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Post by htmb on Jul 26, 2014 1:40:18 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 4:10:22 GMT
Many people here, needing furniture items, visit the gigantico big box store to the south of town. Apparently, some like their visit so much they even stay for a meal (we didn't). Of course, the big challenge when going to the gigantico store is to locate all the items on your list, wheel your enormous pile of selected boxes through the checkout line and into the car, and then haul them into your new place and assemble it all. ] We've put together four smallish items and one large piece. We should have the rest completed and in place by Sunday afternoon. We're both so obsessive we could have had all the huge items done by tonight, but we had somewhere else we needed to go.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 10:41:01 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 10:56:53 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 11:25:58 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 11:36:10 GMT
Off in a picturesque little area a wedding party was posing for photographs. The water taxi was waiting to take passengers over to Old Town Alexandria and points beyond. The jumbo screen was displaying National Harbor information, as well as local, national and international news. While also waiting to display big events and films for movie nights. And the sun was preparing to set over in Virginia.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 13:10:08 GMT
I actually took a "gypsy cab" between Washington National and Dulles once during some sort of strike (taxi strike? transit strike? I don't remember.). There were four of us who got into the car, so I figured we could always beat up the driver if he tried to cheat us, which he didn't. A section of the new Silver Line has just opened and is expected to be completed by 2018 when it will link Dulles Airport into the Metro system.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 27, 2014 14:02:49 GMT
Wow ~~ you really took some stunning photos! Is that an Ikea, the store you so assiduously tried not to identify? It is my life's ambition to visit an Ikea, so I'm really jealous. Even with all the work, it certainly seems as though y'all are having fun.
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Post by bjd on Jul 27, 2014 14:54:15 GMT
Yes, Bixa. that's an Ikea. You have never been in one? Well, you've been in one, you have seen them all.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 18:16:15 GMT
Even with all the work, it certainly seems as though y'all are having fun. Well, we haven't killed each other yet, though we still have a bit more assembling to do.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 20:35:36 GMT
Success! We have now mastered the most difficult piece of furniture - a chest of drawers - plus a bed frame/headboard. We've also put together some storage units and a chair. Another chair and a table are left, but should be easy after conquering the 2500 piece chest.
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Post by breeze on Jul 27, 2014 22:23:37 GMT
Htmb, “Haven’t killed each other yet” is a very good stage to be at after using that little IKEA wrench on 2500 pieces of furniture.
I'm on a first-name basis with a lot of IKEA furniture. I keep the catalog handy.
Bixa, I hope you get to go to an IKEA. I can't believe Mexico is IKEA-less, but just wait. Oaxaca’s turn will come. Then you can get htmb to come and assemble your furniture.
A few years back we were in France and there were two big headlines in the regional newspaper: “Pope’s Visit” and “IKEA at Argentan” The pope got second billing.
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Post by htmb on Jul 27, 2014 22:56:01 GMT
Breeze, you understand the situation well! I'm happy to say that everything has now been assembled. I have a blister on one finger and the WDCP has a bruised finger, mainly because we had lousy screwdrivers. I think we missed lunch and the dog has been clingy and in the way much of the time, but we now have all the necessary furniture.
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Post by htmb on Jul 28, 2014 21:45:30 GMT
For the second time this summer I have "I don't want to go homeitis." To combat the illness I met the WDCP, also known as HTMB Jr, at a lunch chain located in one of the buildings reflected here: Since this was essentially the last day of my summer vacation, I also went to one of my very favorite places, the National Gallery of Art, and then out into the National Mall area where I attempted to find a few tourists to photograph. I actually found several, and even managed to find a few more in the National Gallery. First, here's a few random snaps from just south of the DuPont Circle area.
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Post by htmb on Jul 28, 2014 22:14:15 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 3:06:43 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 3:14:30 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2014 4:45:26 GMT
Bixa, I hope you get to go to an IKEA. I can't believe Mexico is IKEA-less, but just wait. Oaxaca’s turn will come. Then you can get htmb to come and assemble your furniture. Hmm. Even though I pretty much think of Htmb as Wonder Woman, I cynically suspect that each & every one of those unassembled pieces of furniture has its own particular fiendish tricks that must be mastered. Htmb, at the risk of repeating myself, this is just the loveliest thread! You really give us a sense of the place & your architectural photos are knock-outs. How perfect that you came back from visiting where Van Gogh lived and worked and encountered this exquisite show at one of your favorite places. Are those wheat fields the very ones you photographed? Nothing beats seeing great works of art in person, so this must have been a great pleasure.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 5:50:37 GMT
The architectural contrasts are fascinating.
And you have certainly proved that summertime tourists look the same everywhere.
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Post by bjd on Jul 29, 2014 6:22:13 GMT
You were lucky with the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery. And so few tourists! As an aside, here is a picture from today's paper of the Louvre and the Mona Lisa:
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 11:46:21 GMT
The crowds in front of the Mona Lisa are absolutely ridiculous!
Oh, I haven't even begun to post my tourist pictures. I'm saving those for my big finale, though summertime tourists in DC look the same to me as other places, that's true.
I've visited Auvers a couple of times, though never when the wheat was green. I assume Van Gogh painted fields on land at the top of the hill above the church, but I'm not completely certain. I'm not sure I really care for the colors in the painting, but perhaps I'd feel differently if I'd seen the fields at an earlier time of year.
There were many more surprises at the National Gallery. A huge exhibit of Andrew Wyeth's work, featuring the views through doors and windows, was a big delight! I love Andrew Wyeth's work and was thrilled to be able to see many finished works from private collections, as well as some of the preparatory studies accompanying the works.
There was also a display comparing Cassatt and Degas that was quite interesting, plus a work by Titian, on loan from the museum in Venice. I have a few photos I'll post once I'm back home.
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 19:00:23 GMT
Titian's, Danaë (1544–1545), is from the Capodimonte Museum, Naples. I believe it's on loan until November 2014.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 19:12:09 GMT
I think they should put the Mona Lisa on display like they do a body at a funeral. You have 5 seconds to shuffle by, pay your respects and keep moving. Postcards on sale on the way out. I would never venture into that crowd. The Titian looks very civilised.
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 19:19:45 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 19:58:10 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 21:37:37 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 21:51:45 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 22:05:56 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 22:24:40 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 29, 2014 23:03:55 GMT
The morning of my departure came exceptionally early. I even fed and walked my loaner dog before the WDCP and I left for the metro. I exited at Reagan National where I had a first ever, modern day experience in the security line. No scan or body check, no shoe removal, nothing removed from my bags. It was weird. The departure of my plane was delayed for 45 minutes due to a faulty fuel gauge, so I busied myself by taking a few photos. The quality of the next lot is not very good due to the use of my cell phone camera, so please bear with me. While sitting on the ground, and then heading for the runway, I could spot some of my most recent haunts. The dome of the U.S. Capitol building could be seen across the Potomac. West of the Capitol was the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. With a turn of the plane I could see landmarks signifying Old Town Alexandria to the east And on the other side of the Woodrow Wilson bridge I can just make out National Harbor. Then we're airborne, following the Potomac River upstream as we head for the Lincoln Memorial. I'm really happy I'm sitting next to a window on the Washington side of the plane. Down below I recognize the very location on the National Mall where I took photos of tourists the day before. There's the red brick Smithsonian Administration building. Across from it is the domed Natural History Museum, and in the upper righthand corner of my view I can make out the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. It was a good trip, and I hope you enjoyed traveling along.
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