Another day with the Demarinis family, our infamous friends who have uprooted their previously vibrant city lives to buy a big house in the burbs a nd live happily ever after. Usually when we see Jared and Xan, we have to saddle up our horses and trek all the way to Annapolis. I get it—with that many car seats, strollers and backpacks, our fun-loving amigos aren’t nearly as mobile as they used to be. However, as a rare treat last Saturday, the mini-van party came to us and we got to hang out with them on our own turf: NW DC.    

• Who: Dan, Jared, Xan, Aidyn, Zoe (The Demarinis’), Xan’s cousins Dan and Carolyn, and their kids Colin and Katie
• Where: Dupont
• What: Dip Central—Hummus, baba ganoush, white bean, fire feta, pita, pita chips, french fries, and 2 pitchers of Peroni

The Demarinis’ didn’t just come in to enjoy the sites and sounds of the city. They came with an agenda: EU Open House Day. The day when every European Union Embassy throws opens its doors so that thousands of people can stand lined up for hours (or queued, as we say on this day) on a hot sidewalk to finally get inside the building where they then hand out some promotional pamphlets, offer the chance to take a photo in front of embassy paraphernalia (see right—Luxembourg), and dole out a dixi cup of said country’s national drink… until they run out of samples, in which case you just get another promotional pamphlet. Some of the embassies do actually have some pretty cool stuff—face painting in Germany, wine tasting in Austria, set dancing in Ireland—but unless you plan to be the first one there the minute those places open, you might as well line up in the slow march outside Poland…and we all remember how well that turned out.

After an absurdly long wait outside of Greece, where we were finally able to try a nibble of bread with olive oil and a bite of Greek yogurt (never had that before!), and enter a raffle for a cruise (which we did not win), we took matters into our own hands and went to our version of Greece—Zorba’s Cafe. Nicely situated between a comfort shoe store and an Italian restaurant (so basically right on the Mediterranean), Zorba’s couldn’t better represent the old Europe values of unity, family, and togetherness that EU Open House Day is trying to instill in today’s youth. And they also have beer. And hummus.

Suddenly, the proverbial clouds parted and EU Open House Day was great again. All four tired, hot, grumpy children were nicely seated in the shade with pink lemonade, while all six tired, hot, grumpy adults could sit back and give themselves a pat on the back for the culturally enriching experience they’d help facilitate. And drink beer. If we’re going to teach these kids about diplomatic relations, what’s the difference between doing it at the Greek Embassy, or at a Greek restaurant? After all, a handshake is a handshake, and world leaders have done a lot worse for themselves over the years than make important international relations decisions at a cafe next to orthopedic shoes.

**This one goes out to J Love.