Canaletto and His Rivals at the National Gallery

The DCDC enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the National Gallery, planned by Mary.

                                                    Mary, Synthia, Jodi, and Christine

We met for lunch at the Gallery. We found delicious items in the buffet and then ordered four mini-desserts to share.

 
              Scrumptious mini-desserts

After lunch we joined a Gallery Talk followed by a 40-minute film on the exhibit.

Cafe Green

 Andrea in front of Cafe Green

I have discovered a wonderful new restaurant in DC - Cafe Green! It is located on 17th Street NW near Dupont Circle. It is green - vegan and organic.


                   Andrea, Chris, and George

I had Korean BBQ bolgofi, lemony kale, and corn bread - all excellent choices!

                               my "bolgogi"

After lunch we went across the street to Java Cafe. Andrea had an espresso and George and I shared an espresso shake.

Sunday in Baltimore

 Andrea

I attended the NECTFL conference in Baltimore but I did take a break for lunch. Andrea and I went to Little Italy. We should have known better. Decent Italian food is very difficult to find in most cities. We chose Ciao Bella. I ordered bruschetta and it was OK. Then I ordered Tuscan Minestrone and it was - well - bad. It was like a bowl of thick, sweet tomato paste and sauce combined. It was inedible. We are very glad that we live in DC where there are several excellent Italian restaurants.



According to this notice, Ciao Bella is the most romantic restaurant in Baltimore. I would prefer good food to romantic atmosphere!



After lunch, I desperately needed something sweet so we went to Vaccaro's. I wanted a Neapolitan sfogliatella. There were none. Andrea wanted an espresso. He couldn't have one standing up. You had to be seated. I don't think I have ever seen him drink an espresso sitting down. So - no sales at Vaccaro's!

 The best part of the lunch break was standing on Via Nancy Pelosi! She is one of my heroines!

Italian Meet Up: Celebrating The Birthdays of Two Roman Arieti

Carlo, Gina, Joni, and Betsy (back to camera)

Carlo and Betsy hosted a fabulous meet-up, perhaps the best ever. The evening began with an interesting discussion of two short stories by Sciascia, "Il lungo viaggio" and "L'esame."

 

Mini Capresi prepared by Andrea (note the red-white-green, the colors of the Italian flag)

After the discussion, we enjoyed a feast! Everyone brought delicious Italian delights (see above for the most colorful offering of all).

Gina's Birthday Cake

We celebrated Andrea's and Carlo's birthdays with delicious desserts and much enthusiastic singing of favorite Italian songs including "Arrivederci Roma" and "Roma Non Fa La Stupida Stasera."


            Umberto, Maju, Gina, and Armanda

 

Andrea and Umberto