Memorial at The Wharf

Saturday before last, we attended a quite lovely memorial event for a friend of ours here at the condo, Larry, husband of Giuseppe; they live just a couple floors above us. Larry was a great fan of live music, so the event was held at one of his favorite music venues at a development in DC called The Wharf. There were memorabilia from Larry's life, food and drink, and touching memorial reminiscences from his son, old friends (one of whom went all the way back to Larry's high school days) and of course Giuseppe. It was warm, dignified but not stuffy or maudlin, some of Larry's favorite music was playing. It was lovely and comforting.

 

The Wharf is a relatively new development--now wildly popular--down where the fish market is and several old seafood houses once were. We had only been there before shortly after the place got off the ground and were amazed at it's growth. Few people would think something like this was in DC. Much work has been done since I moved here in 2017 to make the formerly stuffy town quite hip. I grabbed these photos quickly before the memorial. 

Potpourri

Please forgive the hiatus, but I've been doing some reconsidering. It dawned on me that a month-long trip was producing a very lengthy travelog. There were lots of photos and sorting through them was getting a bit tedious--and I couldn't help but wonder is they were getting tedious for my dear readers as well. And Vienna, Paris/Chartres/Versailles are up next, which have the largest number of photos. So I've decided to take a bit of a break and create an odds & ends post. Enjoy!

bits of Old Town 

questionable vehicular taste at the grocery store

we got a new washer/dryer!!!

While in Vienna, I picked up a Sisi rubber ducky to go with my Franz Josef duck

(Sisi was the nickname of Empress Elizabeth, Franz's wife)

she came with the following tag

😊😊😊😊😊

Milan: God & Mammon

-- I should mention there was an assassination attempt by a curb at the taxi stand at the Milan train station. Happily I escaped with merely a bloodied knee and a certain loss of dignity.  

 

We basically had one day in Milan--first time for the both of us--and there were 2 things we wanted to see: the cathedral and the Galleria. Yes, there was much more to see, but the stop was a later add-on and had to be squeezed in.

 

The cathedral (duomo) began construction in 1386 and its final details weren't completed until 1965. (!!!!!)  The result is a building of tremendous grandeur and a unique style. Touring the roof was amazing.

The second sight to see was the equally grand Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, an imposing and very upscale shopping center built between1865 and 1877, across the piazza from the cathedral. 

 

The Vatican

Since the Vatican was just a stone's throw away, it was certainly worth a drop-by. I did want to check my old college chum's new digs:

we rang the doorbell, but nobody answered

no better luck at the front gate

so it was off to the piazza

 

 

St. Peter's is always astounding

 

especially now that they've cleaned and re-gilt, for the first time in 400 years, Bernini's exquisite bronzes

we even caught the Swiss guards rehearsing for the annual mass in their honor the following day

despite the splendors, we are reminded that death comes to us all, even popes