At 14:36 10/02/2006, you wrote:
On Fri, 10 Feb 2006, Suzi Clarke wrote:
> I am hoping to be in Washington DC in June, and wondered if anyone
> knew of a not-too-expensive hotel within walking distance of the
> Smithsonian. I hope to get an introduction there from a curator
> friend, and see what I can see.
If I still lived there, I'd offer to have you stay with me! But I moved
six years ago, sorry.
I don't think there's such a thing as a not-too-expensive hotel within
walking distance of the Smithsonian! It is located in the middle of all
the federal buildings, and the hotels I can think of near there are
extraordinarily ritzy.
Fortunately the public transit in Washington is quite civilized, and the
bulk of the Smithsonian museums (located on the Mall) are served by three
stops: the Smithsonian stop at the west, the Archives at the Northeast,
and L'Enfant Plaza at the south. The Portrait Museum and the American Art
museum are a bit further north from the Mall, and served by the Gallery
Place stop.
So whatever line you come in on, you are not too far. Just make sure you
stay at a hotel that is walking distance from a Metro stop! You can find
some quite reasonable in Arlington (on the Virginia side) and Rockville
(on the Maryland side); anything in Virginia on a Metro line will be
rather closer to the Smithsonian and have a shorter ride.
> Now I have to decide what I'd like to see!! (Whee!) And of course
> find out what I'll be allowed to see!!
Don't forget the National Gallery, which is operated separately from the
Smithsonian (and of much more interest to me from a costume standpoint);
it is also located on the Mall, at the Archives end. There are also a
number of private collections of art and artifacts, including the Textile
Museum, scattered around town, some harder to reach than others.
Your focus will depend on your period of interest. For instance, for
people interested in medieval Europe, I usually recommend the National
Gallery, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library (for
Elizabethan), Dumbarton Oaks (for Byzantine in particular), the National
Cathedral (for its bookstore), and the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore --
in other words, not the Smithsonian at all.
Thanks so much for the advice. I don't have any particular period of
interest - as a professional costumer I simply make what I am paid
for! So as I am so short of time (hopefully there will be more time
another trip) I just want to catch what I can!
As I live in London, and manage to get to Europe a lot (the Louvre,
the Prado etc) I don't really need to see European stuff. (Or
Tudor/Shakespeare for that matter - born and bred in Warwickshire!).
I suppose I mostly make Georgian costume, in all its years, including
Regency of course.
I think I like making corsets most, so maybe that should be my focus
- I don't know - I know there is so much out there just waiting to be
seen - decisions, decisions.)
Suzi
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