Museum Outing with George

Another wonderful museum outing with my friend George. We met at the National Gallery of Art. We first viewed the incredible gothic ethings of Arms in the West Building. We then had lunch in the NGA's cafeteria. After lunch we went to the East Wing to see the exhibit of the Dutch painter Metsu, which we liked very much.

George at the entrance to the East Wing

 After our museum visit, I headed for the Smithsonian Meto station at the other end of the National Mall. I decided to take a quick walk through the NGA's Sculpture Garden.

 

Thinker on a Rock

 Pyramid

Van Gogh

The Sculpture Garden's Fountain

Celebration at Reston Town Center

 We had two special occasions to celebrate: Christian's Birthday and Mother's Day.

Happy Birthday, Christian!

 Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Cookie Dough

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Strawberry Cheesecake!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, Mima!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

The DCDC Dines at Cafe Green

The DC Dinner Club dined at the vegan restaurant Cafe Green near Dupont Circle. It was a beautiful warm evening and we chose an outdoor table.

We began with a platter of appetizers.

Chris and Synthia

Jodi and Mary

Synthia, Jodi, and Mary had the vegetarian chili and I had the Korean bolgogi. The food was OK but the talk was better. And we reveled in being in the midst of a very vibrant DC neighborhood.

Lunch with Gale at the Aroma Indian Restaurant

Gale and I had wonderful Indian lunch together at Aroma's.

Gale was perfectly attired for the pink decor of the restaurant.

Debbie Comes to Town

Andrea's cousin Debbie was in town and we took her to Sette Osteria for dinner.

After dinner we walked across the street to Larry's for ice cream. Debbie resisted but I had lavender ice cream which was delicious! Andrea had - who knows?!

Mother's Day at Assaggi's

Andrea and I have a favorite restaurant - Assaggi's in McLean, VA. To celebrate Mother's Day Andrea treated me to a delicious linner (Well, at 4 pm what do you call the meal?). The weather was picture perfect and we ate outside.

 Leaving the house

 

Bruschetta with ricotta and mint - Fabulous!

Brunet, a Torinese dessert - Fabulous!

EU Embassy Tours

Every spring I look forward to the EU Embassy Tours when the embassies open their doors to the public and offer many interesting activities and refreshments. This year I went to the EU Headquarters and to the Swedish Embassy (don't tell my Norwegian kin).


 The EU Headquarters is just around the corner from GW's Foggy Bottom campus.

 The Swedish Embassy overlooks the Potomac River, not too far from the Watergate and the Kennedy Center. It is a beautiful building of glass and wood.

Those flags are touching the ground!

Don't worry. I didn't hug any Swedes! I remember Elmer's warnings.

 

Refreshments were served on the roof terrace - Swedish cheese, Swedish flatbread with Swedish jam, and Swedish chocolate.

And surprise! I was given a Swedish passport!!

The Annual Flower Mart at the National Cathedral

This year the country in the spotlight was Austria. Andrea and I, therefore, met Gertraud, our Austrian friend, there. Here she is in front of Austria's flower arrangement inside the Cathedral.



We walked around the Cathedral looking at the other beautiful flower arrangements.



The US arrangement was placed on the tomb of Woodrow Wilson, the only U.S. president buried in the Cathedral. He was a Presbyterian but he and his grandson used to visit the Cathedral often while the construction of it was under way. And his wife Edith was an Episcopalian.

The Netherlands flower arrangement made me immediately think of Van Gogh. Wonder why?!


The arrangement of Sri Lanka

     It was a marvelous warm and sunny day. We walked around, looking at the wares offered at the various stands. Our favorite places were Andrea d'Ambrosio's stand with the marvelous earrings and the Herb Lady with the delightful scents.

My Mother's Day gift from Andrea - two pairs of lovely earrings!

We opted for the lavender-jasmine-lemon peel-rosebuds mix (above) and the apple cinnamon mix.

We had a delicious lunch in the Viennese Coffee House. We had an ideal spot near the window.

 

Potato and cucumber salad, red cabbage, and Austrian cheese.

An Outing with Kate

It was my kind of a day, visiting different places in the District.

This outing began at the National Gallery of Art where we enjoyed the Gauguin exhibit.

We then walked over to the Newseum. This was a popular place on the day after the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Every day the Newseum posts on its outside windows the front pages of daily newspapers.The headlines were identical on almost all of the newspapers, most of them domestic.

We then walked over to Poste Moderne Brasserie for an exquisite dinner.

 My choice? The vegetarian spring crepes. Out of this world! Each one was different.

my four crepes

Katie had an arugula salad and a ravioli appetizer.

Then to the Shakespeare Theater to see the annual "Will on the Hill" production.

We ended the day with a visit to Red Velvet where we purchases two Red Velvet (aka Southern Belle) cupcakes. We saved them for breakfast the following day.