This year for New Year's, I decided to escape Ithaca and went with A&C to Washington DC. Getting out of Ithaca was a challenge due to heavy snow, and I got my first taste of driving in a heavy winter storm. But once we got to DC, the journey was definitely worth it.
The first full day there, I caught up with friends in the city, lunching at Silver Diner in Arlington with a friend I met a few years ago while doing CBYX, a study and work abroad program in Germany. We sipped Vietnamese ice coffee milkshakes, ate some delicious local cafe food, and caught up on what we had been up to since coming back to the U.S.. Afterwards, I met up with H and he took me to the International Spy Museum. We wound through numerous exhibits showing off spy gadgets, such as the classic umbrella gun, clandestine bugging devices, spy history, and a special exhibit covering all of the evil James Bond film villains. Afterwards we walked around the city for a bit before a delicious dinner at Zaytinya's, which featured creative cocktails and tapas-style dishes.
That's H and I in front of the International Spy Museum.
On the second day, which happened to be New Year's Eve, I walked with C&A to the Library of Congress, passing by Capitol Hill on our way. The inside of the library was a feast for the eyes of those who love the idea of recording and passing on knowledge and wisdom. Despite it being named a library, it seemed book browsing was limited to scholars with special permission. As for curious visitors, there were special exhibits covering various historical events, which featured collections of supporting original manuscripts and letters.
The grand staircase leading up to the library from the entrance.
The ceiling was fantastic.
Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.
Books must follow sciences, and not sciences books.
Heading over to The Mall, I checked out a special exhibit by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at the Hirshhorn and spent a bit of time walking around the Air and Space museum.
Following our day of exploring, we met up with our wonderful host Santiago, who took us out to one of his absolute favorite local restaurants, the ramen bar Toki Underground of H Street. Since the wait for this place is often on the scale of hours, it's best to drop by earlier in the afternoon to get on the wait list early. They can then put you down for an approximate reservation and give you a call 5 minutes before your table is ready. When we got there, we were seated at the bar, which was perfect as it gave us a view of the kitchen as well as a perch from which to view the interesting interior. Artistically sliced and arranged skateboards form railings, pinball machine boards beneath plastic serve as the surface of the bar. The big gold lucky cat behind the bar wears a tacked-on handlebar mustache. Behind the bar and to the left, cooks hand-stuff and pinch together dumplings, which you can order steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried.
We started out with cocktails - mine came sprinkled with cinnamon and a skewered pineapple.
Then we split an order of steamed chicken dumplings.
Finally, the main course - giant bowls of tender ramen in triple-stock broth. Mine came with kimchi, pulled herb chicken, nori, steamed veggies, and a soft egg, all meticulously arranged within the bowl before being served.
After dinner and a quick nap, we headed off to a party to celebrate the coming of 2013.
Today, after a quick but filling New Years Day brunch at a nearby pub, we piled into the car and headed back to Ithaca. The trip was a huge success, and I loved getting to see the capitol again as well as enjoy exploring new restaurants and catching up with old friends. Now it's time to get ready to return to work tomorrow. I'll definitely miss you DC!
A gift from Norway, this giant Christmas tree stands next to the metro entrance at Union Station.
