Athenians Halloween Party

The London Athenians (Toastmasters) celebrated Halloween at our house.

Mahin did most of the cooking (only some starters are shown) for a splendid many-course dinner with help from Anne and Kate.

Karen told our fortunes, Kimra and Keith told scary stories, and we all learned amazing things about each other by playing the "factoid" game.



Some people stayed alive and alert longer than others but we all had a wonderful time!

Allaire State Park Halloween Hayride

This picture from the Allaire State Park website was obviously taken in daylight but they were a lot scarier at night. My cousin Nancy is president of the Allaire Village Association and urged us to go on the hayride only when it was dark. We heard people screaming because they were being tanned, a little girl ran after us crying for her mommy, dead spirits of iron workers killed in an accident followed us and touched us (really creepy) and our driver shot a werewolf that was chasing us. After this very scary ride, we were entertained by a story teller and later by two witches who prepared a special brew.

New Jersey Shore

Ardis picked us up from Toms River on Wednesday night and we stayed with her at her brother's home in Brick. We spent Thursday and Friday walking on the beach, driving by Nana's house, eating fish and more fish, and enjoying a Hoffman's Ice Cream (I had to take a picture of this "small" cup and cone because people in the UK won't believe it).

On Thursday night, we met Ken, Kathy (lovely home), Nancy and Stanley for dinner at Maria's in Manasquan.

Raj, Bonnie and Priya drove down Saturday morning . After settling in (the home in Brick sleeps 11!), we all headed out to Nancy's in Bayville. We enjoyed a fantastically large lunch before most of us went out on Barnegat Bay with Captain Stanley. If anyone doesn't believe in global warming, you need to see the amazing picture of Ardis, Kris and Priya swimming in the ocean just before Halloween. We gave one last hug goodbye to lovebug Holly before we headed out to Allaire Village for a scary night (another post).

On Sunday, after Priya finished studying her Greek, we went for lunch at the Pilot House after which Raj, Bonnie, and Priya drove us back to the airport.

Tea at Brown Palace Hotel in Historic Denver

We enjoyed an elegant tea at the historic Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. This hotel was built by Henry C. Brown in 1892 and is the 2nd oldest hotel in Denver. The 2800 feet of stained glass shown is 8 stories above our head and is original. The lobby with its mexican onyx stone and tiers of cast iron balconies is beautiful. Rae Ann and I had a great time catching up in this amazing setting.

V&A Art of Lee Miller & Golden Age of Couture

I LOVED the Lee Miller exhibit. Lee Miller is the sort of woman you would think lived a live of "pure magic". She was a beautifully photogenic model, an actress, intelligent, an accomplished photographer who discovered "solarisation" (a way of reversing tones e.g., transforming highlights into blacks) with Man Ray, and a respected WW II photoessayist for Vogue. And yet, we don't always know a person's whole story. Lee was raped at age 7 by a family friend, contracted gonorrhea, and suffered years of horrible invasive treatments (this was pre-penicillin). There were other things she endured as a child. She had one son as her career was winding down and she was not a nurturing (to say the least) mother. However, it was this son who saved her life work so we can enjoy it today.

The Golden Age of Couture exhibit was pure fun. There was a timeline for all of the big name designers. Cindy pointed out that Coco Chanel's timeline disappeared for some time when she was "shunned" for having "relationships" with Germans during the Paris occupation.

London Open House Weekend with Richmond Arts Link

During London Open House Weekend, the doors to over 700 buildings of architectural interest are opened to the public. Richard from the Richmond Arts Link (http://www.artslink.org.uk/) led a group of us on a tour that started at Baron's Court Station (itself a Grade II listed building) and included three Open House buildings with tours.

We walked through the Hammersmith Cemetary (opened in 1869) to reach Voysey Studio, now a Hungarian Reformed Church (the very nice minister sold us much needed coffee and cookies). According to the Voysey Studio Restoration website, C.F.A. Voysey was one of the leading architects of the Arts and Craft Movement in Britain during the late Nineteenth Century. Voysey Studio is one of his first and best buildings, designed in 1891 for the artist W.E.F.Britten and completed in 1892. Our tour guide pointed out the silhouette on the wooden overhang over the front door.

Our next visit was to the Richard Rogers Partnership, an architectural firm responsible for such buildings as Centre Pompidou, Lloyd’s of London headquarters and the Millennium Dome. We were given a comprehensive tour that showed how architectureal firms work. The people who showed us how to build the models were especially memorable. The only pictures I took here were of the former Harrod's Depot across the Thames, now Harrod's Village (where we almost chose to live).

After lunch at the Crabtree Pub, Richard pointed out sights along the river such as Bishop's Park, Craven Cottage (1880) which is home to the Fulham Football Club, and an odd boat on the river.

Our first sight at the Hurlingham Club was a black swan. The manager took us for an extensive tour around the grounds. We also admired the interior of several buildings and I took a picture of one especially exquisite embroidered scene. We learned that the last new member had been on the waiting list for 17 years.

Richard directed us to the nearest tube station. This was a great day at a perfect pace.

Oslo - Walking Tour Back to the Ship

In the afternoon, we took a walking tour of Oslo which included the Town Hall (opened in 1950), Royal Palace, University, Parliament, famous mural (with Munch & Ibsen) in the Grand Hotel / Café, and a Church.

We stopped to check e-mail in the Central Train Station (very cheap but 90 minute minimum) before heading on to Akerhus Castle and the Resistance Museum

We enjoyed one last sculpture before boarding the ship.

Oslo - Princess Docks, Vigeland Sculpture Park, Kon-Tiki & Fram Museums by Ferry

The Star Princess docks very close to town in Oslo and you get another view about how large this ship is. The straight-on view made me feel part of a horror movie where the ship is moving in to crush the crowd-filled dock.

Our mission was to get off the ship, buy our Oslo Pass and get to the Vigeland Sculpture Park before the crowds. The park features 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland (wikipedia). We took pictures of almost every one but have included only a sampling.

As the crowds arrived, we set off in search of the ferry to take us to the Kon-Tiki and Fram museums. The sunny and glorious day made the ferry trip itself a great outing.

We had all read about Thor Heyerdahl and his Kon-Tiki voyage as children but Thor's other explorations were more far-reaching than I ever would have guessed. The Fram Museum, named after the most famous polarship, celebrates polar (North and South) explorers - especially Norwegian polar explorers. Both museums were fascinating.