Essentially, the day (April 9th) is a chance to celebrate and experience unique/obscure things that are close to home, but that you’ve probably never done before.

I searched around and found an Obsucra event at the National Basilica in DC.

I’d never been and had no idea that it’s the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and the fifth largest in the world.

The interior is impressive to say the least; 70 countries have private chapels and between marble floors and columns, mosaic-tiled domes and the largest collection of ecclesiastical art in the world, there’s no shortage of things to look at.

Anyone can visit the Basilica and take a tour, but very few people get to tour the upper balcony or a private demo of the Basilica’s massive organ.

That’s exactly what I got to do!

Our tour guide was the boisterous and very proud Penn State grad Sal Mazucka.  He’d attended the church since childhood and knew every last detail about the place, although his abrasive personality seemed a strange fit for a docent in a place of worship.

He ran a tight ship while filing us around the general tour route before loading us into a small elevator and pressing the up arrow.

While the balcony level houses the organ, it is primarily used for storage.

Comprised of twisting hallways, open balconies and snaking bundles of lighting and sound wiring, the balcony provides a rarely seen view of the Basilica.

The group was given a private demo of how the organ, and its 9,393 pipes, works.  Its incredibly complicated!

Between petals, keys, pulls, buttons, stops and gauges its no wonder that perfecting the craft take years.

We were told that only a handful of members of the public are granted access to the balcony every year and I feel lucky to one of them for 2011!

*The National Basilica hosts several organ recitals during the year.  Its definitely worth checking out if you’re in DC!