crazy cram filled day. Woke up early again to hit up the Eastern Market to start our day. Got a couple of rings and a delicious amazing lunch! Chicken penne salad, cucumbers with feta and onion, local white peaches and a fresh rustic baguette. We brought it all with us to eat at the zoo.
the best thing about visiting DC is that most things are free! Every institution associated with the Smithsonian is free to the public. It is unbelievable! The zoo is massive and has so much to see. The Small Mammal house had me so giggly and giddy with all the cute little monkeys and rodents! The reptile and invertebrate houses were so rad! My favorite was this underwater sea turtle thing that stays in one place with its mouth open waiting for food to land in it. Seriously, i waited for like 10 minutes and it didn't flinch!
and of course, you can not to go the DC zoo without seeing the Pandas! They were in their little indoor homes, most likely to avoid the INSANE humid heat. they were adorable, DUH. i guess the zoo keepers had put honey on some crates so they were pretty occupied with cleaning those up, in fact one was laying on his back with his head completely in the crate while he was licking it.
Wasn't expecting to buy any souvenirs really, but they were selling panda masks, so i caved...
After the zoo we went to New York Avenue where the National Museum for Women in the Arts is located, but it was closed which was a total bummer (I will have to go later this month), BUT they have sculptures installed in the median by Niki de Saint-Phalle for a series called Sculpture Project. I am SURE you remember that awhile back I did an ART BOMB about de Saint-Phalle and her Tir shooting pieces, but she is better known for her colorful stylized sculptures and public installations. The four temporarily on display are amazing, and I could have spent hours sitting on the median.
Afterwords, mom and I went downtown to kill time before we met up with Ariel and Jen to see, The Kids Are All Right (the movie we had missed the night before).
It was a long long day, so we went back to the hotel afterwords and crashed.
day 4:
Another early day today despite my pleas for us to sleep in, but in the end it was worth it because we got to do a lot today.
I really wanted to see the Capital so we went down there first thing. We made it all the way up to security when we found out that NO food or Drinks (and a lot of other banned items) were allowed inside. This would not have been an issue, but they were not even going to let me bring my EMPTY metal water bottle. The options were to throw it away, hide it, get a locker at a museum, or drop it off at one of our representatives office. We chose the representatives office. So we ventured off in search for Grijalva's office in the House building. Man, these buildings are so confusing. They are filled with long hallways and twisting tunnels and it took us just about forever to drop off this damn water bottle. When we finally got there my mom was chatting up his staff with her admiration for Raul and all the work he has done (NERD! haha).
well, long story, still long, but summed up... WE MADE IT BACK TO THE CAPITAL. it is beautiful. and awesome. the end.
Next we went to the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Museum of American Art where we spent the remainder of our day. What a great museum, but then again you would be hard pressed to find an art museum I couldn't have a good time in. Lots of amazing stuff. Instead of telling you, I will show you... (PICS!)
We leave for NYC tomorrow so decided to call it an early night at 8, and we have been resting our feet and packing. I'm so excited for tomorrow! yarrrgggghhhh!
street of the market
my mom had to face another mammoth escalator that she was horrified of.
yummy lunch.
momma luvs her big gulp.
whatcha doin mr. panda bear?
so unbelievably cute!
this lil guy was just chillin upside down.
jellyfish
you can't tell in this photo, but this dude is HUGE
bad ass underwater turtle i was telling you about.
mama and I on the bus
Niki de Saint-Phalle sculpture installation in front of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
me (in the panda most of course...) with de Saint-Phalle's Three Graces.
mom was stoked to see Pelosi's office.
dome at the capital.
A bear from the (awesome) folk art gallery.
me and Elaine de Kooning's Kennedy in the President's portrait gallery.
me and Chuck Close's Clinton in the President's portrait gallery
The museum held a portrait competition and selected about 70 works from the entries to exhibit. This was probably one of the most amazing shows I have seen in a while. There was not a single name I recognized which was so refreshing. I loved all of the works so much! No cameras were allowed and I was to mesmerized to take down names or titles, but I am gonna research online to see if I can find more information.
man ray.
me and a Robert Longo. speaking of whom (TANGENT ALERT), I recently saw an ad for Bottega Veneta in Vanity Fair, and was totally pissed off that they were ripping off Longo's "Men in the Cities", but after some research it turns out they hired him, basically saying that, "instead of copying you, we just want to hire you." Not sure how to feel about this...
David Park, one of my faavvvvvorite artists.
Nam June Paik! My mom was really tired and cold at this point so she went to sit down for some coffee, otherwise I would have pictures of me in front of this...
ARIZONA in the Nam June Paik.
they had a great exhibition called "Remembering the Running Fence" which was awesome to see since I learned a lot about Jeanne-Claude and Christo this year. I would have more pictures, but no cameras were allowed (i sneaked this one)
me and a Nam June Paik.
i finally got to see a Duane Hanson!
such a beautiful gallery hall. i was telling mom that if i was a student in DC, i would just study here all the time since the museum is free anyways...
Jenny Holzer!
