Terra Cotta Warriors

I'm certain people think we are odd. We don't travel much, at least by many of our friends' standards, but when we do, we pack in the places we want to see like a tightly-matrixed metamorphic rock. This past weekend in Washington, DC was no exception.

We left Tampa first thing Friday morning, arriving at National airport just before noon. Travel went smoothly the entire trip, with the exception of one or two minor, somewhat expected snags. Even traffic in and around the city cooperated for the most part. We rented one of the smallest cars we've ever driven, at least in the States. It was no 3-cylinder Peugeot, but that's about all you could say, except that driving it was like dropping back twenty years, with hand-crank windows and completely manual door locks. The things we take for granted are amazing. But a basic car was all we really needed. Big enough to haul four people to dinner without having to fold anyone quite in half.

We dedicated the first day to a pair of game stores. The first was an old haunt from our days in Maryland. Still in business but in a new location. That one was kind of hurting, not much real traffic, dusty stock, more floor space than merchandise. A shame to see an old friend slowly decaying into demise. Our second stop was much more vibrant, a game store we'd found in Virginia on one of our last excursions into the area. This one was more alive, both with customers and a great variety of stock. It was kind of nice to eavesdrop on a trio of guys not much younger than I am, playing some sort of figure based WWII tactical game at one of the gaming tables while they bantered German tank trivia back and forth. I do miss that. We ended up picking up one game and one expansion while we were up there. The game is called Revolution: The Dutch Revolt 1568-1648, my anniversary gift from Karen. Such an atypical historic simulation, I had to have it. It appears to be a strategic simulation similar to Avalon Hill's Machiavelli, though I haven't cracked it yet. Thank goodness for iPhones and BoardGameGeek.com. On the fly reviews right in the store. I love the world we live in.

Saturday we got a lazy start, heading to the National Mall around 11 in the morning. The DC Metro is an easy, convenient form of transport for getting in and out of the city without having to worry about parking. Of course, the Metro card we had leftover from our list trip wouldn't work. No big deal. The tone for the day was set by the tea party demonstrators, complete with obnoxious t-shirts ("Torches and pitchforks, keeping politicians in line since 1792"), flags and hand-inked poster board signs, arriving from the hinterlands of Virginia. The station was as mobbed with people as we've ever seen, most never having used the metro before and asking us for advice. We didn't even direct any of them wrong, though it was tempting. (As an aside, there is a huge piece of irony watching the these budget slashing tea-baggers swarm the FREE museums on the National Mall after protesting on the capital steps. Something about a failure of education in this country regarding putting two and two together. But I digress.)

Our first stop was the National Museum of the American Indian, which opened sometime after the last time we were up there. I like this museum almost as much as the National Holocaust Museum, though for very different reasons. When we first arrived in DC (was it really 24 years ago?), we went to the Museum of Natural History. Wandering through, it struck me how wrong the section on Native American felt with its old 50's era abstract, anthropological presentations rather than the history of a still living, breathing people. The NMAI is just the opposite. It tells you not to take everything you read and hear at face value, it challenges you to argue with it. The great thing about it is that it allows the different peoples to tell their own stories, some of which were denied by the US Government until very recent times. There are a lot of videos and audios, a lot of creation myths and stories, as well as a lot of modern perspectives. We only spent a couple hours poking through as we didn't want to suffer museum burn out. I highly recommend this museum and look forward to going back, especially on a day when there aren't a few hundred tea-baggers with their patriot flags crawling through the lobby.

From there, we dodged across the mall to the National Gallery, were we did a cultural drive-by on Thomas Cole's Journey of Live series (where we caught additional details we'd never seen before), then up to the Vermeers and Dutch still lives, over to Dali's Last Supper (where one of the volunteers was pointing out some of the less known aspects of the painting) and finally through the Boticellis, Raphaels, Titians and lone Da Vinci for good measure. We picked up a CD with information on some 600 pieces in the National Gallery collection. We are both looking forward to hearing/seeing what the professionals have to say about some of the works that move us so much.

After that, we trekked over to the WWII memorial, another debut since our last visit. An attractive, open space that had a ton of people, many of whom were jockeying to get photos taken in front of their home state markers. A very well-constructed monument and public space with a nice mixture of stone and water. Though I must say, it doesn't have the same impact as either the Vietnam Wall or the Korean War statuary when you stumble through them. Diagonally across from that was the impromptu memorial to the dead soldiers from the Iraq War at the base of the Washington Monument bordering the Ellipse. A moving counterpoint.

Finally, we street hiked to a professional bookstore I'd been to once before, on a business trip, up on K Street. As we passed the White House, an anti-war rally was just breaking up (after 5 arrests). As we continued on, we wondered if they were going to encounter the other protestors on the Metro and how that was going to turn out. I'm guessing they weren't going to share a quiet cup of tea. We passed the Federal Reserve (which had an exhibit about the meltdown that we didn't go into), the World Bank and the IMF (both of which have bookstores in their lobbies!). If we'd had more time, we definitely would have gone into all three. Instead, we took the opportunity to poke through the professional bookstore for an hour. I found a great book in the psych section titled "Science Fiction and Philosophy." You know that one came home with me, along with an introduction to game theory. I was seriously lusting after several titles in the EE section, including one on Bayesian analysis in signal processing. Just couldn't justify the $100+ after the 25% moving sale discount to satisfy my curiosity. Another Metro ride put a wrap on Saturday.

