Birthday and Baltimore

Happy Birthday Alana! The morning began with a rare view of a double rainbow, rare because large raindrops along with a low sun are much more common in the afternoon than morning. Anne went to Mass at St. Theresa of Avila in Anacostia, the church we'd visited on Fat Tuesday. The liturgical dance was powerful, the congregation very welcoming.

After a late pancake breakfast, we headed to Chinatown to see the New Year's festivities. We wore red clothes to ward off evil spirits/bring auspicious good luck. The weather was cold and very windy. The fireworks, which we missed as we were supping in a warm Irish bar, were supposed to be lit from a crane but had to be lowered because of the wind and blew away. The best part of the parade were the lion dancers which Alana is trying to see a close up of through her camera. Ack and Anne stopped by the Portrait Gallery for a quick tour of the Kathryn Hepburn exhibit on our way home.

On the day before, Saturday, Feb 9, Anne and Ack joined Ryan and Victor for a visit to Tom and Tim's in Baltimore. Our hosts treated us to a tasty lunch and a tour of their wonderfully restored house. On our way to the Walters Art Museum, we walked through the Bolton Hill neighborhood, past lots of outdoor sculptures by MICA art students (Maryland Institute College of Art, which is just down the block from Tom and Tim). One highlight of the Walters' collections is the "Chamber of Wonders," a Dutch cabinet-of-curiosities room filled with an fabulous collection of disparate treasures. Another highlight is an amazing collection of Chinese vases. I'm not usually excited about vases, but these were wonderful. I think it was a combination of the varieties of vases and how they were displayed - not crowded, in nice cabinets, and in a room that reflected one's home.

After the Walters, we stopped at the Baltimore Basilica - America's First Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A long name with many badges: a National Shrine, Marian Shrine, National Historic Landmark, and Co-Cathedral of Baltimore.