Around the World in an Afternoon

Today the Embassies of the European Union opened their doors to swarms of American Tourists. As one person described it "Its Disneyland for Washington DCers." Having been to Disney World, (which I consider far better than Disneyland) I feel I can safely apply my expertise to this statement, and provide opinions on its veracity.


Our first stop was the Embassy of the United Kingdom, it was beautiful.

The Grounds. The picture doesn't do justice to how green it was. 

Exterior of the Embassy

The best part, in my opinion, was of course the people speaking with British accents. They had food for sale, but I wasn't willing to spend any money for food at 10:00 in the morning, when I had just eaten breakfast. I did, however, pick up a water bottle with a British flag on the label. I also met the queen. She was very kind, but not much for talking. 

I have to admit, I thought she would be taller. 

There were a lot of different stations on the grounds of the Embassy. I signed up to win a luxury car for the weekend. (You had to be 25 to apply, and I was the only one in my group of friends that could go...not sure how I feel about that) I also applied to win a trip to Northern Ireland. All you had to do to apply was put a golf ball in a hole, and it didn't matter how many strokes it took. Then I just had to give them a business card, or my contact info. Luckily I got business cards this week!

This gentleman was over by the Scotland booth, and in I decided to take a picture with him. 

He was very nice, and we talked for a bit about Scotland, and my plans to go there some day. 

These roses were gorgeous, I thought my mom would appreciate them. 

Similarities with Disney:

1. Lines

2. Lots of people

3. Exhibits

4. Nice people

5. Expensive food

6. A person dressed as a fox

No rides though, which is a big part of Disney.

The Netherlands:
At the Embassy for the Netherlands they had us tour the residence. It was a very nice house, but not as fun as the UK Embassy.
Similarities to Disney:
Beautiful Landscaping

 Roped off areas where you really want to explore...

 Really pretty library...maybe not something you would find at Disney, unless it was an exhibit about Beauty and the Beast...but it was pretty!

 Big signs that are basically superfluous.

 People in Costumes

Outside the Croatian Embassy

 The happiest place on earth....ok not really, but it was as close to Portugal as I could get!

 Actually (in my unbiased opinion) the Portuguese Embassy was the best of all of the Embassies we visited. They were organized (the wait was pretty long) we watched movies on Portugal, heard about the symbolism of the flag, and they gave us FREE FOOD!! (Definitely NOT something that happens at Disney)

I was able to talk with the people in Portuguese, and they gave us the last of the pasteis de nata....a special pastry from Portugal that I love!

All in all it was a great afternoon, similar in some ways to Disney, not quite as expensive, but lots of fun!