Blog du Wren

One Long Escalator

Generally, I'm not a fan of escalators. IMO, most times, they are merely an excuse for lazy people not to have to walk stairs. (The exceptions, of course, are accessibility, carrying stuff, incredible traffic volume, extreme distances, etc.) While seeing people indulge their laziness doesn't usually upset me*, seeing them do so at the expense of the environment does. (For a semi-rant, semi-informational article on the topic of energy consumption of escalators, click here).

But that's not what this post is about. It is about the freaking huge long escalators they have here in D.C. to get down into the metro and how awesome they are. When I visited D.C. in 8th grade, that is one of the few things that stuck with me: how long the escalators were. 15 years hasn't done anything to diminish the impressiveness. (As a side note, it is kind of fun to make the comparison between my impressions of this place then and now: the monuments, the museums, etc. I can for sure tell you that I feel like I am in a much better place to appreciate it all now*. The comparison continues tonite with a night tour of the monuments!)

Anyhoo, I took this shot coming out of the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro station coming back from having dinner out in Bethesda. It may not be the longest ever, but it sure seemed like it. (Wikipedia's Escalator Superlatives is kind of a fun read.)

Wednesday October 22 2008

File under: travel

Toggle Comments (5)

comment?

on Wed 22nd Oct, 2008 11:34 am PDT Kat said:
http://www.bikethesites.com/ I highly recommend this place. If you don't want to go on another tour they have reasonable bike rental prices.
************************
on Thu 23rd Oct, 2008 07:09 am PDT Horge said:
I had a similar experience in Moscow with their metro. Except, you come up a long escalator from an outdated metro, and when you're coming up, the whole time you can see Lenin's profile set in a mural on the ceiling. Yay, Big Brother!
************************
on Thu 23rd Oct, 2008 10:42 am PDT blank said:
that kid is back in the escalator!
************************
on Sat 25th Oct, 2008 02:34 am PDT Joe said:
haha I was thinkin of "Mallrats" too.
************************
on Sun 09th Nov, 2008 09:19 pm PST whuppinstick said:
most of the monorail escalators in Okinawa are the start-stop kind, which is pretty cool. there are times when they are nearly always running (rush hour) and times when you're really thankful they aren't (sunday mornings). it's gotta be a step in the right direction...
************************

<<FC 48 - My Opponent Says...

Leaf Peeping in Shenandoah National Park>>

Name:
URL: (optional)
Comment:
speak yer peace