Busboys and Poets

I went to a very interesting restaurant today with my friend Gertraud. In the first photo you will see my friend standing under the sign of the restaurant. Then you will see me in the bookstore of the restaurant. Lastly, you will see the delicious sandwich that I ate: sweet Fuji apple and Gorgonzola on walnut raisin bread. It was scrumptious!

I highly recommend this restaurant. It is special. Go there if you believe in social justice and peace.

7th Annual National Book Festival

A major event will take place on the National Mall from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, September 29th. It is the National Book Festival. Celebrate the joy of reading! There will be 70 famous authors who will give talks in various places on the Mall. The authors will include Ken Burns, J.A. Jance, Joyce Carol Oates, and many many others. For more information, go to http://www.loc.gov.

National Museum of the American Indian

Professor Masanori Ikejima, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan

One of my favorite museums is the National Museum of the American Indian. The building itself is very interesting and the exhibits inside are fascinating and informative. It is the newest museum on the Mall.
In the photo you will see me with Masanori, a friend from Japan, standing inside near the entrance of the museum.

National Mall

Sometimes people refer to the National Mall as "America's Backyard." There is always a lot of activity on the Mall. You will find many museums on the Mall such as the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The Mall is also a popular place for protests. In the photo you will see people protesting the war in Iraq. You can see the US Capitol in the background.

Ice Skating Rink and National Archives

In the winter you can skate on the rink on the National Mall. It is in the Sculpture Garden and across the street from the National Archives.

In the photo you can see people skating. In the background you can see the National Archives where important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution are on view.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Did you know that the Hirshhorn has 211 works of art by Pablo Picasso? Visit this museum! It is on the National Mall.

In the photos you can see two objects that are found in the Sculpture Garden in front of the Hirshhorn Museum.

National Gallery of Art: Eugene Boudin

Today my husband and I went into the District to see an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. We wanted to see the paintings of Eugene Boudin who was a famous French painter and the mentor of Claude Monet. We liked the paintings very much. Most of them were scenes of the ocean in Normandy or Brittany.

What we found very interesting and amusing was that in the mid-19th century, the French went to the beach fully clothed. The men wore suits and hats and the women wore long, full dresses and hats. They would bring chairs along and sit on the sand, talk, and watch the sea. They must have suffered enormously from the heat!