I mentioned in my post about our rental in DC that we were right on Embassy Row. Our row house was four (connected) houses down the row from the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco. We were surrounded by dozens of embassies, and within the first week, we started an ongoing activity that we called "embassy hunting." I kept a running list in my phone of the embassies we saw during our time, and we did our best to come home and locate new finds on our world map (practicing writing the name and learning the capital) and if possible, color a coloring page of that country's flag for our collection.
Here's our complete list, in order of our spotting them:
Morocco
India
Indonesia
Turkey
Estonia
Luxembourg
Togo
Sudan
Turkmenistan
Netherlands
Bahamas
Greece
Ireland
Paraguay
Grenada
Georgia
Argentina
Kenya
Latvia
Romania
Brazil
Norway
Mexico
Sierra Leone
Poland
Portugal
Peru
Colombia
Malaysia
Montenegro
Australia
Albania
Trinidad and Tobago
Philippines
Tunisia
Laos
Costa Rica
Thailand
Mali
Zambia
Somalia
Bulgaria
Niger
Cyprus
Guatemala
Myanmar
Malta
Belize
Vietnam
Singapore
Haiti
Chad
South Korea
Venezuela
Belgium
Lesotho
UAE
Cameroon
Kyrgyzstan
Sitting by the gate into the Moroccan embassy
That white building is the back of the embassy. This picture was taken in the alleyway that ran behind our row/what we drove down to get to our parking spot.
Statue of Gandhi, outside of the Indian embassy.
On our very first full day in DC, while walking back to our house, we saw a protest happening in this courtyard area (and heard it for several hours). There were usually flowers at the foot of this statue, and on the occasions when there weren't any, Lily was rather concerned.
Indonesian embassy and flag around the corner from us
Luxembourg and Turkey
Togo
Estonia (and my favorite building). It's a corner-shaped building and so unique.
This mosque was a few blocks from our house, and I found it so interesting because when I was in training before going to Ukraine in 2008, we spent a day in DC. The group I was with ended up getting turned around and walking waaay off course and ending up at this mosque. I have a picture of it from then, too, but alas. I can't find it these many years later.
This sign at the Latvian embassy is SO FUNNY. We passed it anytime we went to Dumbarton.
Colombia
Niger. It took me a minute, but I figured out that the pots here out front mimic the colors and design of the flag of Niger. Clever.
Brazil
Dominican Republic
Over by the Dominican Republic embassy were these steps that are the "Spanish Steps" of DC.
Thailand
Just down from the Thai embassy is the Quaker Meeting House.
We really enjoyed going for walks in our neighborhood/all around Dupont (after the swampiness of DC gave way to more reasonable temperatures and fewer mosquitoes) and finding embassies. And other things, too. Like the bakery down the block and the playground a few streets over.
Front of our house
The super-fun neighborhood park! We went to this park in all types of weather, just adjusting our outerwear accordingly.
View at the end of our block, on our way to the bakery
We visited the bakery in all types of weather, too. Every time we went, we met an elderly Italian gentleman who absolutely loved to chat with the girls.
Cookies to go!
We loved this beautiful magnolia at the end of our block.
Ways to work out some energy when you live smack in the middle of the District, surrounded by lots of people and traffic.
Walking through Boston neighborhoods was one of my favorite activities while we lived in Boston, and it proved to be equally as delightful to me in DC. I'm glad the girls enjoyed it, too (or at least...they didn't have a choice...).
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