Capitol Hill IS a Hill

Monday, 2nd full day. D and V shared some info about short-term exhibits at the National Gallery ofArt which we visited on Sunday--so knowing we wanted to see more we decided to return to see the Turner exhibition in the West Gallery and the Hopper exhibition in the east.

A short walk through the outdoor National Gallery sculpture garden saw this sculpture that we both got a kick out of. You are really old if you know what this is.

The works of both of these artists are amazing. Turner is an English painter (oil and watercolor) who was the youngest artist to be admitted into the Royal Academy of Art. If you saw his work you'd know you'd seen some of it before (perhaps his portrait of Napoleon or ships at sea.) If there was a drawback to this show it was that there was too much of Turner--I mean it was room after room after room...Smaller selection wouldn't be so numbing.

Hopper is an American artist that you'd recognize. His life spanned both world wars and he died in the 60s. See if you recognize his work from this mural.

The Hopper exhitibit was in the East Gallery dedicated to modern works. A light and airy space.
Lunch in Cascade Cafe under the street between the East and West buildings of the National Gallery of Art. The cafeteria had excellent food and all went well until I went back and got stuck in a Gelato line behind 12 pre-teens who consumed five samples each before ordering. Look at the picture carefully--you'll see why it's called the Cascade Cafe. There is a fountain cascading from the street level into the lower level. These is a window in front.
We walked UP Capitol Hill. There is a reflecting pool in front, but it had been drained. I never remember how massive the Capitol building is. The National Arboretum is right on the grounds. It is compact, but interesting with sections on medicinal plants, jungle setting, orchid room, and dessert.

Walked to the rear of the building. I had it in mind to see the Library of Congress--they have a great website with Today in History that I check almost every morning. It's only a short visit because the reading room is restricted. But the interior is lovely.
Anyway after the LOC we walked passed the Supreme Court and were surprised as we crossed the street to see "The Methodist Building." Mike took a picture since we were puzzled. It's a clean looking building that seems narrower in the front than the back and (I checked it is still in use by the Methodists.
By now, pretty tired we walked north to Union Station watched a movie in the basement theatre (Michael Clayton), had dinner and rode the metro back to the hotel.

Home via the metro