British Embassy Washington

After we left the Italian embassy we headed down Massachusetts Avenue to the United Kingdom.  I didn't realize until we visited that it is the largest embassy in the city.  The embassy has been located in its current position since 1930.

The Embassy was located previously on Connecticut Avenue. Between 1791, the year when the British first came to the Washington, and 1875, the location changed frequently.

The British Embassy acquired the land for the current Massachusetts Avenue location through a good financial move....  In 1939, the public park bordering the Embassy grounds on Massachusetts Ave was going to be turned into housing. Ambassador Lothian bought the public park and donated it to the British Embassy. Now, it is the current location of the Churchill statue and part of the gardens....  The British Embassy in Washington is the largest British Embassy in the world.
--from Forces War Records website


Before we got to the embassy itself we first came across this statue of Winston Churchill.

Thankfully the line wasn't that long outside the embassy grounds.

When we entered there was a helpful map showing what was happening on the grounds.

I wasn't interested in the cars, but there were many that were.

They certainly were prepared for many visitors with a row of port-a-potties.

We joined the line to enter the embassy building.

Turn left to enter the building.

The line snaked through part of the garden area.

The building is quite impressive.

Part of the reason for the line was to get some food samples.

When we got closer we saw that it was fish and chips.

They were quite tasty, though I wouldn't choose to have the pea puree again--I prefer ketchup, ;-).  It was a fairly bland sauce that didn't add much to the dish in my opinion, but others must really like it or it must be traditional .

The crenelations over the doorway were quite decorative.

Inside were decently high ceilings and multiple chandeliers.

I noticed that this video was being played via screen duplication from a laptop on the floor and found that hilarious.

The dining room was quite impressive.

Especially the table set for a full dinner.

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning British monarch in history?

The photographs around the staircase were fascinating to see.

As we headed towards the door we saw another group of people heading inside just as we had a few minutes before.

I don't remember what room this was, but again it was quite fancy.

Once outside we got to enjoy some flowers.

Close up these ones were quite beautiful.

More flowers were visible in many different areas as we walked.

It would have been nice to be able to wander the grounds for a while.

We headed down a flight of stairs towards the other side of the building.

This side is even more impressive than where we had entered.

Too bad we didn't have any letters to mail.

There were quite a few alcoholic beverage vendors.

Inside some tents were several different interpreters.

They looked like they were really into the subject and people were interested in learning more.

I had to pick up some free Churchill bookmarks before we left.

Check out more pictures from the embassy in this album.  And join us next time as I document our next embassy adventure.

~Matt