Between my junior and senior years of high-school I actually was able to win a competition held by the Oklahoma electrical co-ops that took a couple kids from within their regions to Washington D.C. for a week. We toured about as much of D.C. as you could within a single week and I was in a almost constant awe by the architecture everything from the government buildings to bridges. It is hard to say but my favorite building I was able to see was the Capitol Building. The Capitol Building has seen so much since its conception with its first corner stone being set by George Washington himself in the latter half of the 1700’s. Though the building was left in ruin after the War of 1812 it was rebuilt. Throughout the buildings life it has been in a near constant state of renovation and refurbishment. No picture I have seen has given the scale of it justice it is a truly impressive building. The day we visited was in the middle of July with the sun blazing due to that you could hardly look at the Capitol with the reflection off the white stone. The interior of the Capitol Building was equally if not more impressive than the exterior. The dome makes you think of a modern day pantheon and the art of the founding fathers is modeled after something from the Renaissance. With all of that the part that struck me most was seeing the wear in the stone steps inside. The steps were worn down so much there was a noticeable curve to them. This was the first time in my life I truly observed and thought of the history and life of a building and it nearly brought tears to my eyes as stupid as that seems.