As you may already realize, along with the opportunity to work, Washington, DC presents the opportunity to play. The metropolitan area offers an enormous variety of activities: social, artistic, cultural, intellectual, and athletic. Often, they all blend together.

World famous for its powerful political institutions; influential institutions of research and scholarship; magnificent museums; iconic historic sites; top notch performances; and unique special events, the capital city is definitely a major tourist magnet.

As a cosmopolitan urban center it offers residents many pleasures, too: livable and textured neighborhoods; excellent restaurants of varied cuisine; nightlife, both relaxed or hopping; expansive recreational areas of natural beauty; and sophisticated shopping.

You, your friends, and your guests can’t do everything, but you can certainly take advantage of a lot. The tourist offices and local media fully report on all the action in the city. Our transportation system makes getting around town a breeze; with a car it’s easy to escape the city for a break or just day trips.

Even as you devote attention to your primary interests, do try to explore and experience Washington as fully as possible. The more you explore, the more personal favorites you are likely to discover.

Ten Washington moments to remember:

• "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the honorable, the Supreme Court…"
• Taps at Arlington on Veterans’ Day
• 100,000 blossoms floating down from 1,000 cherry trees
• Fireworks on the Fourth under the Washington Monument
• Opening night at the Kennedy Center
• 101 human Dalmatians chasing Cruella deVille down M Street on Halloween
• Dupont Circle, first warm Sunday of Spring
• Twilight, at the feet of Abraham Lincoln
• "Ladies and Gentlemen: The President of the United States"
• Any organized national protest march or rally

Ten Washington Spaces to savor:

• Main Reading Room, Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
• National Gallery East Atrium, with the Calder mobile sweeping over your head
• The Awakening, Hains Point, between the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers
• Open air tower of the Old Post Office Pavilion
• Capitol Rotunda
• Dumbarton Oaks estate gardens
• The Crossing, Washington National Cathedral
• Grand Concourse of Union Station
• Great Hall, National Building Museum
• West Terrace of the Capitol, overlooking the Mall

Ten Washington things to appreciate:

• "The Star Spangled Banner"
• Albert Einstein’s lap
• Renoir’s "Boating Party"
• Two pandas up a tree, eating bamboo
• Just a pile of old shoes in a hauntingly empty room
• The Hope Diamond
• "The Spirit of St. Louis"
• Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers
• Mercury Fountain
• 58,226 names inscribed on a black V-shaped wall