a week in the east coast

My first 4th of July in the US and it turned out to be a drenched and stormy one. I have never been to a real 4th of July celebration and Paul hasn’t seen fireworks in a very long time. Hence we dragged our poor friends Lara and Theresa from the comfort of Lara’s living room and into the rain, gusty wind, lighting and thunder; to walk 4 blocks from where we were parked just to see fireworks. So, while the rest of the drenched would-have-been 4th of July revelers are running away from the inner harbor, the four of us were moving to were they came from protected only with two small umbrellas. And did I mention that there was a tornado warning earlier that evening?!

Luck was with us because as soon as we got to the harbor, the rain stopped and the fireworks began. A multitude of people have already left the harbor but still it was packed with people!

On friday we went to Washington DC. Paul was in meetings with lobbyist and politicians the whole day while I spent my morning at the National Gallery of Art and had a late lunch with Theresa. I have never been to a museum especially not in anything like the National Gallery of Art. The scale of the museum and the art therein overwhelmed me. It will take you one day or more just to see all the collection in this one! I personally saw paintings of artists that I’ve only seen on postcards and greeting cards. I also realized that I like contemporary art more than others and that I wasn’t too keen on the sculptures. I remember just whizzing by that section and not having the desire to linger at all. Strange coz I do remember being fascinated with the carvings on the stone walls of Ankor Wat many years back. Next time I go to DC I will spend my day in one of the many museums that lines the mall (a strip of avenue and park).