DC Open Embassies and More

 

DC Embassy Open Houses, Flowers, and Museums

May 2024

 

A year ago friend Diane, Executive Director of Colonie Senior Service Centers, where I’m on the Board of Directors and Marjorie has given & taken art classes and other activities, told us about spring open houses in embassies in Washington. It sounded lovely, so I started looking into options for this year, then learned Diane is organizing a group tour (initially for 10, grew to 23). She’s arranging flights & hotel. We signed right up. Diane has a planning meeting 3 weeks beforehand with various tips and a list of 51 embassies then set to be open.

These open houses are part of Passport DC, a month-long “journey around the world.”  Celebrated annually in May, International Cultural Awareness Month in Washington, Passport DC is 31 days of programming by embassies and other cultural institutions. DC is home to more than 175 embassies, the 2^nd-highest in one city in the world. [No, we won’t try to see them all!] During Around the World Embassy Tour, embassies from multiple non-European Union countries will host open houses on May 4 for visitors to learn about cultures & and traditions thru food, fashion, arts & music, etc. Passport DC also features a Flower Mart & International Floral Exhibit at the National Cathedral. On following weekends EU & then Asian embassies will host visitors. These are all free events open to the public.

Spring is pretty much in full swing around Albany, tulips up in Washington Park, trees & azaleas blooming on the UAlbany campus. It’ll be interesting to see what Washington looks like. The National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC ended April 14^th, but maybe some will still be blooming. Temps in DC have been 80s, even 90s, so we’ll pack light. We neaten up the house some for son Matt’s visit over the weekend, here to pack up grandson William at the end of his sophomore semester at Siena. Marjorie leaves Matt a “to-do list,” mostly in the garden; Matt’s become quite the gardener around their building in Queens.

Friday, May 3: “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”

A pretty AM. We hitch a ride to the airport with Diane & Joe. Lots of construction around the airport. Do we really need more parking here? Diane has arranged all the flight reservations on Southwest. We check in but have to go back because they entered the wrong birthdays for both of us. As Diane encouraged, we stick to carry-ons, and gather with others in our group by the Southwest counter. Diane goes around taking photos of us and starts her regimen of counting to be sure all 23 are with us. Haven’t flown the colorful Southwest jets in a while. Their seemingly random boarding order makes me one of the last, tho I get a window right behind Diane & Joe and empty seat next to me. On-time 10:40 departure, nice views of Mohawk River & pretty clouds after takeoff. 

Only a 45-minute flight, a hazy view of Key Bridge that was recently crashed into and collapsed. Into BWI, mid-70s & mostly sunny. Shuttle to MARC train to Union Station, then we get SmarTrip cards for Metro to our hotel at 2:30: Holiday Inn, Washington Capitol, within walking distance of the National Mall, Smithsonian museums, and other DC staples.

Tomorrow is our embassy day, today we’re off via uber with Diane & Joe to the National Cathedral for the Flower Mart. The theme is "In Bloom" as “we celebrate the power of flowers”! All Hallows Guild has hosted the Flower Mart since 1939, the largest annual fundraiser for the Cathedral's gardens and grounds. Perfect weather. Lines of food trucks, something we see throughout the city; they seem to have permanent parking spots.

First into the church interior. Washington embassies have installed displays in the nave that highlight each country’s natural and cultural heritage. Beautiful amid the stained-glass windows. 

Outside to the Bishop’s Garden. We’re not in Albany anymore: no tulips, lots of roses. Pretty grounds & interior courtyard. Colorful dancers outside the church, including young children. We rejoin Diane & Joe for dinner from the food trucks. 

We uber back, thru the neighborhood of beautiful trees & impressive houses (wondering how much they must cost!), other nice views thru the city to our hotel. DC has so many impressive buildings, interspersed by circles & parks with statues & fountains.

Time to put our feet up for a while, then I walk to the Mall for photos in the lowering sun, a beautiful evening! 

On the way back thru the impressive Eisenhower Memorial plaza next to the Dept. of Education, statues & inscribed quotes amid large stone structures. Back to the hotel, desserts “to go” from the restaurant in our room. A nice place, very quiet (well, the lobby has occasional flurries of what seem to be school groups on end-of-the-year outings), comfy beds; we both sleep very well. Marjorie insisted I give her credit for fixing the shower drain. The lobby has cornhole, PacMan, and other games; we don’t partake. And why are the hallways so cold?

 Saturday, May 4: “May the Fourth Be With You!”

Happy “Star Wars Day.” In sports news: Caitlin Clark “dazzles” in her WNBA debut. Mystik Dan

won the Kentucky Derby in a triple photo finish, the most “dramatic” finish of the 150 Derbys! Lots of political ads here at the confluence of Maryland, Virginia, & West Virginia; various candidates wish to save us from either Trump or the so-called “radical transgender agenda.” We enjoy a Windham ad with red-haired daughter complaining about Dad’s wardrobe. Icky images of the cicada invasion in some states in the Midwest & Southeast. After a perfect day yesterday rain forecast for today. Our challenge is to see as many embassies as we can without collapsing. Some initial planning showed a good clustering around Dupont Circle and along Massachusetts Ave. Buffet breakfast at the hotel, Metro to Dupont Circle.

