Oh and I should say my Dad was right. I went to the National Gallery on Monday as well as the cathedral (Chris has waaaaay more stamina than me! he would have kept going too but I sat down and wouldn't move :-) ) The entrance hall of the gallery has these massive, gorgeous black marble pillars. They feel actually like the room should be much higher or taller since they are so large in diameter. It was difficult to photograph, but here you go...

In my opinion, the collection itself does not compare to the National Gallery in London, the Met in NYC or say the Louvre. There was a lot there (and more I'm sure as the other building was closed for renovations) but it seemed like they had copies of things everyone else had - Rodin's The Thinker, Degas' Young Dancer, etc. but at least it was a little less random than some of the other Smithsonians have proven to be.

For anyone keeping track, that's 7 Smithsonians down, 12 to go. 7.5 if you count the outside sculpture gardens...