Friday, October 22, 2010

The White House

We recently went on a White House tour, which was pretty awesome.  It was really strange actually being there.  We saw more on the tour than I thought we would, but of course not as much as I would have liked.  The rooms we actually went into during the tour were the Red Room, Blue Room, Green Room, East Hall, and the State Dining Room. 
Red Room

Blue Room

Green Room

East Room

State Dining Room

We peaked into several other rooms, including a library.  Most of the tour was focused on the furniture, portraits, and historical uses of the rooms.  I have to say though, one of the best parts of the tour was being able to leave through the front door of the White House.  It would have been neat to actually see the president, but I guess we can’t ask for too much.


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Pentagon

I went on a tour of the Pentagon today.  Unfortunately, we were allowed to bring very little into the building, so I was not allowed to have my camera.  Therefore, there are no fun pictures.  The building is a lot bigger than you think it is.  Our guide gave us a few statistics that put it somewhat in perspective for me.  The Pentagon has more floor space than the Empire State Building, even though the Pentagon has seven floors while the Empire State Building has 102.  The height of the Empire State Building is roughly the same as the length of the Pentagon at its widest point.  So, to clarify, the Pentagon is substantial in size.  We visited the portion of the building struck by Flight 77, which was sad and eerie.  We went to the memorial within the building and then to the larger memorial located outside of the building.
After our tour, we talked to a Colonel who was working in the Pentagon on 9/11.  His office was located 50 yards down from the point of impact.  I have never had a conversation with someone who was not just present during the attacks on 9/11, but also involved in the discussions afterword.  He also discussed his involvement in Iraq, which was very interesting.
Sorry for no pictures.  Hopefully I'll have some fun ones from this weekend.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Russian Bazaar


Today, I went to St. John the Baptist’s Annual Russian Bazaar.  In essence, it was a small cultural event at the Russian Orthodox Church to celebrate Russian culture through music, food, and booths selling crafts, jewelry, books, and music.  I love Russian culture, so I was very excited when I heard about it.


To eat, I had stroganoff (a beef dish with mushrooms and onions), begos (or bigos – sausage and cabbage), teftel’ki (or tefteli – Russian meatballs), kasha (buckwheat), and a cucumber salad.  To drink I had kvas (a drink with very low alcohol content) and I also had a Baltika (a Russian beer).  After that, I had several Russian style desserts.  Everything was delicious, and it was a nice change from my steady diet of bagels and pasta.

After I ate, I enjoyed some live music.  Several musicians performed renditions of Russian folk songs.  While they played, several people would dance.  It was a lot of fun.

After that, I perused the various stands selling crafts and other items.  As I was looking at some Russian poetry, the man next to me said “I wrote that, you know.”  I look up and see an older man wearing an ushanka staring back at me.  The man, Valentin Fetisoff, and I continued to talk, and he told me about how he got his first album recorded.  He not only writes poems, but also romantic songs.  I bought a CD and listened to it when I got home.  I am really glad I met him because I probably wouldn’t have bought a CD if I didn’t hear the compelling story behind it.  It was also nice just to talk to him; he was a really nice guy.
I also bought this for myself, because I love them:


I had only heard about the bazaar last night and I almost didn’t go today.  I’m really glad I did though.  The food was awesome, the music was great, and it was just a great environment.  It had a very “local” feel to it, which is something you don’t get very often in DC.

The Zoo!

I promised pictures of cute animals, so here they are.  From the National Zoo in DC.