More photos and art

I took the morning off to wash clothes, pay bills and just relax.  I needed an extended break from the heat.  It got cooler today, if you count mid-upper 90s as a cool.  I went out in the afternoon, and started out at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.  The focus of those two galleries is Asian art.  They have Japanese screens, Chinese pottery, Hindu temple statues, Turkish tile, Persian ceramics, ancient Korans, a section of Whistler paintings, and a special exhibit of Chinese Buddhist figures taken from an excavated cave temple.  It is an odd, yet beautiful mix.

The Freer building itself is architecturally pleasing to me -- lots of archways and a courtyard with a fountain.  I tried to remember the "low and close" instructions from yesterday as I took some pictures.  From there I kept my camera around my neck and shot some more around the gardens behind the museum and the Smithsonian Castle. 



Freer courtyard





Smithsonian Castle



Since it was still too hot to walk around the Capitol I stopped in at the Air and Space museum.  Mostly I sat down and people watched.  There was so much going on I couldn't focus.  There were kids running all around and having a great time.  I think I would have had more fun and Nedim and Selim been with me.  Plus the section on the missiles was really sobering and scary. 



Missile relfections off lunar vehicle



I tried to keep to the shade as I walked out of that museum and towards the Capitol building.  I wandered through the Botanical Gardens, seeing if I could frame the dome with the trees in the gardens.   I couldn't get too much on the ground because the pavement was so hot, it burned the tops of me feet as I tucked them under me.  I guess I have to get low and close when the ground isn't so hot.



Me - hot & sweaty with wild woman hair

 By the time I got close to the Capitol, I had sweat running down my face into my eyes and I couldn't see what was in my viewfinder.  So I have some random guy in red in a bunch of my shots and I don't even remember seeing him in real life.  Oh well.  I did get down on the grass to take some photos using the flowers to be the bottom third of the frame.  Those came out OK.

I had read a review of a Thai restaurant on Friday in the Howard University area so I took the metro up there around 5:30.  The restaurant is very small, but it has high ceilings and feels airy.  The food was delicious.  Definitely worth the metro ride.  After dinner, it was a straight shot down the yellow line back to Crystal City and the hotel.



Shaw/Howard Metro Station

 I have to get organized for tomorrow.  I have used 3 purses this weekend and need to put my studying gear back into my messenger bag.  It is back to work and the TB check up after a nice break.  I feel like I've done a lot of sight seeing this weekend.  I only have 9 more days to go and then I fly home.  Woot!