And that's from door to door! Bob had to go to Washington, D.C. on a business trip yesterday, and as our plans for an extended family trip there keep falling through, CZ and I took the opportunity and joined him. We would only be able to tour the Mall from 11:30 to 5:15, but there was at least enough time for CZ to get an overview.
We picked three sights: The National Gallery, the Library of Congress, and the Air and Space Museum. I know, that leaves out a lot of things well worth seeing, but this was a sort of reconnaissance mission.
The National Gallery was our first stop, because I knew it would take a full two hours, and that was the amount of time we had before Bob could join us. Besides, I wanted to make sure CZ was fresh, since she gets dragged into art museums a lot. (By me, of course.)
Two pleasant surprises there were the Raphaels and the 18th C. portraiture (the American and especially the English). These are two areas where the National Gallery's collection exceeds even that of the much larger Metropolitan Museum.
First, the Small Cowper Madonna and Child:
You can't really see their thin gold haloes, which really bring out the geometry of the painting, in this reproduction from the Gallery's website. Raphael was a master of circles. And of course, one thing you never get in a reproduction, but I love seeing in real life, is the glowing color of an original oil painting, especially, in this one, the reds (they're in the skin tones, too). It's hardly the same piece on the web, so I'm really glad I got to see it.
And then there's the dear Miss Willoughby by George Romney, long a family favorite because I once copied it in watercolor and it's been hanging on various walls at my inlaws' house ever since. (This is the sort of thing that happens when you "temporarily" move to an apartment in Manhattan.) The reproduction I used for my copy looks a lot like this web image, but when I saw the real thing for the first time yesterday, I was startled by the amount of pink (same shade as in the sashes) in the sky, and also the warmth and light of the yellow-gold trees in the background. Still, finding her there was like meeting an old friend. Other highlights included the first five presidents by Gilbert Stuart, some stately Van Dycks, and of course, the Vermeers. I guess you can see why CZ gets exhausted in museums! Still, she liked a particular Italian Madonna and Child statue in which the Christ Child is hiding shyly in his mother's robe.
We grabbed a quick lunch and coffee at Starbucks, met Bob, and walked a long way to The Library of Congress. One thing I didn't realize about Washington is that everything is much farther apart than I remembered. Not that many people were out walking around. And it wasn't very crowded for a prime tourist spot. Maybe the wind chill yesterday had something to do with that?
Anyway, we were just in time for a tour of the library's (main) Jefferson Building. We learned a lot more about the building itself than we would have just walking around. Also, you get to see the reading room on tour, which I'm not sure you get to do otherwise. CZ was excited to hear that you could get a pass to do all the research you wanted, because she had found out about some music manuscripts in the Madison Building just before the tour. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to visit another building on this trip.
As it was, we saw a Gutenberg Bible, the first map (1507) in which the New World was labeled "America" (it included a lot of terra incognita out West), and Jefferson's Library, which included a 1571 Bible with a hand-lettered spine (I'm assuming this one didn't have the miracles excised) and a surprising number of titles in French.
Here are some photos of the 1897 Jefferson Building, which was modeled after an Italian Renaissance villa:
These children personify America and Africa, respectively. There were also little putti all around them that represented various professions. Very 19th century touch to make them all cute and chubby children, I thought.
One of several lunettes and murals by Frank Benson, the noted American Impressionist. Our last stop, in the fading light and increasing cold, was the National Air and Space Museum. As befits a military interest, we had three main objectives to accomplish in short order (one hour): See the Apollo mission spacecraft, the Wright Brothers' plane, and a particular fighter jet that Susan's son Aaron had recommended. We did!
While viewing the Apollo Lunar Module, we made the surprising discovery that there really was life on the Moon after all. Pardon the blurry photo, but it rather adds to its authenticity, we think.
Aaron gave us very specific instructions for viewing the F104 Starfighter, his favorite childhood plane. It looks best from the front, above, or underneath. Unfortunately, the first two views were completely inaccessible, and the last was possible only by going up and down the escalator repeatedly, which we of course did. In order to save CZ from injury, however, I had her take this photo from the floor below, where it's more at an angle.
