#13 Boston - DC - Calcutta - It's All the Same - September 1, 2005
Just when you think that the calendar dictates that the first signs of fall should appear, the monsoon comes to New England and the East Coast, and no matter where I was over the past week, it was grossly hot and too humid to even breathe. Running felt as if one was moving through molasses and the way the clothes were sticking to you, if felt as if you just emerged from a swamp.
Washington, DC is of course known for that type of climate, and it was a good thing that I spent most of my time there in a nicely air-conditioned hotel. I landed in our nation's capital last Thursday for a conference on targeted anticancer therapies which took place in the posh Omni Shoreham hotel (http://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/default.asp?topic=photos&h_id=6). Located near Woodley Park Zoo it is one of those classy old grand hotels - excellent service, great food, heated outdoor pool, a gym - it's as good as business travel gets.
Trying to see how many of the Smithsonian Institutions I could cover in one afternoon, I met up on Thursday with my equally dynamic colleague Matt at the Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/). I had stumbled in there to escape the heat, and while gazing at the American Flag that was draped down the Pentagon walls after September 11th, got sucked into the tail end of a presentation on the civil rights movement ("From Selma to Montgomery") and before I knew it I stood there arm in arm with strangers singing "We Shall Overcome."
An exhibit titled "Within These Walls" (http://americanhistory.si.edu/house/) featured a partially reconstructed house that stood for 200 years at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts (30 miles north of Boston) and followed five families who inhabited this house at one point in time: the Choates family (Abraham Choate, a merchant, had this house build for his wife and 8 children - it was a house that was three times the size of a typical house in the 18th century); Abraham Dodge, a sea captain and patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War, occupied the house after 1777; reformers and anti-slavery activists, the Caldwells were its residents from 1836-1865 and were followed by Irish immigrant workers, Catherine and Mary Lynch. Its final inhabitants until 1945 were Mary Scott, a war time home maker, and her family.
"This precious relic of my father's fame" - as the Star Spangled Banner was called by Louisa Amistead, whose family handed down the flag for three generations (http://americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/2_home/fs2.html) is currently being restored at the American History Museum. You can witness first hand how the staff performs their meticulous and careful restoration work on this national treasure. The flag has been cared for by the Smithsonian for the past century.
Of course, that was not nearly enough American History, so we bustled over to the National Archives (not part of the Smithsonian but in the National Mall (http://www.nps.gov/nacc/) ) - this is where the most important documents in American History live: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, the Louisiana Purchase - you name it, it's here: http://www.archives.gov/. A must for every visitor to DC!
We could not get tickets to the Capitol, so we decided to first hit up the National Gallery of Art (http://www.nga.gov/), where we visited some of my old favorites: Degas, Cézanne (highlight - "The Boy in the Red Waistcoat - http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=92165+0+none), Monet and of course, the Dutch masters, in particular Vermeer, who always makes my heart and eyes happy. Least liked painting for the day: 18th century English romantic painter George Stubbs' "Poodle in a Punt" (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=109837+0+none).
Should I also tell you that we quickly had to visit the Natural History Museum on the way home - http://www.amnh.org/ - oh yes, I should! Why not, I say??. What's one more museum?
Are you exhausted just from reading this? Imagine how we felt!!! It was time to go and replenish, so Matt and I met up with our colleague Paul (who is Irish) at "Murphy's in DC" for some good pub fare and beer. Paul was completely shocked when it came to my ignorance regarding Irish whiskeys and thus started my introduction to (and newfound love for) Jamieson's Irish whiskey. The more I drank the smoother it went down, my friends!! Supplemented by Paul's encyclopedic knowledge of anything Irish and a crash course in how the IRA came into being ("Before you know it you are giving up your guns to the British....."), this proved a most pleasant evening. In my happy state of "inebriateness" I made the serious mistake and committed to an early morning jog with Paul, which promised to be quite entertaining. We left in darkness alongside Rock Creek Park, a 1775-acre area north of the National Zoo along the Rock Creek Valley - our five mile jog, which made me sweat out the whiskey pretty efficiently, provided beautiful views toward Georgetown and led us past the now infamous Watergate Towers.
Friday night, the whole gang went to RFK Stadium (http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/rfksta.htm) to attend a major league baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals - what a fun night! Good sausages, good beer, the home team won, fireworks went off - what's not to like!!
The week since my return has been a very mixed bag, most of it a bit on the stressful side. As if it is not bad enough to handle all kinds of stuff before going on vacation, the FDA announced a surprise inspection for next week - don't you love it!!
On the home front, Oscar and I were hosting Marge, the gender-confused Cockatiel, while his/her parents, Ellen and Patrick, were moving their household. It has been just like Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" in my house, with Oscar trying to puff himself up and attempting to intimidate a bird three times his size, both of them flying around the living room screeching. Marge at this point still feels somewhat ambivalent toward me, rotating between hissing and kissing, but I think somewhere down the road we are going to be best budds. What helps is that I am in possession of Marge's favorite snack, Cheerios!! Ellen and Patrick tell me that he/she tends to sing to the Cheerio box in the hope that something might come out of it.
