I am happy to report to those of you who were wondering that I did, in fact, get to eat some nice European delicacies at Saturday’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the E.U.

The best food came at my first stop — Cyprus — where they had an almond brittle, a coconut-filled date (yum!), some jellied grape juice thing, and cheese. I brought home two recipe booklets for their cheese, which I figure I might be able to find at the local Whole Paycheck.

I also got to snack in Bulgaria, where they were serving their homemade yogurt, as well as some other hors d’oeuvres. They also had a display of posters of old maps showing how the borders of their country (as well as the names of their cities) have changed over time. I overheard one man suggest that perhaps they had an inferiority complex as it seemed like they were trying too hard to convince us they existed. The best part of visiting their embassy was that they had a folk band to entertain the crowd that snaked down a whole city block. They were also kind and brought us bottled water to drink as we waited in the muggy heat.

In between those two embassies, I hit Luxembourg because their line seemed to be moving briskly. Once inside, it was obvious why because they didn’t really have a lot to offer, other than a few brochures that seemed to promote their hedge funds. They did have some nice paintings of birches in their living room and the ceiling in the dining room had insets painted different colors. (Mum, something to consider for your dining room?)

The last embassy for the day was the Netherlands, which Rudi joined me for. Holland offered us a glimpse at some nice artwork, including a van Gogh. They were schedule to close for the day shortly after we arrived, so it was not a big surprise that the cookies were gone before we came back downstairs.

So we headed to Georgetown to Leopold’s, a German/Austrian restaurant tucked into Cady Alley, to fill our European food fix. Rudi had cheesecake and a beer and I opted for an apricot and cherry torte and an elderberry pressé.

I hope embassies take the success of this event under advisement and open their doors to the public more often. I’d love to visit some other countries to see what they have to offer (and to eat).