The Delights of D.C.

I've been lucky enough to have spent a lot of my childhood visiting my cousins out in Northern Virginia. We grew up like siblings although many of them are almost ten years older than me.  Because Arlington, Virginia is literally 15 minutes from downtown D.C., I feel like I can claim Washington D.C. as a city close to my heart. 

Even though I have been there multiple times, there are a few points of interest I HAVE TO SEE   every time I return. I always try to go to the FDR Memorial and walk around the Tidal Basin at night and pop into the National Gallery of Art. 

This was the Gallery where I believe I first started falling in love with art. In fact I like to pinpoint it to the day my mom and I walked through this gallery looking for Van Eyck's "The Annunciation" (shown below). It is even more magical returning now that I have studied a lot of these masterpieces in class. I get a childlike excitement bubble up inside when I turn a corner and see a favorite piece of art hanging there in its three dimensional glory. A picture in a textbook never comes close to the beauty of the original paint jutting out in thick blobs and still glistening as if it were wet. 

Cole's "Voyage of Life" - a favorite that I have hanging in my room

Remember my earlier post about Albert Pinkham Ryder?  Here's one up close! Yes, I noticed the oozing paint and I smiled.

I love to find a Seurat painting and stand right up close to it where it is just a huge compilation of little dots. Then as I walk slowly farther away, these thousands of dots become a beautiful landscape. AMAZING!

My sister-in-law and Cousin were nice enough to humor my love and excitement for art as I dragged them from room to room in this art gallery. I truly could spend days in that gallery. 

Here's Van Eyck's "Annunciation" the beginning of my  love affair with  art! 

This trip I had the joy of taking my new sister-in-law around to the monuments (because it was her maiden voyage to D.C.). I enjoyed reuniting with some of these fun tourist spots. 

At the WWII memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

Going to Teddy Roosevelt Island

Oh Washington D.C. - Although your hot, humid summers make me sticky and smelly, I still love you. I love your fireflies and your insects that roar with noise after dark. Who knows, maybe I'll be joining you again soon...as a guide at the National Gallery perhaps? One can dream!