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.