Day 13. Washington DC: National Gallery of Arts. SEI. [HI Washington DC]
It wasn’t surprising that I missed breakfast again. I got up around 11 am and grabbed another latte at Starbucks. Since all Smithsonian museums were closed, I went to National Gallery of Arts. Even they would be closed starting January 3rd. I guess today was a made-up day for the public since they didn’t open on New Year’s Day.
I felt bad for the people who didn’t know about the shutdown affecting museums. Apparently, many tourists didn’t know, and there weren’t any signs in museums the day before either. I hoped they all knew National Gallery of Arts was open.
Oh Arts
Leaving the hostel when it was nearly 12:30 pm, I finally arrived at National Gallery of Arts by 1 pm. It would close at 5 pm, and I figured 4 hours would be plenty, if not too much. Oh, I was so wrong.
A museum visit with ancient engravings often came as a Latin test for me. I couldn’t help trying to figure out the Latin words with my extremely basic and limited vocabulary. It is always fun and enjoyable even though I pretty much fail to understand anything every time.
While I was walking through sculptures after sculptures, I realised how I seemed to enjoy them so much more than paintings. The same thing happened in the museums yesterday, too. Somehow I cannot understand paintings, but with sculptures, everything makes sense.
Morning (1906) by Auguste Rodin. 
Women Wrestlers (1900) by Aristide Maillol. 
Fantasy Bust of a Veiled Woman (c. 1865-1870) by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse.
It was so easy to get lost in the museum as all the rooms were interconnected in the most incredulous way possible. I went to the museum store at 2 pm and spent way too much time and money there. It was nearly 3 pm when I resumed browsing the museum. There were so many incredible paintings on display, yet I had so little time, and I could only glimpse every room possible.
Ginerva de’ Benci (c. 1474/1478) by Leonardo da Vinci. 
Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son (1875) by Claude Monet. 
Self-Portrait (1889) by Vincent van Gogh. 
Odalisque Seated with Arms Raised, Green Striped Chair (1923) by Henri Matisse. 
Odalisque (1870) by Auguste Renoir. 
Tiger and Snake (1862) by Eugène Delacroix (he is my new favourite). 
Oysters (1862) by Édouard Manet.
When it was way past 4:30 pm, I was still at the west building. I only discovered that the east building was another gallery until it was too late. I hurried across the connected pathway to the east side with more modern art. In the 15 minutes I was there, I managed to see some great paintings and sculptures. I wished I had more time.
Untitled (Library) (1999) by Rachel Whiteread. 
Standing Female Nude (c. 1930) by Arshile Gorky (I like his cubism art). 
Family of Saltimbanques (1905) by Pablo Picasso.
Yummy
There were a couple of nice restaurants near China Chilcano, and I decided to try another one today. So the first and only meal of the day was at SEI, an Asian fusion restaurant. I ordered sautéed salmon ($15.00 excluding taxes & tips), a rice bowl with hash, miso glaze, soft scramble, pickled onion, and S.O.S ($13.00 excluding taxes & tips), a sushi dish of salmon, strawberries, avocado, orange miso sauce. I also had my first ever sake: Genbei San No Onikoroshi ‘Demon Slayer’ Honjozo Fushimi, Japan ($6.00 excluding taxes & tips).
Sautéed salmon. 
Closeup of S.O.S. 
Sake.
Sake came first. It had a strong rice scent, and not too sweet. I wouldn’t say I liked it, but it was worth the try. Then came S.O.S. The way all the flavour within blended wonderfully together really surprised me. It was a mixture of orange miso sauce, sesame, salmon, rice, nori, avocado, strawberry, and cucumber. With the delicious yet eccentric pairing of ingredients, I knew my sautéed salmon rice bowl would be great. And it sure was. This had more of a Korean twist, with egg and spicy fermented vegetables I figured might be kimchi. It had a very rich taste and I really enjoyed it.
For dessert, I ordered a raspberry sake panna cotta ($8.00 excluding taxes & tips). It was wonderful. The tiny crunchy rice balls were a fun touch to the texture of the panna cotta. I have always loved panna cottas, and this dish had the flavour of sake in addition to the creamy milk taste, making it even more desirable and a great ending to the feast.
For two days in row, I had awesome fusion meals. And I am officially in love with the idea of playing with ingredients. Maybe I will try out more fusion restaurants often!
Also, I realised afterwards that Obama ate here with his family earlier last year.
Summary
I headed back early for laundry again today and lost my towel in the process, having no idea how that happened. Tomorrow, there would be no museums as they would all close due to the everlasting shutdown. I hope the weather is nice as I plan to stay outdoors.
Today has been very exciting as encountering art is always enlightening.
