Memorials in Washington, DC

We love DC!

My grandson loves visiting the monuments and memorials in DC. Here are two photos from a recent visit. We went to the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We also drove by the Washington Monument, the White House, and the Capitol.

Christian took a photo of me in front of Thomas Jefferson inside the Jefferson Memorial. It was a bitter cold day and I am freezing! Can you tell?

I took a photo of Christian in front of the statue of Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial. I warned him that he would look like an ant!


When the weather gets warmer, I plan to take him to visit the FDR Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the WW #2 Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial.

Frogs at the National Geographic

Do you like frogs?

The National Geographic currently has a marvelous exhibit of 150 different kinds of frogs. The frogs come in all sizes and in all colors. It is an exhibit that both adults and children can enjoy. I went with my husband and my 5-year-old grandson Christian. He took most of the photos of the frogs. I highly recommend this exhibit!

This golden frog is very poisonous. It has enough poison to kill 10 people!

Here is a little turquoise frog.

And here is a little blue frog with his tiny friends.

Rasika: An Indian Restaurant

I met my friend George at the National Gallery of Art and we saw an interesting exhibit of photographs by British photographers. We then had a lunch in a very nice Indian restaurant at 6th and D Streets, NW. We ordered five vegetarian side dishes. Each one was delicious! We also enjoyed an order of naan bread.

Here are two views of us inside the restaurant.

George and Christine

Christine and George

Here is a photo of me standing in front of the restaurant:

Christine

In the Forest of Fontainebleau: National Gallery of Art

Entrance to the Exhibit

I went to the National Gallery of Art this morning. I saw the new exhibit, In the Forest of Fontainebleau. There were both photographs and paintings in this exhibit. The majority of the paintings were by Corot and Millet. It was a nice exhibit but a bit monotonous. The painting I liked the best was "The Bodmer Oak, Fontainebleau Forest" by Claude Monet.

I have fond memories of Fontainebleau as my son earned his MBA at Insead, and we spent many happy hours wandering among the trees and climbing on the rocks in the forest with his sons, Arthur and Paul.

Green Papaya Vietnamese Restaurant

Another meeting of the Dinner Club took place last night. Our restaurant of choice? Green Papaya, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bethesda. As usual, the conversation was scintillating and the food was delicious.

The address of the restaurant is 4922 Elm Street, Bethesda. We liked the atmosphere and the excellent service in addition to the tasty food. We were also very impressed with the charm of the surrounding neighborhood with its many restaurants. You might want to visit this area if you are looking for an interesting place to eat. (I know, I know! If you live in Virginia, Maryland seems to be on the other side of the planet.)

Here we are!
The Club: Michele, Mary, Synthia, Christine, Jodi

Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party

This evening I went to the Freer Gallery, one of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

I attended a talk by Susan Vreeland. She talked about her latest book Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party: Portrait of la Vie Moderne. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading this fascinating book when I noticed that the author would be in town to make a presentation. I enjoyed this event very much. How lucky we are to live in this area with so many wonderful cultural opportunities!

If you want to know more about the author, go to her website at http://www.svreeland.com/

If you would like to see this very famous Renoir painting, it is right here in Washington, DC! It is at my favorite art museum, The Phillips Collection. To see a picture of it, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luncheon_of_the_Boating_Party

To learn more about the Phillips Collection, go to the official website at http://www.phillipscollection.org/html/collect.html

You might want to visit the Freer Gallery. Admission is free and it is located only a very short distance from the Smithsonian Metro station. To discover what the Freer Gallery has to offer, go to the website at http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/default.htm

Peter and the Wolf at the Kennedy Center

My husband and I took our grandson Christian to the Kennedy Center today to see a performance of "Peter and the Wolf." It was incredible!

After the performance, we met Maestro Mouse and took Christian's photo with him.

If you are interested in the children's book about Maestro Mouse, go to this website.
http://www.vspbooks.com/index.php?submenu=stars&src=gendocs&link=maestro&category=Our%20Stars
Maestro Mouse lost his baton and takes children on an adventure to find it. Along the way they learn all about the instruments of Maestro Mouse's orchestra.

Swimming in the Shallows at The Catalyst Theater

Actress Ellen Young

Last Saturday afternoon I went with my husband and a friend to a play at the Catalyst Theater. It was billed as a "screwball comedy." It was really very funny and very enjoyable. The name of the play is "Swimming in the Shallows" and it is about three couples. The first couple is a man and woman who are having a conflict over "things." The wife wants to eliminate most of her possessions because she feels weighed down by her material goods. (She has just discovered that Buddhist monks have a total of 8 possessions.) The second couple is a gay man and a shark from the local aquarium who have fallen in love. The third couple consists of two lesbians who decide to have a commitment ceremony. I highly recommend it. Tickets are only $10 a piece. The theater is located at 545 7th Street SE on Capitol Hill. My friend Ellen Young plays a prominent role in this play.

8th Annual Flamenco Festival

I love Flamenco. This year my husband took me to a performance on Valentine's Day. What a great evening! We saw Eva Yerbabuena and her company of 12 dancers and musicians at the Lisner Auditorium.

Chesapeake Presidential Primary: Making History

Voters in DC, Maryland, and Virginia are going to the polls today to vote in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. It is an historic occasion for Democrats.