Just as things start at 10:00 an easy stop with no line at Chile. Food & drink samples, displays of crafts & artwork, common in all the embassies. Other short lines for Trinidad & Tobago (with pretty music) & Philippines. 

Lines beginning to get longer now, tho manageable. Peru is one of our favorites: pretty offices, lots of stuffed llamas all sizes & colors, beautiful altarpieces and other art, a refreshing cup of juice. 

Tunisia has nice music, especially beautiful crafts & clothing. Marjorie nixes having a photo with a sheik at Iraq. Other pretty buildings & flowers along the way, circles & little parks with statues & sculptures (e.g., one of Ghandi). We’re staying mostly dry, just occasional mist, temp in the 50s.

Continuing on, Indonesia has particularly fancy interior, lots of percussion, dancing in a courtyard. Somebody on stilts across the way. 

Guatemala has incredible colorful kites. A crowd gathered around music outside the Dominican Republic.Haiti’s entryway lined with intricate iron artwork. We decide that’s enough: final count 9 embassies. Back to Dupont Circle, Metro back to our hotel.

Time to put our feet up, watch a little TV. Jeopardy next week will have grandparent-grandchild teams. Neither William nor Miles has contacted me yet about competing. Metro to Chinatown. We enjoy “Art in Transit” along escalators into the Metro stations with poetry & children’s drawings. We pass on the Wok and Roll Restaurant, instead dining at Dumpling District in a Chinese Food Hall. Firetrucks arrive shortly after we leave! Back at the hotel, we split another brownie sundae while watching “I Am Johnny Cash” documentary on TV.

 Sunday, May 5: “A Lot of Stuff!”

Another festive day: Cinco de Mayo. Forecast is cool & rainy. In the news: Various campuses dismantling pro-Palestinian student protest encampments. A colony of bees delayed a baseball game 2 hours until beekeeper arrives to a standing ovation, and he gets to throw the 1^st pitch! We hope our beekeeper Deacon Marty saw this. No particular agenda for today, DC offers many options. We opt for Smithsonian museums. Walking to the Mall we encounter a long line of many people walking. A Gaza protest? Doesn’t seem so, with kids, balloons, dogs. We ask, it’s a walk for brain tumor research. Onto the Mall, lots of tents & equipment for an upcoming Ag & Technology Fair.

Past the impressive Smithsonian Castle to the Museum of American History. Many things to see (or, as Marjorie says, “a lot of stuff’). Not too crowded. the only line is for a $12 virtual reality experience. The Hall of Invention and Innovation includes the workplace of the inventor of the 1^st video game. Wegman’s Wonderplace looks like fun but we’re too old (have to be 0-6). An incredible doll house. 

American Enterprise focuses on corporations, workers, consumers, advertising. Ad icons include Mr. Peanut next to “our” RCA Nipper (he sits in the Albany skyline) ; a much larger Nipper is featured later in Culture and Arts with the ad line “His Master’s Voice.” Colorful Transportation exhibits, cars, trains, boats. 

In the Food area is Marjorie’s favorite: Julia Child’s kitchen. The American Presidency features First Lady clothes & china selections. An intriguing “Impeachment” exhibit is “Under Redesign (History Happens*),” the * referencing an empty area next to Trump’s 2 impeachments! The Hall of Democracy includes an interesting “One House, Five Families” exhibit.

A short walk to the Museum of Natural History, 61° now & light rain. Lunch in the Ocean Terrace Café with a ginormous shark. An interesting “Deep Ocean Explorers” film. More stuff: “Objects of Wonder” with various items from the museum’s collections. A striking “Night Sky” area. The butterflies area is closed, tho we can see some flitting around. A stop for coffee and rest our feet.

Back outside, up to the high 60s, brighter & no rain. A beautiful building for Arts and Industries but closed. We continue to the Hirshhorn Museum of Modern Art, celebrating its 50^th anniversary. Two installations of particular interest: “4 Talks” with 4 sculptures surrounded by walls full of stories, lyrics, jokes, and commentary “in a stream-of-consciousness manner;” “Pickett’s Charge,” colored paper layered over paintings of the Civil War wrapped around the 3^rd floor. 

Out again past the Air and Space Museum, “no entry times left.” Marjorie stays out a while, I return to the hotel, but out again later, up to 70 now. More views of the Eisenhower Memorial, and an interesting doorway image at the DHEW building.

Back to the hotel as our group of 23 gathers; Diane keeps counting! and takes “after” photos. We retrace our Friday route back to BWI. Flight delayed a bit, but otherwise uneventful back to Albany, Joe & Diane drive us home about 1am. Plenty tired!

 

A fine trip! Diane did her usual wonderful job organizing things. And we didn’t lose anyone along the way. We enjoyed spending time with Diane & Joe, and the rest of our party (tho we didn’t see much of them in DC). Not too hot; a bit too chilly, Marjorie would say. A bit damp, but didn’t get in the way. And we saw lots of “stuff”!