A Walk Through Washington, DC

Yesterday I took the DC Metro to Dupont Circle because I heard that there was a a German-style Christkindlmarkt being held on the grounds of the Heurich House Museum. My ex-husband and I used to go to this really large Christkindlmarkt  in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania while we visited his sister who lives near that town. The one in Pennsylvania had a mix of German imported crafts and crafts made by local artists, German food, German beer, and entertainment by local performers. I had hoped that the one in DC would be similar.

Sadly I was disappointed. The one in DC was very small compared to the one in Pennsylvania. There was only one booth that served German food and drink. Worse, while the one in Pennsylvania is held in a giant heated tent, the one in DC was held entirely outdoors and it was bitter cold. (The temperature underwent a major drop in advance of a major storm that started early this morning and it’s still going on as of this writing. It’s a combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.)

I didn’t feel like eating lunch in the bitter cold outdoors so I basically browsed the few vendor booths that were there then left. I ended up eating my lunch inside Cosi, which was nice and warm. Afterwards I ordered a doughnut from the Krispy Kreme located next door.

Since my trip to the Christkindlmarkt was a total bust and since I was in Dupont Circle anyway, I decided to visit Kramerbooks & Afterwords since I haven’t been there in such a long time and I’ve always loved that bookstore.

I decided to cut through Dupont Circle itself on the way to Kramerbooks when I saw this table that was giving away free food to all passersby.

Since I had already eaten lunch, I had to turn down their offer of free soup or chilli but I picked up their flyer. This table was sponsored by a group called Food Not Bombs and it is dedicated to end the crisis of corporate domination and exploitation through nonviolent direct action.

After I spent some time browsing through various books at Kramerbooks, I hopped back on the Metro and I got off at Union Station. I had read in The Washington Post about a special Christmas tree that was erected by the Norwegian Embassy and it celebrated the good relations between the U.S. and Norway. On first glance, it looked like a typical tall tree with a lot of lights and a star treetop.

On closer look I saw the charming streamers featuring Norwegian and American flags.

But then I saw one of the ornaments up close and saw that it resembled the screaming man from Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream.

I looked around at the other ornaments and they were all of the same screaming man.

This sign at the base of the tree explains how the ornaments were put up in honor of Edvard Munch’s 150th birthday.

Here’s a late afternoon shot of  a giant Christmas wreath and the U.S. Capitol as seen through one of Union Station’s arches. All the flags were at half staff on President Obama’s orders in order to commemorate both the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the recent death of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela

As of tonight Nelson Mandela is really free at last. Rest in peace.