Today I voted for a woman who is a very serious contender for the nomination. Andrea voted for an African American who is also a very serious contender for the nomination. Although we are "gently divided," we are both excited about casting historic votes for Hillary and Obama, respectively and respectfully.

May the best person win!

Credit: The term "gently divided" was coined by our dear friends in Kentucky, Nancy and Tom.

DC Dinner Club Meets at Pentagon Row

This evening we enjoyed another one of our wonderful get-togethers. Hillary and Obama dominated our conversation.

Christine, Mary, Michele, Jodi, and Synthia

A rich variety of delicious dishes

Another group photo minus the photographer

Lebanese Taverna: Pentagon Row

Next week I will be going to the Lebanese Taverna at Pentagon Row with my DC Dinner Club. I will report on the evening after the event. In the meantime, here are some photos to spark your curiosity.

Bertucci's in 2000 Penn

Today I had lunch at Bertucci's with my friend Gale. You can find this restaurant in the 2000 Penn Building on the GW campus. Gale ordered a two-cheese individual pizza and I had four-cheese ravioli. As you can see, the special color for the day was cool aqua!

P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro

Two dear friends invited my husband and me to dine with them today at P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro in Fairfax. We had a delightful time with stimulating conversation and delicious food.

Tom, Nancy, Chris, and Andrea

All of our starters and entrees were delicious but the most memorable part of the meal was the Great Wall of Chocolate dessert.

Ballet Folklorico Del Pacifico

Exiting the Family Theater

What an absolutely incredible performance by the Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico! I attended this performance in the Family Theater at the Kennedy Center yesterday with my grandson and my son. The music was forceful and exhilarating, the colors of the costumes were bright and delicious, the dancers were energetic and graceful. This group showcased Mexican dance traditions and the audience gave them an extremely vigorous round of applause at the end. Both adults and children were enthusiastic. I hope this group returns next year!
















Sitting on a couch in the Hall of States

The Phillips Collection

The Main Entrance to the Phillips Collection



The Phillips Collection: Impressionists by the Sea


I returned to the Phillips Collection to view the exhibit "The Impressionists by the Sea" again. I went with my friend Barbara (who refused to let me take her photograph). After viewing the exhibit, we had lunch in the Museum Cafe. The menu choices were limited, especially for vegetarians like me. I did have a delicious bowl of French onion soup, however.

Ansel Adams at the Corcoran

I also saw the Ansel Adams exhibit. Adams is huge in the field of photography. I like his photos. His best photos are his landscape photos. The 125 photos in this exhibit represent his work in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was an impressive exhibit but I much preferred the photographs of Annie Leibovitz. I think I prefer people to landscapes, at least in black-and-white photographs.

Annie Leibovitz at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990-2005

The Facade of the Corcoran

This morning I saw a marvelous exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art that is located on 17th Street NW near the White House. It was Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990-2005. Here is a description of the exhibit from the museum brochure:

From the very beginning of her career, Annie Leibovitz has redefined the modern celebrity portrait, altering the way we think about the people who populate our cultural landscape.

The exhibit includes more than 200 photographs. They show some of her well-known celebrity portraits as well as images of her own family and close friends. She emphasizes that she has one life, that her personal and her professional photographs are all part of this one life.

The photographs are stunning. I truly loved so many of them. One of my favorites was of a handsome, young Clinton in the Oval Office in 1992.

Here I am just before going into the Corcoran to see the exhibit.

Smithsonian Museum of American Art and Portrait Gallery

Today my friend Carol and I met at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery. It's really two museums in one.

We were especially interested in seeing the new glass roof over the courtyard. According to the museum's official website, the roof has a steel structure with a glass and aluminium exterior and its surface area is approximately 37,500 square feet. The roof has 864 panes of glass and - Listen to this! - no two panes of glass are alike! The roof, which weighs 900 tons, is supported by eight steel columns.


Note the steel column. Note also the vegetation. There are two 32-foot tall ficus plants and 16 black olive trees in the Courtyard.

Carol and I had a good lunch in the Courtyard Cafe.

Carol

Christine

While in the Portrait Gallery, we visited the Katharine Hepburn exhibit. It was very interesting. On the way to this exhibit, we saw a fascinating Andy Warhol portrait of Ted Kennedy with red and blue diamond dust.

Ching Ching Cha: China House of Tea

My friend Robin discovered a Washington gem, Ching Ching Cha. It is a delightful House of Tea. We went there for lunch yesterday and were bathed in exquisite tranquility.

The menu lists a few food items but has an 8-page list of exotic teas. Your cup of tea is the center piece of the experience.

I ordered Floating Lantern tea.



I then ordered the special Tea Meal which included steamed silk tofu, jasmine rice, three vegetables, and marinated carrots.


Soup (tomato, tofu, and egg) was also included with my meal:



Robin ordered the vegetable dumplings.



We enjoyed almond cookies and lotus seed paste in a pastry puff.

One could buy a variety of items in this House of Tea including teas, teacups, and tea kettles.


We had a delightful time!

Robin and Christine

Norwegian Model Train at Union Station

After the performance at the Kennedy Center, we went to Union Station to see the Norwegian model train. It is marvelous! The train goes through the mountains and a lovely Norwegian village. There are lots of ugly but likeable trolls in this village!

Mr. and Mrs. Troll