Sunday, 9 June 2013

Day 11, 12, 13: Chris visits DC!!


 Friday was a busy day at work! I sat in on the important people's Morning Meeting about goingson in Europe, and hosted the second day of the group of activists from Georgia (the country) who are in the U.S. for three and a half weeks seeking advice about how to make Georgia a safer place for LGBT people. Here's what I wore, Phoebe!


DC looked kind of spooky on Friday night.


I picked up Chris from Union Station! He didn't get in until really really late because of a bus delay, but we got back to GW safe and sound. 


On Saturday, we went to SweetGreen for brunch (yummy falafel!), and then took the Metro over to the National Mall. As history nerds, we started off by going to the American History Museum, of course. We spent a while in the World War II exhibit, which you can see in these two photos:



It was humid and very, very bright outside, but the temperature wasn't too bad. Mid-80s Fahrenheit, I'd say. You can see the Capitol in the distance in this picture.


Then, we went to the International Spy Museum. It was AWESOME. We were there for about three hours.



It was a very interactive museum. We were given "cover identities" (my name was Jane; his name was Collin) and had to do lots of "spy training" activities. Here's a photo of Chris crawling out of an air duct:


And here he is cracking a code:


The Spy Museum also had historical exhibits about American espionage. There were glass cases with coats in them that had tiny little cameras inside the buttons, for example, or photo frames that concealed minuscule recording devices. There were exhibits about famous spies throughout American history, and another exhibit about famous fictional spies -- mostly James Bond!

Chris volunteered to do a "Test Your James Bond Skills" exam. Part of it was hanging from a thick metal bar for 60 seconds. The bar also shook occasionally, and stuff happened like simulated wind getting blown in his face. As the clock kept going, a big crowd gathered around us to cheer Chris on. He made it to 60 seconds no problem and they gave him a rubber bracelet that said "Deny Everything" as a reward. He has since been denying everything :P While we were there, no one else passed the test.



On Saturday night, we went out to Burtucci's (don't scoff, Mum, it holds sentimental value for us) and got cake batter ice cream in Farragut square. Later on, we went to Kerry Lanzo's apartment to celebrate her birthday. Two other friends of ours from high school (Demetrius and Julianna) were there, and we ended up having a good time playing card games and talking about life and summer jobs until past midnight.

On Sunday, we had brunch at a diner called Tonic in Foggy Bottom, then walked the three miles to the National Mall -- big mistake! It was SO HOT AND HUMID outside. There was also an art exhibit on the National Mall called "One Million Bones" to raise awareness about genocide. See the picture below:



Here's a picture of me in front of the Capitol! You can't see how hot and sweaty I am.



We went to the Botanical Gardens and tried to go to the Library of Congress, but it was closed. Exhausted after hours on our feet, we took the metro back to Foggy Bottom in time to hang out for a bit before Chris had to pack up and say goodbye! I won't see him until June 28, when I'm going up to Darien for the weekend to celebrate his birthday. I've already got him a present. (If you already know, don't spoil the surprise!)

Work week starts again tomorrow. Glug. But I might get a chance to have lunch at the Turkish embassy tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to!

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