Friday in Washington. Today we went to Washington National Zoo. We had a later start as we are getting use to the time difference. We had breakfast in Starbucks – variety of items a lot better than the UK.

After breakfast we headed to the Zoo. Unlike many zoos this one is free, but this doesn’t mean it’s small. Again we did not see all of it. The highlights were the pandas, reptile house and Eleanor’s favourite the komodo dragon.

The weather today has been cooler than yesterday, though at 9.30 this morning it was 86F. We did have rain this afternoon but not the storms that had been forecast.

When we all got back to the hotel mid afternoon we were foot sore and tired. After a refreshing break and snack we headed down to the pool – well Terry and Eleanor first followed by the Matthew and I later. It was very refreshing. We timed it well as it started to rain as we left.

On our way back to the hotel we had found a place to eat tonight, Pizzeria Paradiso. An excellent place to eat, very simple pizza made with fresh ingredients. It’s very popular so they are moving next month further along P Street.