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July 4th at Mount Vernon

28 Jul 2013 By

Washington DC is a spectacular place to celebrate July 4th! The National Mall, with Washington DC’s monuments and the U. S. Capitol in the background, forms a beautiful and patriotic backdrop to America’s Independence Day celebrations.

This is an all-day event begins with a parade along Constitution Avenue and ends with an incredible display of fireworks over the Washington Monument. Almost every year Dave and I enjoy the fireworks in DC. This year, we decided to spend the 4th of July at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate.

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EU Open House 2013

11 May 2013 By

EU OpenHouseLast Saturday, May 11th, we attended the second signature event of Passport DC – EU Open House 2013. During this day, The Delegation of the European Union to the United States and the Embassies of 27 EU Member States to the United States plus incoming Member State Croatia opened their doors to the Washington public.

This annual event is a highlight of the Washington May calendar and is celebrated during Europe Week. Each embassy offered a rare look inside the buildings and provided a unique opportunity to experience the country’s cultural heritage and national traditions.

We started our day early at 10 a.m., but were able to visit only 5 Embassies due to their dispersed locations: European Union, Embassy of Sweden, Embassy of France (France and Germany), Austria and Slovakia. Our first destination was EU House located at K Street, NW near Foggy Bottom metro station.

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Around The World Embassy Tour 2013

07 May 2013 By

PassportDCEvery year, Cultural Tourism DC presents Passport DC, a month-long celebration of international culture that lets us explore the world without ever leaving the city. Nearly every day throughout May there are programs: music and dance performances, art exhibits, workshops, embassy events, street festivals, food tastings, and more that bring global adventures to DC.

As our nation’s capitol, DC is home to over 70 foreign diplomats, embassies and consulates. Passport DC offers 3 different signature events each Saturday starting May 4th.

Last weekend Dave and I attended the first signature event – Around the World Embassy Tour showcased 44 embassies from Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and the Americas. We took the metro to Dupont Circle station and started out tour with the Embassy of Indonesia. Altogether, we visited 7 embassies in 4 hours: Indonesia, Haiti, Japan, Cote d’Ivoire, Korea, Australia and Peru.

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The Empire State Building

14 Feb 2013 By

During our previous visit to NYC we had a chance to enjoy the view of Manhattan from the Top of the Rock, so this time we decided to experience it from the top of the Empire State Building. Everyone knows that the Empire State Building is an icon of New York City, as well as the United States of America. Located at 350 Fifth Avenue (between 33rd and 34th Streets) in New York City, the Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper. The height of the building to the top of its lightning rod is actually 1,454 feet or 443.2 meters. We obtained Main Deck & Top Deck Express tickets online, which allowed us to skip the lines, except a security line, to both observation decks. The Main deck on the 86th floor and the Top deck on the 102nd are marked in the following picture.

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National September 11 Memorial & Museum

04 Feb 2013 By

When planning our trip to NYC, the 9/11 Memorial was a unanimous “must-see”. Our trip would not be complete without going to pay our respects to the thousands of people who lost their lives that day and for the families who suffered such a loss. Also huge respect for the continued efforts from the workers at the Memorial who have made such a devastating place somewhere beautiful you can go and reflect and remember. The last time we were there, 5 years ago, there was not much at Ground Zero except for a fenced area that would become the Memorial that stands today. It was shocking to come back and see its transformation into a moving and serene place of hope.

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Christmas Time in NYC

29 Jan 2013 By

For the majority of people, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Dave and I decided that there is no better place to be at Christmas than NYC and took off for a road trip with a couple friends. New York didn’t disappoint us. The city is a pretty spectacular sight at that time, with Christmas trees, department-store window displays and other holiday attractions popping up around the city.

The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is the main attraction at Christmas time, drawing a huge crowd of holiday visitors every day. An interesting fact is that the tree is donated every year, and interested Giant-Norway spruce owners can submit their trees for consideration. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, this season, resident Joseph Balku from Flanders (N.J.) offered his tree, which survived Hurricane Sandy.

Christmas tree 2012 is an 80-year-old Norway spruce which weighs about 10 tons and stands 80 feet tall. It is wrapped in about five miles of LED lights with 45,000 bulbs, topped with a 550-pound LED-powered Swarovski star studded with 25,000 crystals, and had no other ornaments.

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