Good Morning! We arrived in DC safely and on-time after an early, bumpy NW flight... Nothing to report there, however. We decided to metro into town, with Eriks help... A relaxing way to go with the most polite and informative Metro driver ever. He did pronounce Washington as WAH-Hah-Shing-Ton-Ah. Very important sounding.
We needed to change trains to get to the hotel, and Erik surprised us by being at the transfer point! So he walked us over...
The Hotel Madera is a funky little Kimpton Hotel, with surprisingly large rooms, and it's pretty quiet! We're very happy with the place so far....
First order of business, let's see some flowers. DONE - the Cherry Blossoms are still in bloom, so we got a few great pictures. Second: COFFEE. Fortunately, DC has been throroughly Starbucks-ified since our last visit, so caffeine was ours. We started over toward the Mall, with the intent of meeting Heidi for a light lunch. She recommended a Spanish restaurant, and they had room for us.
TWO HOURS later, we finally crawled out of this magnificent place. The food was great, the Decor was mind blowing. We had delicious spanish wine, and the highlight was the fried custard dessert. MMMM.
Then off to the National Gallery for the Dada exhibit. IT really helped place Dada into the historical context of WW1 and Weimar Germany, which added an angle I don't think any of us had really considered before. Also, there was a huge installation for the Ballet Mechanique - 16 player pianos, 3 drums, 2 xylophones, a police siren, many bells, some fans... And it was HUGE sounding. We enjoyed a 10 minute performance (excerpts only - the original is 24 minutes long).
A great way to relax: Mojitos! Erik had a favorite place, and we loved them (Well, Jimmy did - Pamela loved her Diet Coke)
Walking past the White House, Pamela swears we saw Condi going into Blair House. I for one believe her.
We chilled at Erik and Heidi's swanky pad (they have truly maximized their 760 square feet - from floor to ceiling!) - watched some 1950s educational films and a few Colbert reports, and then off to a LATE dinner.
We wound up at a small country italian place called DINO, and had a GREAT meal, though by the end of it (11pm) we were all falling asleep. A cab was caught for the Hotel, and it was bedtime. But alas the night did not end there. Jim got his FIRST EVER Red Wine Migrane. My sister Carrie gets them all the time, so she's sworn off of Red, but this was my first. I hated it hated it hated it. Very sad.
But by the morning, all was well. We're off to meet Erik for some coffee and another fun day - we should be seeing Erik's museum today!
3 comments:
Jimbo - great first day! One observation: perhaps it wasn't a migraine as much as the headache which results from boozapalooza (i.e. spanish red, mojito, more red). Just a thought.
Oh - and Melissa added a suggestion: for the rest of your trip, keep in mind that old men can't roll like the kids do.
Have fun!
Well, it was only one glass at lunch, one mojito at 5, and one big glass of red at 9, so it's not like I was king drinkypoo. And having had some particularly bad hangovers in the past, I can also vouch that this was indeed a NEW feeling.
And you tell that whippersnapper to mind her p's and q's.
I'm thinking about turning off the comments functionality now... YOU PEOPLE.
;->
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