Blogs from Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North America

I have not traveled to India since 1971. On that trip I remember seeing several programs of Indian dance. On Thursday, the Sattriya Dance Company of Philadelphia appeared with the Dancing Monks of Assam from India in a program sponsored by the Library of Congress. The program was presented at the Coolidge Auditorium under the auspices of the performance series Homegrown: The Music of America Concert Series. I was intrigued by this opportunity to experience this performance. Sattriya is a dance form practiced by Vaishnavite monastic communities of Assam in northwestern India. Sattriya derives from satra or monastery. The Assamese monks conduct prayer and convey storytelling through dance movement. Sattriya has by custom been limited to male dancers and men portray female characters when they appear in a story. (Women were not even permitted inside a ... read more

I had arrived in Washington, D.C. the previous evening. I had taken the train all the way from Charleston. It had been a long ride about ten hours, but it had been comfortable and there was free WiFi. Amtrak had impressed me. My hostel was in a great location, about a 15 minute walk from the main train station. I got off to a bit of a slow start in Washington, D.C., since the weather was bad when I got up I spent the morning and the early afternoon running some errands. It was a lazy day and I didn't get up to much until my tour that I had booked for that evening. Once the weather got better, I ventured out. I still had some time before my tour was due to start and I ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Ce soir j'ai juste déménagé de 2 km. L'hôtel où j'étais est complet pour la fin de semaine, et je ne pensais pas passer autant de temps dans cette ville que je trouve magnifique, voilà pourquoi je n'avais pas réservé plus longtemps. Hier j'avais prévu de laisser la voiture à l'hôtel jusqu' à cet après-midi, j'ai changé d'avis en voyant que la première station de métro était relativement éloignée de mon parcours. Comme j'ai des restes de fatigue des deux journées précédentes, la voiture était là bien venue. Je trouve à la garer assez facilement dans un parking le long du Potomac. Ce qui me surprends c'est qu'il soit gratuit, dans ce quartier aussi touristique. Le programme est simple, hier j'ai fait la partie est de la Maison Blanche, aujourd'hui c'est l'ouest, qui ... read more

Bonjour à tous, En préparant l'organisation de ma journée, j'ai une mauvaise surprise, j'apprends que pour visiter le Pentagone, il faut réserver en cette période de vacances, au minimum 1 mois avant. Question de vérification et d'accréditation. Comme le Pentagone, est à environ une 7 ou 8 km de mon hôtel et pas trop en centre ville, je vais y aller en voiture, en passant par l'autre rive du Potomac côté Washington. juste pour avoir un léger aperçu de la ville. Je vais pas mal galérer pour y arriver, car "GèreMène" ne connait pas cette adresse, et comme le bâtiment est entouré d'autoroute pas facile. Lorsque je suis enfin sur la bonne bretelle d'accès visiteurs, j'arrive devant une barrière de péage pour le parking. Comme je ne vais pas rester, mais juste faire quelques photos, je ... read more

Geo: 38.8921, -77.0241Snow still lying around but very sunny temperature much colder than yesterday -7 but feels like -15.8. Now we most of our bags we can repack all the "emergency purchase" have breakfast and make our way to Union Station.I spent the first two hours chasing down Emma's missing bag, on phone to United plus many emails. The bag is in Washington somewhere but we are leaving at 12:00 noon for station. United appear to have it in hand and we expect to finally see Emma's bag sometime whilst we are in New York. In the mean time we have had to purchase 3 more suitcases online because the locks have all been busted by TSA and are now useless, they are being delivered to our hotel in New York within 3 days so by ... read more