England, November 22, 2009 (Day 7)

We arrived safely in London and Nick, Tina and Lillia picked us up from the airport. Tori wasn't able to come because she was at play rehearsal. It was great to see everyone but especially fabulous to see our goddaughter, Lillia. Since April, she has developed so much! Lillia calls me "Aun Aman" and Joe "Unc Joe." It is so cute to watch how much she loves Joe!!

For dinner we went to Zizzi's Pizza in Farnham (a nearby town). For dinner, Tina and I split the Quattro Formaggi pizza (gorgonzola, grana padano, goat’s cheese, mozzarella and tomato + artichokes) and the Ravioli di Capra (Golden pasta envelopes of goat’s cheese and spinach with a fresh Santos tomato sauce and pesto). They were both quite tasty. Joe had the Pizza Sofia done Rustica style (spicy chicken, pepperoni, roasted sausage, tomato, mozzarella. Devilishly topped with green chilli and fresh rosemary on a bigger, thinner, crispier crust).

While at dinner, we got to witness one of Lillia's amazing tasks: she can get Tina's iPhone, turn it on, put in the password, scroll screens until she finds the game she wants, click on the game and then proceed to play the game where she spells words like "cat," "duck," and "fox." I can't believe at not even 2 years old she can do this all by herself! Smart girl!!

Oslo, Norway, November 21, 2009 (Day 6) - Opera House

Oslo Opera House. For the Opera House three main materials were specified: White stone for the “carpet,” timber for the “Wave Wall,” and metal for the “Factory.” As work continued glass was introduced, allowing the underside of the “carpet” to be visible.

Walking roof at the Oslo Opera House. The marble clad roofscape forms a large public space in the landscape of the city and the fjord. The “Carpet” was a collaboration with artists Kristian Blystad, Kalle Grude and Jorunn Sannes. The architects chose the Italian marble, La Facciata, because it retains its brilliance and color even when wet. The surface treatment of the stone, its pattern, cuts and lifts, which create a shadow play, have been designed in close collaboration with the artists.

One enters the building under the lowest part of the roofscape where the ceiling meets the floor. Further into the foyer the roof is supported by four free standing volumes. The perforated, illuminated cladding of these volumes, by artist Olafur Eliasson, is inspired by glaciers and ice crystals.

View of the marble walkway from inside the Opera House

Oak was chosen as the dominating material for both the “Wave Wall’ and the main auditorium. For the “Wave Wall,” which has a complex organic geometry made up of joined cone shapes, it has a light and varied surface.

Oak, treated with ammonia to give a dark tone, was used in the auditorium for floors, walls, and ceilings, as well as balcony fronts, and acoustic reflectors. The main auditorium is a classic horseshoe shape designed for opera and ballet. It seats approximately 1,370 divided between stalls, parterre, and three balconies. The orchestra pit is highly flexible and can be adjusted in height and area with the use of three separate lifts.

The Snøhetta designed chandelier, suspended inside an oval reflector, is the main source of illumination in the auditorium. Made of 5,800 hand cast glass crystals, through which 800 LED lights shine, the chandelier gives off a cool diffused light.

The design of the metal cladding elements was a collaboration with Astrid Løvaas and Kirsten Wagle. Because the Opera House is designed to have a long life span the selection of the metal cladding was very important. Aluminum was selected because of aesthetics, longevity, malleability and the possibility of making very flat panels. The panels were punched with convex spherical segments and concave conical forms. The pattern developed by the artists was based on old weaving techniques. Eight different panels give a constantly changing effect depending on the angle, intensity and color of the light on them.

Ballet studio in the Oslo Opera House (the water is visible from the windows)

Painting studio at Oslo Opera House. They still mix all their pants by hand!

Joe standing outside the Oslo Opera House

Standing on the roof of the Oslo Opera House

Oslo, Norway, November 21, 2009 (Day 6)

Frognerseteren in Holmenkollen. Great day to see the view from the top!

Ampy, Sander, Amanda and Simon at Frognerseteren

Joe and Amanda at Frognerseteren

Frognerseteren

View of the fjords from Frognerseteren

Vigeland Sculpture Park is part of Frogner Park. There are 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. Shown here is the Wheel of Life, crafted in 1933-34. The wheel is more or less a wreath depicting four people and a baby floating in harmony. It is a symbol of eternity, and implies the overall theme of the park: man’s journey from the cradle to the grave.

The Monolith is composed of 121 human figures rising towards the sky. This is meant to represent man’s desire to become closer with the spiritual and divine. It portrays a feeling of togetherness as the human figures embrace one another as they are carried toward salvation.

The Monolith Plateau is a platform made of stairs that houses the Monolith totem itself. 36 figure groups reside on the elevation bringing with them the “circle of life” message. Man is depicted in a variety of typical human situations and relationships.

View of Frogner Park from the Monolith Plateau

Access to the Monolith Plateau is made via eight figural gates forged in wrought iron. The gates were designed between 1933 and 1937 and erected shortly after Vigeland died in 1943.

At the end of the 850-meter-long axis lies a sundial, forged in 1930

Oslo, Norway - November 20, 2009 (Day 5)

Today we enjoyed the Munch Museum where we saw another one of Munch's The Scream paintings as well as Madonna, Dance of Life, numerous self-portraits and many other fabulous works of art. My favorites though were paintings that I would not have initially even thought of as Munch paintings: his winter motifs and his winterscapes like Winter in Kragerø.

Winter, Kragero

The Scream

Dance of Life

Madonna

After the museum, Joe, Ampy and I went to Taste of China and had dim sum. The restaurant was in the "other" part of Oslo meaning the part of town that is more ethnically varied. The food was delicious and we really enjoyed lunch. After lunch, we went to the market to buy fresh vegetables and then the supermarket for other stuff.

Tonight we are going to relax, have homemade hamburgers, drink a little wine and hang about the house. What a lovely day!

Oslo, Norway - November 19, 2009 (Day 4)

Today we had another leisurely morning before going to The Viking Ship Museum and The National Gallery.

The The Viking Ship Museum displays the Viking Age Oseberg ship, the Gokstad ship and the Tune ship alongside sledges, beds, a (horse) cart, wood carving, tent components, buckets and other grave goods.

Joe in a Viking hat

Amanda and Joe in front of a Viking ship

Joe in front of one of the Viking ships

The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (The National Gallery) is the national museum of art of Norway. Among its collection is one of the versions of Edvard Munch's THe Scream. Besides many paintings by Munch, other Norwegian painters represented with paintings include Dahl, Gude, Arne Ekeland, Tidemand, Christian Krohg ("Albertine To See Police") and Lars Jorde ("Landscape, Jutland). Non-Norwegians with paintings in this art museum include Goyen, Bol, Pieter Elinga ("Letter Carrier"), Claude Monet ("Rainy Weather, Etretat"), Modigliani, Van Gaugh, Renoir, Cezanne and Gauguin. One of my favorite's was Winter Night in the Mountains by Harald Sohlberg.

Joe at University of Oslo

Amanda and Joe at University of Oslo

Amanda and Ampy on the way to The National Gallery

Amanda and Joe in the park near the Royal Palace

Bogstad Gård was the home of wealthy merchant and industrialist Peder Anker, and the count and countess Wedel Jarlsberg. It is a working farm that has animals, a play area for children, great walking trails, a historic park and exhibitions. We just walked a little on the grounds and went to the shop.

Last night we went to the Underwater Pub where on Tuesday and Thursday nights professional opera singers come and sing a few sets. We had a fun time and the singers were actually pretty good.