War Memorials in DC

My grandson Christian is very interested in the monuments and memorials in our nation's capital. Yesterday we visited two of them: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

(photo by Christian)


(photo by Christian)

Kreeger Museum

Entrance to the Kreeger Museum

Today we went to the Kreeger Museum for a tour and were very impressed with the building and the art work. I couldn't take any photos inside so I am posting views of the front and the back.

Dona, George, Chris discussing the works of art outside

Chris, Dona, Andrea with Statue

After the Kreeger tour, we had a nice lunch at De Carlo's.

Arts in Foggy Bottom

Accumulative Effect at 842 New Hampshire NW

Welcome to the first Foggy Bottom Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit! I took the tour yesterday and I enjoyed it immensely. Here are some of the photos. There are 12 pieces of sculpture, all set on the lawns of homeowners in Foggy Bottom.

Take a look. You have until October!

Turquoise Trail at 836 25th Street NW

House of Broken Dreams at 809 25th Street NW

La Tasca

Cousin Debbie was in town and we took her to La Tasca, a Spanish restaurant with delicious tapas and an enchanting atmosphere.

Debbie, Chris, Andrea

We began with the cheese and quince paste tapas.


We polished off our meal with a cappuccino mousse with chocolate espresso coffee sauce.

Mother's Day at the Ball Park!

Happy Mother's Day!

Andrea knew exactly how I wanted to spend Mother's Day - at the Washington Nationals brand-new stadium. Going to major league baseball games on Mother's Day is a Foster family tradition!

The first 20,000 fans were given white hats, each sporting a pink curly W and a little pink ribbon. (I'm wearing one but you can't see these details.)

Welcome to the new ballpark of the Washington Nationals!

Inside the Park

It is a very nice stadium with no bad seats in the house!

Here is Andrea on his first visit to the new stadium. What a good sport he was, despite a lot of walking and a lot of rain!

Can you tell from the photo below that the batter is using a pink bat? It was Breast Cancer Awareness Day and the players used pink bats! Andrea was going to buy me one but apparently they can be purchased online only.

A Nats batter swinging a pink bat

It was a perfect day except for one missing element - my sons. (And the score of the game, too, was less than perfect.) But it is a Mother's Day that I will happily remember. Andrea definitely stepped up to the plate!

Illumination Artist Lights The Washington Cathedral

Blue Stars on Yellow

Yellow Stars on Blue

Washington, DC is truly a fabulous place to live. There is always something interesting to see or do. Last night Andrea and I had the opportunity to view something extremely interesting.

Illumination artist Gerry Hofstetter lit up the Washington Cathedral this past week-end with images that were meant to speak of unity and reconciliation. In celebration of the Cathedral's 100th birthday, Hofstetter offered the illumination as his gift.

Oranges, Yellows, Browns

Every few minutes, the pattern changed. I think that there were perhaps 8 different patterns.
For three evenings, from sunset to midnight, Hofstetter projected images on two sides of the Cathedral. I have included a few of the photos that I took.

If you want to see some more professionally done photos of this spectacular event, go to flickr.com and put +Hofstetter and +Washington Cathedral in the search box.

Red, White, and Blue - The Union Jack?

More Red, White, and Blue

I was quite surprised at the enormous crowd, many people with cameras on tripods. I am always glad to see Washingtonians enjoying the offerings of this great city. Would that I could take advantage of everything!

Rosemaling: A Norwegian Art Form

Tina Keune talked about Rosemaling at our May Sons of Norway lodge meeting. Tina is an acclaimed Rosemaling artist. She talked about the history of this art form and displayed some of her own beautiful creations. I am attaching photos of some of her pieces.



To learn more about rosemaling, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemaling

The Air Force Memorial

Entrance to the new memorial

For the past two years we had been admiring the new Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon as we cruised along I-395 going into DC. From a distance we were impressed with it. The design was very simple and yet it was very dynamic. It made us think of planes taking off into the wild blue yonder. I had always wanted to see it close-up so we went to take a look at it today.

Andrea at the foot of the memorial

Seeing Andrea here gives you an idea of how tall the spikes of the memorial actually are.

Andrea with the statues at the base of the memorial

Christine

Iwo Jima Memorial

The famous memorial

Today was a glorious day with blue skies and warm temperatures. Andrea and I felt moved to take on the role of tourists in our own town. First stop: the Iwo Jima Memorial. We had driven by it many times over the years but we had never stopped to get closer to it.

