magid

(Finally writing up the rest of the trip report from two months ago; how lame is that?)

March 20th, and the Shabbat weather was lovely, sunny and spring-like (about where we were a week ago). A group of us went out to meander the Mall, which also had reminders of security issues, with places around monuments that weren't open to the public.

I was happy to be out walking with my parents and some of my favorite cousins. I wasn't interested in seeing one of the free museums, after museuming the day before, especially since the ones on the Mall are huge. This gave time to appreciate some of the other stuff along the Mall. I hadn't realized there were gardens and sculptures around the Hirshhorn Museum. Again, it was mostly modern sculpture; the one I remember most vividly now is Needle Tower (Kenneth Snelson), which inspired conversation about how it could be constructed.

I hadn't realized that there's a model of the solar system along the Mall, with scale models of the planets and other information along one path. We walked in from the outer reaches of the solar system (well, actually from about Neptune; I didn't notice Pluto in time). It was nice to have them all together, but I think that the Boston one wins for coolness factor.
[Total aside for the astronomy enthusiasts: while looking for links, I found a solar system orrery on the web. Just in case you're interested...]

We passed the sun, and noticed the huge greenhouse of the National Botanic Garden, looking vaguely reminiscent of Kew. The line was short, so it wasn't long until we could meander inside, and I was pleased to find that in addition to their usual greenery there was also an exhibit of orchids. Wow. So many shapes, and colors; incredibly sensual. I wished I could take pictures, then realized it was just as well I couldn't; it would've been impossible to choose, and I didn't have huge amounts of film. The rest of the space was interesting as well. We went to tropical areas, walking both below the foliage and near the top, along catwalks.

Before we got too footsore, we headed back to the hotel. After Shabbat there was a dinner for everyone in for the wedding, at a restaurant next door. I had a fruit plate, with the fruit salad for dessert; I was glad I had real food back at the hotel. It meant I had time after havdalah to take photos and meander about chatting with the many people I hadn't yet seen.

Sunday morning the 21st I took a walk back down to the Mall, at the other end, by the Lincoln Memorial. The last time I'd been there had been before the Vietnam Memorial, and I wanted to see it. It was as impressive as I'd heard, though perhaps less for not having a personal connection to it. I took a couple of photos, hoping the reflections would work as I saw them (and they did; I'm really pleased with those two).

I checked out the Korean War Memorial, and it felt almost trite after the clean lines and quiet dignity of the Vietnam Memorial. There were large people in army gear, clearly tired, stumbling forward, with flat stone bars among them. Only later did I guess that it might've been a bar graph of casualties; I couldn't find anything to confirm this. There were echoey etchings of people in the reflecting wall nearby, as well as a listing of the international support. I don't know as much as I should about either conflict, but it was clear that this memorial was about the forces as a whole, remembering nations and the idea of the soldier, while the Vietnam Memorial focused on the individual, each name there to be remembered, not just as part of an aggregate number.

There was time to walk up to the Lincoln Memorial, and then I had to get back to the hotel to change for the wedding and pack up my stuff.

part two
part one