It is Friday late afternoon and vacation time has arrived - I am excited about tomorrow's trip to California, where I will spend the next ten days and I am hoping to return to Boston on September 12th with the fall in full (or partial) swing.
Cheers!
pet:)
Washington, DC is of course known for that type of climate, and it was a good thing that I spent most of my time there in a nicely air-conditioned hotel. I landed in our nation's capital last Thursday for a conference on targeted anticancer therapies which took place in the posh Omni Shoreham hotel (http://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/default.asp?topic=photos&h_id=6). Located near Woodley Park Zoo it is one of those classy old grand hotels - excellent service, great food, heated outdoor pool, a gym - it's as good as business travel gets.
Trying to see how many of the Smithsonian Institutions I could cover in one afternoon, I met up on Thursday with my equally dynamic colleague Matt at the Museum of American History (http://americanhistory.si.edu/). I had stumbled in there to escape the heat, and while gazing at the American Flag that was draped down the Pentagon walls after September 11th, got sucked into the tail end of a presentation on the civil rights movement ("From Selma to Montgomery") and before I knew it I stood there arm in arm with strangers singing "We Shall Overcome."
An exhibit titled "Within These Walls" (http://americanhistory.si.edu/house/) featured a partially reconstructed house that stood for 200 years at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts (30 miles north of Boston) and followed five families who inhabited this house at one point in time: the Choates family (Abraham Choate, a merchant, had this house build for his wife and 8 children - it was a house that was three times the size of a typical house in the 18th century); Abraham Dodge, a sea captain and patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War, occupied the house after 1777; reformers and anti-slavery activists, the Caldwells were its residents from 1836-1865 and were followed by Irish immigrant workers, Catherine and Mary Lynch. Its final inhabitants until 1945 were Mary Scott, a war time home maker, and her family.
"This precious relic of my father's fame" - as the Star Spangled Banner was called by Louisa Amistead, whose family handed down the flag for three generations (http://americanhistory.si.edu/ssb/2_home/fs2.html) is currently being restored at the American History Museum. You can witness first hand how the staff performs their meticulous and careful restoration work on this national treasure. The flag has been cared for by the Smithsonian for the past century.
Of course, that was not nearly enough American History, so we bustled over to the National Archives (not part of the Smithsonian but in the National Mall (http://www.nps.gov/nacc/) ) - this is where the most important documents in American History live: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, the Louisiana Purchase - you name it, it's here: http://www.archives.gov/. A must for every visitor to DC!
We could not get tickets to the Capitol, so we decided to first hit up the National Gallery of Art (http://www.nga.gov/), where we visited some of my old favorites: Degas, Cézanne (highlight - "The Boy in the Red Waistcoat - http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=92165+0+none), Monet and of course, the Dutch masters, in particular Vermeer, who always makes my heart and eyes happy. Least liked painting for the day: 18th century English romantic painter George Stubbs' "Poodle in a Punt" (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=109837+0+none).
Should I also tell you that we quickly had to visit the Natural History Museum on the way home - http://www.amnh.org/ - oh yes, I should! Why not, I say??. What's one more museum?
Are you exhausted just from reading this? Imagine how we felt!!! It was time to go and replenish, so Matt and I met up with our colleague Paul (who is Irish) at "Murphy's in DC" for some good pub fare and beer. Paul was completely shocked when it came to my ignorance regarding Irish whiskeys and thus started my introduction to (and newfound love for) Jamieson's Irish whiskey. The more I drank the smoother it went down, my friends!! Supplemented by Paul's encyclopedic knowledge of anything Irish and a crash course in how the IRA came into being ("Before you know it you are giving up your guns to the British....."), this proved a most pleasant evening. In my happy state of "inebriateness" I made the serious mistake and committed to an early morning jog with Paul, which promised to be quite entertaining. We left in darkness alongside Rock Creek Park, a 1775-acre area north of the National Zoo along the Rock Creek Valley - our five mile jog, which made me sweat out the whiskey pretty efficiently, provided beautiful views toward Georgetown and led us past the now infamous Watergate Towers.
Friday night, the whole gang went to RFK Stadium (http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/rfksta.htm) to attend a major league baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals - what a fun night! Good sausages, good beer, the home team won, fireworks went off - what's not to like!!
The week since my return has been a very mixed bag, most of it a bit on the stressful side. As if it is not bad enough to handle all kinds of stuff before going on vacation, the FDA announced a surprise inspection for next week - don't you love it!!
On the home front, Oscar and I were hosting Marge, the gender-confused Cockatiel, while his/her parents, Ellen and Patrick, were moving their household. It has been just like Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" in my house, with Oscar trying to puff himself up and attempting to intimidate a bird three times his size, both of them flying around the living room screeching. Marge at this point still feels somewhat ambivalent toward me, rotating between hissing and kissing, but I think somewhere down the road we are going to be best budds. What helps is that I am in possession of Marge's favorite snack, Cheerios!! Ellen and Patrick tell me that he/she tends to sing to the Cheerio box in the hope that something might come out of it.
It is Friday late afternoon and vacation time has arrived - I am excited about tomorrow's trip to California, where I will spend the next ten days and I am hoping to return to Boston on September 12th with the fall in full (or partial) swing.
Cheers!
pet:)
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