Andrea in front of the memorial

The memorial is near Arlington National Cemetery on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. We had a lovely view of DC from the memorial.

The Capitol and the Washington Monument

Annual Flower Mart at the Cathedral

The facade of the magnificent Washington Cathedral


Main entrance to the Cathedral

Every year, on the first Friday and Saturday of May, the Washington Cathedral, the mother church of Episcopalians in the US, sponsors a marvelous event, the Flower Mart. While the primary attraction is supposed to be flowers, a lot of other attractions vie for your attention.

Andrea and I met Marcello and the boys there. We wanted them first of all to see the Cathedral. Christian especially was very interested in the interior of the church. He stopped in front of each stained glass window and admired the flower arrangements in front of each. He was impressed with the spectacular rose window and Woodrow Wilson's tomb (Is he really inside there?)

We visited the Gargoyle's Den where Christian and Colin each made a lovely stained-glass window bookmark. Christian is an avid Star Wars fan and was ecstatic to hear that the Cathedral boasts a Darth Vader gargoyle.

We then went outside. Christian and I bought gigantic Bavarian pretzels which served as our lunch. The boys went on two rides, the merry-go-round and the Wave of Fire slide.

Marcello, Colin, and Christian on the merry-go-round

Wave of Fire slide

The boys liked the stand where a couple was selling very fragrant soaps. Christian chose bars of vanilla and mint and Colin chose lemon grass. I myself chose Goat's Milk which really did not - thank goodness! - have a fragrance but is supposedly a marvelous moisturizer. Andrea was very grumpy about the whole matter because he felt $7 per soap was outrageous. (He was not happy about the $6.00 Bavarian pretzels, either.) I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that they were probably both worthy causes. And the pretzel was wonderful (it tasted more like a pancake than a pretzel) and I know I'll enjoy the soap as will the boys.

Film Fest DC

Seventy-four foreign-language films! What an array of riches for the residents of DC! Andrea and I look forward to this international film fest every spring. This year we went to two films.

The first film we saw was the Iranian film, Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame. It is a very beautiful and moving film. It begins with the blowing up of the pair of 5th-century Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban in March of 2001. It then follows the story of an adorable little six-year-old Afghan girl who desperately wants to go to school but who has to overcome some serious obstacles to do so. One of the most terrifying obstacles is a group of young boys who kidnap her, put her "on trial," and threaten to stone her if she tries to go to school.

The second film was an Italian film, The Girl by the Lake. A young woman is murdered by a lake and the mystery must be solved. The action takes place in a small village in the Italian Dolomites. The scenery is breath-taking. This enthralling film is based on the Norwegian novel, Don't Look Back, by Karin Fossum. We met our friends Carlo and Betsy at the theater and watched the film together. We all gave it five stars out of five.

Chocolat at the Embassy of France

This afternoon I heard author Joanne Harris speak at the French Embassy. It was a program sponsored by the Smithsonian Residents Program. Harris wrote the novel Chocolat which was turned into an absolutely delightful movie of the same name, starring one of my very favorite actresses Juliette Binoche. If you haven't seen it yet, go to your Netflix account immediately and put it at the top of your queue!

Christine at the entrance to the Ambassade de France

Maison Francaise

Harris is a marvelous speaker - bright, witty, dynamic, expressive. She was a delight to listen to. At the conclusion of her talk, we all filed out of the auditorium of the Maison Francaise and into an open area with tables full of chocolates. I've taken some photos for you. I'm sorry you can't actually taste them. Try to imagine! White wine was also served but I was too involved in the chocolate to pay any attention to it.

The chocolate crepes were absolutely mouth-watering. I could have eaten a dozen!

The most exquisite treat

This spinning wheel was extraordinary. The chocolate was spinning around at three different levels. (Why wasn't it spinning out and splattering all over everyone?!) It was warm and incredibly delicious. You were to pick up a little stick, spear a strawberry or a pink marshmallow or a banana slice, and then twirl it in the molten chocolate. Or you could pick up a long, skinny pretzel and twirl it in the chocolate. (I chose a strawberry myself.)

I neglected to mention that the purpose of Harris' talk was to promote her latest novel, The Girl with No Shadow, which is a sequel to Chocolat. I look forward to reading it!