Easter

Andrea and I were invited by our friend Florence to have Easter Sunday Brunch at the Kennedy Center with her, her sons, and two friends. It was very special. Let's do it again!!


Perry and Chipo with The Easter Bunny

The Brunch food was delicious from the croissants to the chocolate mousse!

Perry, Christine, Rebekah, Jonathan, Chipo, and Florence

Perry, Christine, Rebekah, Jonathan, Chipo, Florence, and Andrea  

 

Mouthwatering desserts

 

Chipo and Perry on the Kennedy Center Roof Terrace -

The Potomac River and Georgetown in the background

Thank you, Florence, for a wonderful Easter celebration!

Mary the Minnesotan

My friend Mary left VA for MN several years ago and returned for a visit. We enjoyed lunch together in Shirlington Village at Cheesetique.

Mary with her Green Eggs and Ham framed by bottles of wine

 

Christine's Board: Honey Goat Cheese, French bread, flatbread, glazed Greek figs, grapes, and pickles

A Night at the Theater: A Norwegian Night Out

We were a group of ten who had dinner at Nurish before heading for the Anacostia Playhouse to enjoy a wonderful performance of "The Norwegians." It was an absolutely hilarious dark comedy that made fun of the Minnesotans and the Norwegians.

It was hard taking a photo of the table. You can catch a glimpse on the left side of Amanda, Rosalie, Richard, Tenley, Mette, and the Minneapolitan (standing); on the right side a Lutheran pastor, Tim, Lynn, Christine, Joel, and Barbara

         At the theater from left to right: Richard, Mette, Lynn, Christine, Tenley, Joel, and Barbara

Alex and Ruth

Andrea and I wanted to introduce our friends Alex and Ruth to the best pizzeria in DC: Menomale. We had an enjoyable evening of good food and good conversation.

The Italian Husbands

Alex and Ruth share something fishy, Andrea has prosciutto e melone

 

The American wives

 Christine enjoys a delicious dish of Coccio, chickpea puree with melted mozzarella

Field Trip to NMWA to See "Mary"

Our Lenten class this year focuses on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. I organized a field trip to see the "Picturing Mary" exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Three of us attended a very stimulating gallery talk - John, Barbara, and Christine.

Cheese for St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To celebrate I met my Name Sister Christine at Cheesetique. I had the delicious special, Gjetost and banana on cranberry walnut bread. Delicious! Christine and I both had a wonderful bowl of tomato soup.

(Unfortunately the server tipped the camera and, although I rotated it in Word, this blog won't turn it right side up!)

Lunch with Larissa and Ivan

Andrea and I met our Siberian friends for lunch at Aladdin's in Burke. A good time was had by all!

Larissa, Ivan, Christine, Andrea

Larissa's Cheese Cake

The Iberian Peninsula

 This month the Kennedy Center is featuring the culture of the Iberian Peninsula in its Iberian Suite. I spent a few hours wandering in and out of the exhibits. The highlight for me was the Picasso exhibit. He created some beautiful art objects in imitation of the art of ancient Greece. Remarkable!



 Another highlight was the "Tribute to Jose Saramago" panel discussion. Very stimulating and informative!

And a lovely fashion exhibit - all blue and white like Delft pottery.

And four striking portraits of famous literary figures made out of wine corks. 

Frederico Garcia Lorca

Gabriel Marquez

 Gabriela Mistral

Jorge Amado

My friend Marie and I had a lovely dinner at the Persimmon restaurant in Bethesda. We both ordered the salad with beets, goat cheese, and almonds. Delicious!

We then went to the Bethesda Writing Center to attend a presentation on Contemporary Nordic Literature sponsored by the Embassies of Norway and Denmark and NORLA. Two young authors were present and read from their works - the Danish Christian Jungersen and the Norwegian Lars Ramslie. It was an informative and stimulating evening.

DCEC

The DCEC met today for a wonderful outing. We met at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art to see "Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue." The remarkable exhibit featured works from the collections of the African Museum and Camillle O. and William H. Cosby Jr.

After two hours of marveling at all of the incredible works, we hiked over to The Source for a delicious lunch in a striking environment.

 

                         Synthia and Jodi

 

                             Ginny 

 

        Christine and Her French Grandson Arthur 

Synthia's Lunch

                               Jodi's Lunch

Arthur's Lunch (Burger hidden in the wrapped napkin)

 

                 Christine's Vegetarian Sushi

RIDDLE OF THE DAY: How many people does it take to make an Uber reservation?

 One, two, or three? No!

 Four? Yes!

Out to Lunch

We, of course, had to take Arthur to our very favorite Italian restaurant, Assaggi Osteria.

A Special Visitor from Paris

Arthur arrives at Dulles Airport - a very happy grandmother!

                   A very happy grandfather!

Fun in the snow

 

Only the Dead

 Our Sons of Norway Reading Circle met to discuss the second book in the Minnesota Trilogy, Only the Dead. We had a lively discussion and then enjoyed delicious refreshments at the home of Lynn, a faithful charter member of the Circle.

                                          Standing: Joel, Christine, Denise, Tim, Barbara
                                                               Sitting: Lynn and Marie

NGA Outing

I met my friend Mary at the National Gallery of Art and we visited the wonderful El Greco exhibit. We then went to the Employee Dinning Room on the 7th floor of the East Building - delicious food and a marvelous view of the Mall.

We, of course, had to order a collection of mousses for dessert!

NMWA with Ginny

Ginny and I met at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. We heard an excellent Lunchtime Gallery Talk about the "Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea" exhibit. It is a very impressive exhibit - many outstanding paintings and sculptures including a Botticelli, a Caravaggio, and several works by Orsola Maddalena Caccia and Elisabetta Sirani.

We then had a very nice lunch in the new Mezzanine Cafe'.