Gallivanting Geismom: An EU Adventure in Washington, DC

The day began cool, and a few sprinkles did fall, but we headed out to the Metro right after breakfast so that we could get a full day exploring the various European Union Embassies.

Today was the 9th annual event, and our 3rd personal attendance, and let me just say that there is no possible way one could manage to visit everyone of the embassies during the allotted time. That became all too obvious when the line for Great Britain was wrapped around the long block prior to the opening of the doors! Our hope was to pop in and see the British residence, but once we saw how long that line was, we decided to keep on walking and head up Massachusetts Ave to the Finnish Embassy. Once inside, we waited in line, making our way down the staircase, all the while being entertained by an accordion player whose musical selection reminded me of traditional Slavic music. I suppose a polka is a polka, regardless of nationality.

This place was great! There was the traditional Finnish dark bread topped with cheese

Yumm!

Of course, Finlander Swiss Cheese:

Salted Salmon (which I decided to pass on)

Licorice

And a type of chocolate that was 100% cocoa butter and was, indeed, out of this world!

I'm not sure, but I think that Marty ended up sharing some of his goodies with this guy.

We were thoroughly entertained, and thought about heading towards the Belgium Embassy, but could see through the glass windows in Finland that the line was exceedingly long. We heard someone comment that one would expect such a wait when there was free Beer, Chocolate and Waffles involved.

As tempting as that may sound, we decided to forego the wait and head towards

Bulgaria. Along the way, we noticed that the British Embassy line had dwindled dramatically, so we decided to pop in for a wee peek.

The first perk awaiting us were free sunglasses which Marty models with flair:

Then, we waited in line to walk through the residence.

Along the way, we passed this gorgeous display of orchids.

It probably took us about 15 minutes until we entered the house, but it was well worth the wait.

Beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and the banquet room was breathtaking.

Note the place card for the Queen at the head of the table.

And an Andy Warhol painting with her image hangs above the fireplace.

I had some fun with the mirrored hall

too bad Marty's face is right in the center of the mirror panels.

And I loved this unique desk in the drawing room.

As would be expected, the gardens were phenomenal.

After we exited Great Britain, we rounded the corner for Italy where we were admitted rather quickly. I should mention that most of these embassies require a strict security clearance prior to entering, but the Italian guards were relatively lax.

But once through the door, we found ourselves amongst a crowd of people with no sense of direction. We never found the tourist info, nor the table with the passport stamps. Even the embassy volunteers couldn't answer my quest. It wasn't a total loss, though, as I somehow managed to exit with seeds to plant Roma tomatoes and Basil, and a package of hazelnut chocolate eggs. Not a total bust, for sure.

Just up the street was the Denmark Embassy. We didn't spend much time there, but if one was a kid, you could have had a field day playing with legos. I snapped this amusing photo on the way out.

Oh, and we also tasted some awesome chocolate covered marshmallow-like cream confection that one can apparently only purchase in Denmark. It's a good thing that we were doing all that walking!

We headed out of Denmark, making our way, once again, towards Bulgaria, where I had hoped to pop in for a brief look. This was about as close to a Bulgarian as we came:

The line for entrance was ridiculously long, and actually wrapped around 2 blocks, so we decided to forego that embassy and head to the bus for transport to Poland and Lithuania.

By this time, the heat was suffocating, so standing in line was not exactly pleasant, but we were on a bus within 15 minutes and headed to the NW section of the city.

When we hopped off the bus, we were a bit dismayed by the extremely long lines, but we soon noted that entrance to Lithuania had no line, and we headed right inside.

Once inside the doors, we noticed that there were displays devoted to the people of the Ukraine. Now, if you know your geography, then you will realize that these countries are nowhere near each other.

However, if you know your history, then you are aware that Russia swept into Lithuania during World War II and absconded many of its citizens, taking them to Siberia. Doctors, lawyers, professors....highly educated people, were considered a threat, and so, families disappeared without any hope of returning. The Lithuanian people were finally liberated in 1990, and many of these citizens remember all too well the invasion of their country.

I can't say enough how heartwarming I found this gesture on the Lithuanian embassy's part. There were tables filled with Ukrainian items for sale, with all profits devoted to helping the people of Ukraine. This was the ONLY embassy that we entered that had such a set up. Kudos to them for supporting this important cause!

We had to wait quite awhile to sample the Lithuanian fare, but, in the long run, Marty will tell you that it was well worth the wait. Once we were near the end of the line, one of the Lithuanian representatives offered Marty some "medicine". He poured him a small vial of Triple 9, which supposedly has 27 different herbs to help what might ail you.

Obviously, there was alcohol involved in this tincture, so after Marty sipped his down, I asked him if he felt better. The man said that Marty would be cured for certain once he had a second dose, so he poured him another.

After we finished sampling some sausage, rye bread, cheese and cookies, Marty went back to thank the man for the "medicine", and the next thing I knew, he had another! I took this photo of him next to the independence sign.

Next on our agenda was Poland. Once again, the line was extremely long. In the past, it was well worth the wait, with options of Polish beer, Kielbasa and Pirogies at a slight charge. Well, this year, items were gratis, with a choice of beef or cheese & potato pirogies, and Herring potato salad. (Not a big hit in my book.)

But, we did leave with a hat:

So, we're not complaining! (Plus Marty loves Herring so he was perfectly happy!)

By this time, it was nearing 4:00, the closing time for the event, so we popped into Spain which was certainly abuzz with activity!

After all of this walking, we decided to relax a bit in Madison Park which we found to be delightful.

There was a statue devoted to Joan of Arc

And another devoted to Dante, which came as quite a surprise to us:

And, near the exit on W street, a likeness of Buchanan

At this point we headed to Bistro Bohem for dinner.

Our original plan was to enjoy Slovak cuisine at Capital Prague, where we had enjoyed a fabulous meal on our last trip to this area. But, much to my disappointment, we learned that it was closed. So, after a quick search, Bistro Bohem seemed worth a try as it specialized in Eastern European food.

I enjoyed a glass of Bulgarian wine with my dinner:

To be quite honest, it didn't taste much different than any other type of red wine that I have enjoyed, but the food was excellent and we were glad to end the day on such a happy note.

Speaking of which.....on the way back to the metro, we passed this statue devoted to Duke Ellington