Mid-Atlantic Trip Part 11: Embassy Row

A fitting way to start the journey up Embassy Row. With Gandhiji leading the way.

I was led to believe that India gave open tours. Boy was I crestfallen when the doors were locked.

Actually off Embassy Row, but I’ll fit it in. Indonesia.

Can’t recall which embassy had this little number in their gardens.

The only question in this picture is, is that the Dutch flag, or Luxembourg’s? Oh yeah, and Turkey only has like 10,000 embassy installations.

Egypt too. Ever wanna get a sense of our strategic alliances? Walk Embassy Row. Ireland got itself a pretty nice piece of corner real estate, I might add.

Had I visited a week later, the EU countries were all giving open houses. That would have been fun!

Seriously, they need a big statue of Aphrodite or Zeus in front here. And for goodness sakes get a gardener! Don’t forget the Windex when you clean the windows, either!

I forget whose this is. All I know is that it’s not France, but a country that seems counterintuitive. Oh yeah, and we’re totally not ignoring you, Estonia.

I had to peek in to make Sure Orally Taints wasn’t there harassing the staff.

To the left was Kenya, Vietnam, and then another Turkish installation. Can someone say awkward?

A khatchkar, commemorating 1700 years of Christianity in Armenia (they were one of the first to officially adopt the religion).

I got chills.

This wasn’t that long after the earthquake. It seemed full of activity.

This was just too perfect. I wish more of them did something like this to reflect their national character.

I got the distinct impression that this looked like the compound of a drug cartel kingpin.

Speaking of compounds…

The Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. Totally bums me out that I didn’t go in. I stood in front of it, looked at the guy waiting outside the door, and got nervous, wondering if it was prayer time and left after standing there for a few minutes. It really does eat me up I didn’t go inside. It was one of the things I most wanted to do in D.C.

Rock Creek Park which runs through Embassy Row.

I just knew whose embassy this once was. When I got back that night, I looked up my hunch and was proved right. Can’t find any period photos of it in its prime, though.

Potsherds and debris are left there to make a point, I think (can’t really see them here). Seems like it’s left from crumbling completely just for that purpose.

I mean, c’mon. This could only be the British Embassy. This is how one treats ones former colonial overlords! They also give tours, I thought, but by this time it was so confusing, I felt overwhelmed and tired from walking on a hot spring day, and I almost didn’t care anymore.

Likewise for those socialist Finns of the international left. This could only be the Finnish embassy.

Norway has a distinctive swallow-tail flag for use as its state flag and war flag. Being the same flag how do you know which is which? After it’s too late, of course. Crafty Vikings!

I can only imagine how much gaudy gold furniture is inside this place.

If you look close enough you might see Prof. Jill Biden. (no, not really, don’t strain your eyes!)

This is where the time is kept, at the Naval Observatory. I had to reset my pocket watch here.

See what happens when you allow yourself to get enliberated? A nice cottage embassy like this. You’re welcome, Iraq.

And with the talk of Egypt, we can’t forget our other favorite authoritarian Arab BFF. They had a pretty nice place too.

Something about this made me laugh. The Salvadoran Consulate.

Guess whose ’embassy’ I found!

Zed’s Ethiopian Restaurant in Georgetown. What more fitting end to such an international day? (And the waitress was gorgeous, I might add.)

On this day, also went to the National Cathedral, but decided to split up the day into two posts. The National Cathedral will constitute the next installment. Hope to see you there.