A magic staycation

Nathan and I had a little staycation in Dubai this weekend. I had seen that the Swedish magician Joe Labero was having a few magic shows there, and after we had bought tickets to the show, we also decided to stay over in the same hotel where the show was.
We were lucky to get upgraded to a larger corner room!

Before the show we went for dinner:

And then it was time for the show, which was held in the Speak-Easy bar at the hotel. Only about 30-35 people fit into the room, so it was rather intimate.

We weren't allowed to take photos or film during the show, but Nathan ended up taking part in the show during one of the tricks, which was really fun.

I got a bit emotional at times, because many of the illusions he did were the same as my Dad used to do. Also, it had been quite a while since the last "last-day-of-summer-holiday-magic-show" (the magic shows my Dad would do for the kids every summer) and seeing my Dad do magic. But the memories came flooding back, with each familiar trick.

Sure, his sleight-of-hand wasn't the sharpest, and the humour was full of "Dad-jokes" (that Nathan appreciated more than me to be honest), but he created a fun atmosphere and we were certainly entertained and left smiling.

We enjoyed some room service before checking out and driving back home to Abu Dhabi. A nice little break!

A belated birthday excursion

A day late I was off to celebrate my birthday a little bit further, I guess this year it will be a little bit more spread out!
We went to Al Qana and had sushi in the sunshine, with Tash and Hannah.

We also went to discover the newest attraction here in the capital, the Butterfly Gardens.

Two climate-controlled domes have been built next to the National Aquarium here in Al Qana, and Asian dome and an American dome with two different biomes.

Butterflies move freely through the domes, they were fluttering around and occasionally settled on us. Especially Nathan seemed to attract them!

There are more than 10,000 butterflies in these domes. So many butterflies, so many colours, so much fluttering!

This raised walkway took us up and around the dome. Good views from here, of all the butterflies, and of the animals that also lived in the domes.

A Palawan bearcat and a sloth:

A Sri Lankan giant squirrel:

A koi pond:

This Butterfly Gardens gives ample opportunity to learn all about the butterflies. Here is the emergence chamber, where butterflies begin their life cycle. Look at all these cocoons!

A nice little visit.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Since it was my birthday, it was also Lucas' birthday of course! Hourray! 22!
It is still strange not to celebrate it together anymore. Instead Lucas is deeply involved in the Danish birthday traditions of the Juhl family, and got woken up with flag waving and singing early early, before everyone was off to work.

He received his birthday gift already a couple of weeks ago, as it was a combined Christmas and birthday gift, from both us and Thomas - a drum set.

 
Lucas got further celebrated throughout the day. His friend Simon had treated him to a Michelin lunch, and in the evening parts of the large Juhl family took him out for Vietnamese. I'm glad he has so many people around him caring about him, when we could not be there.

Happy Birthday to me!

This week it was also my birthday, although it fell a bit under the radar because of the Picasso opening. I knew I was going to work, so no surprise that I wouldn't be celebrating on the day.
But since I was doing the evening event, I started late so could at least have a lovely morning with Nathan before shooting off to work.

I got woken up with coffee and balloons, and gifts!

And of course, confetti and the birthday banner - and a pancake breakfast! Love!

After a lovely morning, it was time to suit up and go to work. Well, I didn't mind, as I came to work for a really fun event! Further celebrations tomorrow instead.

Picasso, the Figure

This week it was time to open the latest temporary exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a highly anticipated exhibition - Picasso, The Figure.

I was doing both the VIP Opening on Monday, and the Members Preview on Tuesday. I was excited because the last exhibition I opened was the Post-Impressionism and that was so much fun. I was also rather nervous, because - well, Picasso! But nerves are good, keeps you sharp!

This exhibition offers a journey through Picasso's work centered on the question on figure. It explores how Picasso all throughout his life continued to to reinvent representation and expression.

Using a narrative linked by the ancestral world heritage of myths, it is structured into five thematic sections; from the emergency of Cubism, through his return to classicism, via his fascination with metamorphosis to his sculptural biomorphic figures and his restless figures of his final years.

It ends with a room full of Picasso's later works, showing the Picasso canon, my favourite section.

I was doing the VIP Opening together with Vivien and Termy, the dream team for the evening!
Apparently there was a record attendance for this opening, which bodes well for future interest in tours!

On Tuesday it was the Members Preview with Termy and myself. We had dressed for the occasion, very on brand!
I had bought us these t-shirts from Uniqlo already early last year, when we knew this exhibition was coming. Kathleen also got one for her birthday, but unfortunately she is still in Belgium.

The Members Preview night meant that I did three tours back-to-back. It is actually rather good, because it helps to consolidate all the information and fine-tune the tour.

Now I am ready, bring on all the Picasso tours!

Galette des Rois celebration

The Galette des Rois is part of a very French celebration held in January to celebrate Epiphany. Today we were all invited to take part in this celebration at work, and crown some Kings and Queens!

A beautifully golden set-up with an abundance of Galettes des Rois. What a spread!
This is a favourite cake of mine, French puff pastry filled with almond cream, mmm! It was absolutely delicious.

A lovely mix of cultures, with the galettes and the luqaimat (an iconic Emirati dessert, sweet dumplings) side by side!

Traditionally a small porcelain figure, a fève, is baked inside each galette, and the person who finds it gets to wear the crown, and will get good fortune for the year ahead. Termy was one of the winners!

Parts of the Education team getting ready to enjoy some cake!

Back to normal

So, I sent Mum home early Thursday morning. She was a bit anxious about traveling on her own, but at least she was in Business Class, so traveling very comfortably from here to Copenhagen to start with. 
They had warned for snow and traffic disruptions on all the trains in South-West Sweden, but all her three (!) train trips went without a hitch. 
It took her most of the day, but she got home no problem, and the house was still standing, so all good!

Now she has done the trip once, it will be easier next time.

I was back at work straight away, no time to loose. We have the Picasso opening in only two weeks, so lots of work ahead!

The Abrahamic Family House

For Mormors last cultural visit this time we drove up to the Abrahamic Family House. I hadn't been for a while here either and discovered the entrance procedure had become a bit more complicated, but we mangaged! We also managed to arrive just in time of one of their guided tours.

 

You can only do tours here with their in-house guides, and this time we had a really good one who ended up giving us a very thorough tour.

The views are now clear from building cranes as the new museums have finally been completed. So with blue skies like today, you get vistas like this.

A nice little trip to end Mormors visit for this time.