Sunday, we headed out to Great Falls National Park, and hung out by the Potomac for a couple of hours. It was a delightful day, warmer up there than down here at home. The water was high, but not the flood stage that Karen found pictures of this morning. We sat on the rocks, listening to the rushing water as the warm sun and cool breeze kept the temperature ideal. The day was a near perfect balance of the ancient elements of earth, air, fire and water. When we were driving around on Friday, both Karen and I commented on feeling like strangers in a strange land again after so long away. By the time we left Great Falls, we felt as though we were leaving a piece of home behind. So much up there that we miss. Though not the people. The park was crowded on that second day of spring.

From there we made the type of abrupt transition only possible around DC, and drove over to an immense two story Barnes and Noble in Tysons Corner. We poked through their stacks and aisles for an hour or so before collecting the books we didn't think we'd see at home and headed out. We made a brief stop in the LL Bean store, and both wished we had access to the variety of stores that one mall contained. We could have spent a couple hours poking in specialty stores, but didn't have the time. Worthwhile if only to browse the selection in a DC area bookstore (especially armed with a couple gift-cards from my birthday). Very little down here can compete.

Monday was the one day with inclement weather, cool and raining. Fortunately not the initially predicted 54 for a high, but a more temperate 66. We drove the rental back to the airport, parked in daily parking and jumped the Metro back into the city. This was the day we had our appointment with the Terra Cotta Warriors at the National Geographic museum. We arrived just in time to take in a free movie on the history of the First Emperor of China (who had the Warriors made). Not a nice individual. Though like many despots, one who modernized and standardized China in ways that remain today. We ate a light lunch at the museum cafe, toured a photographic exhibit called Sacred Water, then queued up for our appointment. The exhibit was impressive, with a nice mix of Warriors and other artifacts from the Warring States period. The most fascinating piece of information I picked up was that in the Warriors tomb, they had found several bronze swords in nearly pristine condition. That was because in 200 BC, the Chinese were using a chromium anti-corrosion alloying system that was not replicated until modern times, only with steel. I mean, you could still see your reflection in the blade of this sword.

Of course, the highlight was the warriors themselves, of which they had an impressive selection. Some individuals they had on display were one of only 8 of a given type they'd found. The detail and artistry was amazing, down to shoelaces, hair, and buttons of the backs of boots. They think at least 8 models were used for faces, augmented by different noses, ears, mustaches and beards so that each soldier guarding the emperor's tomb looked unique. They also had examples of statues of acrobats and entertainers found in another area of the tomb complex, along with some of the water birds they'd found in a river simulation there. Completely fascinating and immersive. I was curious how the Chinese government would choose to portray this piece of their history. I was presently surprised. Definitely a good excuse for an excursion to DC. And a great conclusion to our trip. Karen even got a pair of silver earrings and a necklace with embossed with a Chinese character as her anniversary present from me.

From the museum we wandered back down by the White House, taking our first opportunity to see it from the front side. Without realizing it, we passed right in front of Blair House. From there, we headed to the tidal basin to check the status of the cherry trees which we'd never managed to see in bloom. They were tightly budded, probably emerging next weekend, but none were out. At least until we crossed in front of the Dept. of Agriculture on our way to the Metro. There, a lone tree was adorned in bright pink flowers. Beautiful. Remind me to send a thank you note to Secr. Clinton for planting that tree as First Lady before she left in 1999. By the time we got on the Metro, it was raining steadily and about to come down harder, so we opted to defer a tour of Arlington National Cemetery for another day. We turned in the car, checked our baggage, had a filling dinner of Five Guys burgers, relaxed a little with our books and headed home, where Mara and Nyala were waiting by the door.

After all that, you are probably wondering what we did at night up there. One of the best part about the trip was our accommodations. Friends we hadn't seen in a long time graciously put us up in their beautiful colonial home in Virginia. Their guest room had a delightful view of sunrise through the trees and hills each morning. Martha and Christopher were the epitome hospitality, including being very adaptive to our schedule. They prepared two delicious suppers for us, including the evening of our anniversary. They provided perfect breakfasts to fuel us through our days of exploration. We engaged each other with intelligent and entertaining conversation, though it probably helped that they had good alcohol always at hand, including a wonderful sparkling wine they served on our anniversary. Even their cats were accommodating, kindly supplying us with requisite rubs and purrs until we could get back to see our own. We thoroughly enjoyed their company, and remember how much we've missed them. It was very kind of them to share their beautiful home with us for an extended weekend.

Another successful adventure, one we would consider repeating for many years to come. Maybe next time we will be able to build in enough time to spend some with our other set of friends in the area, up on the Maryland side of things. Hopefully.


© 2010 Edward P. Morgan III