Click on images below to enlarge:
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| More Dupont Circle / Embassy Row
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Dupont Circle.
One guide book has an interesting story: apparently
the Dupont family didn't like the statue placed here honoring Admiral
Samuel Dupont. They were happy when the statue fell into disrepair and
they could replace it with a fountain.
| The Blaine Mansion.
| The Walsh-McLean House, the first of many elegant mansions we'd see on our stroll down Embassy Row (Massachusetts Avenue).
| The Anderson House.
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A simple and strong statue of Gandhi. It sits in front of the Indian embassy.
I like his statement: "my life is my message."
| Another photo of the Gandhi statue.
| If we weren't before, we're officially in Embassy Row territory now.
| The Bison Bridge, guarded by, well, four bison. (Can you spot them all?
It serves as one of the dividing lines between the neighborhoods of
Georgetown and Dupont Circle.
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| A bison statue up close. I had to squat in the street to take this
picture.
| Rock Creek Parkway, which runs under the Bison Bridge, feels like it
isn't part of the city because it's so secluded by trees and the creek.
| The official name of the Bison Bridge, the Dumbarton Bridge, ought to
sound familiar to bay area residents.
| A side view of the Turkish ambassador's residence. The third story
trellis (more precisely a pergola) is an unusual feature.
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| A frontal view of the Turkish residence. It definitely feels like an
appropriate place for someone in a state department.
| More assorted embassies. How many flags can you recognize?
| Cameroon's a-bit-over-embellished embassy.
| The Spanish Steps. We disturbed this romantic couple when we arrived --
they were making out on the center of the steps.
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| A large field of daylilies near Mitchell Park. "Oh, I love it," said my mom.
| The Textile Museum, yet another of the many museums I didn't explore
during this trip.
| The house where Woodrow Wilson retired is now, of course, a museum.
| The Turkish embassy is more protected than most other embassies.
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| The Islamic Center.
| A nicely layered mansion.
| A small castle. I think the flora matched the architecture well.
| According to my research, this can't be the British embassy. Hence, I'm
not quite sure what it is -- it may not be anything official.
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We saw cars with various diplomatic license plates. Most abbreviations we
guessed. One we did not, QX, and I wrote to look it up later. It turns
out it's either Pakistan or Iran.
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| Dinner at Restaurant Nora
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| We ate dinner at Restaurant Nora.
| Its decor is quirky: old brick walls, abstract art, and mobiles
(including animal mobiles).
| Another view of its interior.
Some people were in suits, but not many.
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You might expect brick walls would made the restaurant loud. Nope: it
was slightly noisy but not bad.
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The bathrooms have murals of rural scenes, as makes sense in retrospect
in an organic restaurant celebrating connections to farmers.
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The starter bread they provided was slightly spiced but not otherwise
worth noting. Interestingly, they didn't provide butter, only
extra-virgin olive oil.
| "Chilled potato and leek soup with grilled shrimp, green pepper, potato
tuile, nasturtium flower." I guess we should've read the menu closer
because we were surprised it was cold. "Boy is this good." It was
decorated with different colored flowers. (I'm sorry you can't make out
anything in this picture.) Our reactions went through first surprise,
then "oh my," and then "wow, oh wow."
| "Crispy maitake and shiitake mushrooms and snow pea tempura with yuzu
dipping sauce, daikon carrot mizuna salad." This tempura was not very
greasy. The snow peas were weird my mom says. I think they work fine.
I wrote down the portobello mushrooms were my favorite. Clearly I was
mistaken; I'm not sure what mushrooms I was referring to.
My dad likes the dressing on the salad. It didn't do anything for my
mom.
Artificially brightened.
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"Maine lobster with lobster coral risotto, peas, spring onions,
zucchini, spinach, cherry tomatoes, herb emulsion." Basically a lobster
risotto. Mom and I thought this was the best dish.
Artificially
brightened.
| "Alaskan halibut with mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, shaved fennel
salad, ovendried tomato, citrus basil vinaigrette." My dad liked the
pesto. The mashed potatoes were really potato-y. Likewise, the
grilled asparagus was definitely grilled and asparagus.
Artificially brightened.
| "Slow roasted amish pork with potato croquette, braised red cabbage,
green beans, tarragon sauce." The "potato croquettes" were very
cheesy. My mom's definitely a fan.
As with the other two main dishes, I'm sorry I didn't take more notes.
Artificially brightened.
| My assembled plate. Incidentally, the waiter offered
to deliver individual dishes in whatever order we
desire and also offered to split the dishes before
delivering if we wanted. We selected the usual order
(appetizers, main, dessert) and said that we can split
the dishes ourselves and that he shouldn't bother. It
was a nice offer.
Artificially brightened.
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