Friday, September 19, 2008

Georgetown/Pizzeria Paradiso

A few weeks ago (yes I am very bad at documenting in a timely fashion), Alex and I ventured over to Georgetown. There is not a metro stop in Georgetown. Alex informed me that when designing the metro the Georgetown area decided not to have a stop there because they did not want to have the "riff raff" coming in and disturbing the area. Now it seems like a really bad idea, as it is a huge shopping district as well as home to Georgetown University. Despite the lack of a metro stop, it is not terribly difficult to get there. We took the metro to Rossalyn and then took a short bus ride. The worst part of it was waiting for the bus to go back to the metro when i had developed bad blisters from walking around so much!

Some of the highlights for the day were: Old Stone House, the oldest standing structure in D.C., Georgetown University (we were wandering around during orientation and move in day), and the steps from the Exorcist.

We also ate at a pizza place, I guess it is what you could call "designer" pizza. I loved that for an appetizer they served a variety of Olives. We ordered a simple 4 cheese pizza and for starters bread with elephant garlic. The elephant garlic lived up to its name in size...it was huge, but had little flavor and was not the typical garlic flavor you expect.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Dupont Circle

Recently a friend of mine from high school was in the area interviewing and I got to meet up with her for lunch. We met in the Dupont Circle area. Due to bus and metro delays I got an extra two hours to explore and people watch in the area.
I ventured into the necessary Starbucks that tends to be on a busy street corner in every major DC neighborhood. Unfortunately they, like most Starbucks around here butchered my order. So instead of getting a no water, extra foamy, two pump vanilla chai, I ended up with a no foam, skim milk chai. Ok so maybe they get some points for make some random alterations to the drink? Anyways I grabbed my cup and headed to the park that lies between the two metro stations at Dupont. There is a beautiful large fountain in the park surrounded by benches where a variety of locals come to eat lunch on their hour off, or bring their children to splash in the water. It is also a gathering spot for dogs and cat owners. (There was a strange display of two cats in carriers). There is everything from the business man who is constantly talking on his blue tooth, to the group of friends meeting up, to the little old man who is simply looking to go for an afternoon stroll.

Ariel view of Dupont Circle
The beautiful fountain
From my readings online the fountain was designed by the two men who did the Lincoln memorial (a site I will visit at some point I am sure). There are three statues representing the stars, sea and wind.

My friend and I originally sought out a thai restaurant which we soon found was not open for late lunch. So we ate at a Mexican/everything else cafe type place. We experienced cheap prices which was reflective in the food. Generally I have not been impressed with my dining experiences in D.C. but hopefully I will find some more notable places!

In other news, I am still job searching. We are still without much of our furniture and my parents have yet to ship a large portion of my belongs. I am much more familiar with the Alexandria/Old town area now that I have been out and about running errands and interviewing.