May is apparently Festival Month in DC. I didn't know about it until this year, but there's already been a Flower Mart at the National Cathedral, and yesterday Saint Sophia Cathedral held a Greek Festival. Not to mention there were at least two "Taste of" festivals going on in the region. Next weekend, Memorial Day will be celebrated just about everywhere, including my home town, which, although only two square miles small, holds its own Memorial Day Festival and Parade.
I first woke up yesterday, sort of, to the clang of long metal tubes dropping in the street. After falling back asleep for a few more hours, and finally deciding to start my day, I looked out the window and noticed several white tents in the street. I spent a few minutes deliberating over whether I'd seen them last night before actually getting out of bed.
I'd planned on going to Hagia Sophia for the Greek Festival, but walked around my block at the Taste of Arlington first. The setting-up of the festival accounted for the early-morning noises. We passed on the tastes, though some of them looked really good, in order to hit the Greek Festival.
The drive to Saint Sophia Cathedral in NW, DC was certainly eventful. We had directions that said, take ramp "X" off the Rock Creek Parkway to street "A" and turn left. Well, we saw street "A" but figured there must be a ramp "X" somewhere, so we kept going. All the way to the end of the parkway, which was not included in the directions. So we turned around, drove back - all the way back, practically into Virginia again, before we found a spot to turn around (again) and try again. This time we took the exit for street "A" - and discovered the sign meant, "this exit to eventually reach street "A" via ramp "X"! Although it didn't explain in so many words. The ramp, we found, was ramp "X" and the traffic light at the end of it intersected with street "A". So we did a lot of driving we didn't have to do, but saw some very pretty national park in the process! Perhaps next time we'll take the Metro and walk... if there are no delays.
The Festival was small, with Greek music, Greek crafts and jewelry for sale. There was one tent whose merchandise looked "Greek" only becuase it had currently resided in a Greek person's home. Yard sale, anyone?
Almost every jewelry seller had some charms against the evil eye - apotropaic charms, which "turn away" the evil eye curse, presumably back to the one who sent it.
My favorite part of the festival: the gyros!! Mm, they were so tasty. I've recently discovered a love for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. I've known for a long time that I like Greek and Italian food, (though gyros weren't included in that category for some reason..) but Lebanese, Greek, Turkish, and even further afield (and not included in the categories above) is Indian. And Bangladeshi. There's this amazing Bangladeshi restaurant in St Andrews, Scotland, which is how I know I like it. Also, baklava has been a favorite of mine since childhood. And I had one of those yesterday, too.
We took a tour of the Cathedral, and the most memorable aspect: the gilding. The whole ceiling and much of the walls are gilded and tiled. It took 30 years to tile the dome, ceiling and walls, apparently. Images of Jesus, saints and angels abound. I've been in cathedrals before, but I don't remember any that looked this ... gold. Even the windows were paned in yellow glass. It was all rather soothing, actually. And beautiful, though I hear St Nicholas is even more pleasing to the eye. Catholicism is still an unknown to me, but I learned a little about it yesterday. Some of the practices seemed a little strange, some a little more familiar... all in all, I don't imagine I'll convert.
