Dumbarton Oaks, the Mall, and other touristy things

Mom and Dad came to DC this past weekend, and I could not have been happier! We found some great restaurants, and I even navigated the streets of DC in order to see some sights.

Dad really wanted to see the statue of Ulysses S. Grant that sits at the bottom of the Capitol building on the Mall.

We also went to the National Gallery of Art, and while I did not take any pictures there (I would think it's obvious not to take pictures of the artwork, but I saw a LOT of people doing just that...and then getting asked by the security guards to delete the photos, HA!), I definitely encourage everyone to go see the special exhibits.

There is a great exhibit of Paul Gauguin's work at the National Gallery (and it's free!), and it has become an even bigger event since some woman went a little nuts and tried to rip one of Gauguin's paintings off the wall. I'm not kidding, not even a little. Thankfully, his Two Tahitian Women was back on display when we were at the museum.

However, I did notice a marked increase in the security detail.

While I did enjoy the Gauguin exhibit, I was also very impressed with the Canaletto exhibit. Basically, young men in the eighteenth century would go on the "Great Tour" of Europe, and because they had yet to invent the polaroid, they commissioned art to depict places they had traveled. Thus, Canaletto became famous for his works that depicted scenes of Venice - even when he fudged details to make a prettier picture. Many of his contemporaries did the same.

In this painting by Gaspar Van Wittel, you can see three domes in the distance - except that technically only one dome should be visible from this viewpoint! The other two domes of the church should be hidden by the building in front. But that didn't stop Van Wittel (also known as Vanvitelli), because he wanted his painting to depict specific buildings and areas of Venice to be showcased by British travelers. Canaletto also famously shortened the campanile tower because it would not have fit into the painting.

Later in the day, we all went to Dumbarton Oaks, which was once a private residence that has since been converted into a museum and a park. The museum is free, but the gardens are not - probably because they're owned by Harvard...

Anyway, the museum houses one of the largest collections of Byzantine art, and a fantastic reading room with old and rare books related to gardening and architecture. Coincidentally I found a volume on Vanvitelli in the stacks! The gardens were gorgeous too, of course:

We also saw this motto all over the gardens:

which means: "You reap what you sow." Dad and I had a little Latin brain malfunction, but I googled it :)

Guaranteed to make you smile :)

Baby penguin being tickled. That is all.

This week in history...

...marks the anniversary of some very important events!

On Tuesday, April 12 we started off with the 150th Commemoration of the start of the Civil War, remembering the day that the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Here in DC, the year is filled with events, including museum exhibitions and films. I've already seen Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray through the Washington DC JCC, and it was fantastic! After the film, there was a panel that included a self-professed "Civil War nut," a descendant of a Jewish Union soldier, the Director of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, and the Director of film programming at the DC JCC.

Later on this month, I plan to see the exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery that recounts the death of the first Union soldier killed in the Civil War, "The Death of Ellsworth."

Yesterday was also the 146th Anniversary of the day President Lincoln was shot. And a fact many may not be aware of - while Lincoln was shot on the 14th, he did not die until the morning of the 15th.

I also found a (weird) similarity in the history of the Titanic, which had its 99th Anniversary also yesterday, April 14th. It hit the infamous iceberg a little before midnight on the 14th, but did not sink into the Atlantic until 2:20 AM of the 15th.

Declaration 1776

Because history is cool, and marketing history is even better, these guys are now my heroes. They have combined the American Revolution and clothing to create Declaration 1776, a (men's) clothing line founded by two college roommates (they say they're from Boston - but not Harvard? We can only hope). My only hope is that someday they will create women's clothing, and then I will be in heaven.

Luck o' the Irish

Because it was my friend KB's birthday, we all decided to go out on St. Patty's day to an Irish bar near our workplaces. Thus the trip to PJ Clarke's was born. And while we enjoyed the bar (although the crowds were predictably a negative point to the evening, as was the lack of any hard cider to be had at said Irish bar), the best part of the evening came when we had stepped outside to consider other plans for the evening.

'Lo and behold, as we exit the bar, what do we see but men in kilts lined up on the sidewalk:

This is the DC Pipe and Drum Band, made up of DC Firefighters. As one of the bagpipers explained, in 2002 a bagpipe-playing firefighter joined a DC firehouse, and proceeded to teach other members to play. They have been going to Irish bars on St. Patty's day to play for the past few years, and they were pretty good!

Illuminate the Positive

These Moroccan lanterns are fantastically easy to make, and the heavens have aligned: I have a free weekend, and an empty sauce jar to use. Thanks to Design*Sponge for once again providing me with inspiration to make my new apartment even more fabulous.

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