Also, I just couldn't help but include this photo of a very early passenger plane (1926). I think you'd have to be pretty intrepid to have flown on one of these--it looked almost like a tin can!The ride home on the Acela's Quiet Car, as I had supposed it would be, was much more subdued than on the way down (we had a loud guy next to us then; he even typed loudly!) The passengers, mostly business travelers, were all talked out. I was grateful, because my head was quite full and the ride gave me time to think through our whirlwind tour before going on to the next thing during a busy Christmas season.
Compared to the Acela, though, the 2 train home from Penn Station was a veritable party. It gets that way sometimes, especially at night. And when we emerged above ground in New York---ayyyieeeee! We were greeted, in our light jackets, by a twenty-mile-per-hour blast of wind and newly freezing temperatures. But we made it to DC and back, full of new sights, in one day.
6 comments:
What a wonderful day. You certainly packed a lot into a short amount of time. We also love the National Archives - well worth a visit to view the original founding documents.
I can't wait to take Darcie there soon. I visited D.C. after visiting Europe several times and remember thinking that Americans should be proud that our capital is just as beautiful as anything Europe has to offer. Thanks for the tour.
I enjoyed reading this and getting a glimpse of all you took in in your whirlwind trip! With so much to see and do, it must have been difficult to narrow down your choices. I especially enjoy getting your take on the art. It is an area of study that I am weak in, so your insights are very interesting to me!
Wow, what a whirlwind day! I guess I don't think of the walking all about in DC that long, maybe because every time I visited, I had a leisurely week of days to tromp all over, and the weather was always pleasant, and I love to walk and take in everything along the way. (I know you like to get around on foot, too, but you didn't exactly have leisure while you were there, did you?)
Aaron and I snickered about the best airplane views and your going up and down the escalator. He only knows which views he likes best because of the stacks of military plane encyclopedias he pursued obsessively when he was young (but he was glad to get any view of that plane when we visited the museum). :-)
We think it would be really fun to visit DC with your family! You like to do the same things we like to do.
I love that art museum. It's my favorite place in town. I always go see the Vermeers and the Chardins and anything else I can manage to fit in. I loved your commentary because I don't know all that much about art except that I like it.
I'm glad you had a good trip.
Susan
Beth, that was one of the places we most wanted to go, but didn't. That was partially because I mistakenly thought the Constitution was in the Library of Congress. CZ was fascinated with its fire vault arrangement. Oh, well, next time!
Debbie, Darcie is probably just about the right age to start appreciating it, depending on how interested she is in government. And it is indeed beautiful!
Silvana, it was indeed difficult to narrow down our choices. Next time will at least include the National Archives, the Corcoran Gallery, and some of the music manuscripts at the Madison Building of the Library of Congress. Then there's the Portrait Gallery, the White House, touring the Capitol, the Holocaust Museum...oh, the list is just endless!
Glad you liked the art comments, too!
Susan, I'm sure the seeming distance had a *lot* to do with our time limits. I had started to go to the Library first, but then changed, which necessitated more walking. Plus, the blocks are longer than in New York and there were fewer people out, which skewed my perceptions somewhat, no doubt.
Oh, I forgot to mention the Chardins! Someone once told me that he painted some of his paintings in two hours. Well, maybe a still life or two, but those playing cards would have been impossible...Regardless, he is a marvelously elegant and skilled painter.
And yes, we were rather amused about the escalator thing, too. I love of being in unusual spaces of any type, especially ones that mess with one's normal sense of perception. Airplanes and spacecraft (and squirrels) inside a building are fun that way. Caves and mountains, too! I think we're due for another trip out to Oregon ;-).
Obviously, I should have proofread my own comment, as there are not nearly enough antecedents. My excuse is that Itzhak Perlman was blasting from the computer speakers. Oh, well!
Post a Comment