Blogs from District of Columbia, United States, North America - page 4

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

April 4, 2018Weather: 77 and sunny in Virginia to 65 and sunny DCStates: Virginia, Maryland to DCCity: Williamsburg to DC... read more

Ok to break with tradition this will be a short update blog…yeah OK we will see…. Well we got out of New York OK and decided that we would break with tradition completely and utilise the GPS in the car to get out from Newark airport and onto the motorway and south towards Philadelphia….yes you did I hear it right I used a GPS …so sue me!!! I always like to use a map but sometimes needs (and too many streets) must!! Headed south and made good time on the freeway and arrived in Philadelphia and looked for a car park near the visitors centre and think we did Ok because when we came up the stairs the sign read “ visitors centre car park” and we walked straight into the visitors centre…Gee wiz these GPS ... read more

A very sad day, as we have heard (no thanks to the American media) that Brucie has died. Well at least there is some cheer as yet another member of Donald Trump's dysfunctional all inner-circle has gone. On top of all the Charlottesville controversy, are we here to see the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency? There were a few final things to wrap-up in Washington before we left to drive to Philadelphia. My wife, son and daughter had not seen the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial, so we drove there first. We all collectively agreed that this is our favourite of all the memorials. Whist we were taking a photo of our kid's standing alongside some statues in a queue, a guide told us that that was a very popular (i.e. unoriginal) picture and ... read more

It was a foggy start to the day, but that soon cleared and it turned into the hottest day since we arrived. Hot and humid. We were booked on to a tour of the Capitol Building today and it was advised that we leave 45 minutes to clear security, so it was quite an early start to the day. When we got there, the security was in fact quite quick so we had loads of time to mill around and enjoy the air conditioning in the Visitors' Centre, which is huge and very impressive. With time to kill, my daughter tried to find a passing Senator or Congressman to ask him what the wifi password was. The security around Capitol Hill is absolutely nothing compared to the White House. Traffic is restricted, but there are no ... read more