Festive Game Night

Tonight it was time for our last Game Night before the holidays and as it was my turn to host, I promised the girls I would decorate for Christmas. So yesterday, all the Christmas decorations were brought out! It felt early as it's not even the 1st of Advent yet; but then again that's so late this year, so why not!

We started the evening with a Christmas tree shaped cheese board and some festive drinks on the balcony.

I also had set the table extra festive, although the menu was not very Christmassy. We had mushroom risotto with ruccola and parmesan, and lemon beans. Very yummy! I had made a gingerbread kladdkaka for dessert though, so a little bit Christmassy I guess!

We played a new game, about cats... a little bit too complicated for our lot! I think we go back to Mexican Train or Encore next time!

Art Here 2023

November is a busy month in Abu Dhabi, with many events going on across the city. It has also been busy at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, with the Cartier exhibition opening, and also - Art Here 2023.
It's the third edition of the Art Here competition, and this year the installations have been made outside, under the dome.

This year, the theme is 'Transparencies', and the seven shortlisted artists are exploring the dynamics of transparency as well as its material and perceptual significance. Each artist presents their unique interpretation of the thematic, through various mediums.

Zarah Al Ghamdi is using twisted tree limbs, plastic waste, bones and debris for her Antropocene's Toll: A Planet Asphyxiated:

These three stained-glass panels are depicting the streets and boundaries of Al Khuzama in Riyadh. It's called Remember to Forget, and it's by Alaa Tarabzouni.

Hiya (She) by Farah Behbehani pays homage to a 10th century Syrian Muslim woman astronomer:

Hashel Al Lamki's Foraminifera:

Flesh Memory, fabricated in biomaterial made of algae (and unfortunately already broken and under maintenance) by Sarah Brahim:

This is Softbank, by Nabla Yahya, where she uses a three-dimensional cartographic representation of the Suez Canal:

My favourite is this one though, Waterdust, by siblings Sawsan and Bahar Al Bahar. These glass sculptures blend in so beautifully with the Damascus fountain, and I am so attracted to the shapes and colours:

The exhibition is ongoing until 18 February 2024, and the winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize will be named in early 2024.

Pitlane Walk

We've almost lived here 10 years, and I still haven't really been to the F1 properly. I went to the Saturday Family day back in 2019, but that's about it. So this year I thought, time at least to go do the Pit Walk.
I tagged along with Linda, her sister and nephew.

So now I have done it. But no, I will not do it again.
I couldn't see the point of it at all, unless you are a die hard F1 fan. Way too much queuing and way too many people for my liking. Plus, it was a really hot day, so we suffered a bit in the queues where there was no shade.

The crews in the pits looked a bit like they were just there putting on a show for the by-passers. Making a little bit of noise here and there with a screwdriver or tyre pressure machine, revving an engine or just walking about looking important.
Some pits were more popular than others, obviously, so this is all I saw of Lewis Hamilton, ha ha, just other people taking photos and movies:

Same at Verstappen's corner:

You get a good view of the track of course, but for someone who lives here and can go and walk the track, or cycle around it at the TrainYas anytime, this was not really a drawing point for me.

Ah well, now I've done it. There you go.
Maybe next year I'll even try go see the race final..!

Bling-bling!

I came back to work right into the big opening week for the latest temporary exhibition - Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design. 
Since I had been away during the last training sessions pre-opening, I wasn't comfortable delivering the opening tours this time, instead I just got to enjoy it, in all its glittery glory!

This exhibition tells the story of over 100 years of sparkling cultural exchange. A story, as it also shows, that is far from over! Well suited to fit in with the narrative of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It brings together over 400 objects, including pieces of jewellery, pieces of Islamic art, archival drawings, various documents and lots of pieces in between.

The curators have reconstructed the creative process of the designers of the early 20th century Cartier jewellery by doing an enormous almost archeological work digging through the Cartier archives to be able to juxtapose the pieces with their source of inspiration. Like here below:

In the same fashion, the studies for this Oriental Bandeau from 1911, show the various stages of development for this bandeau; where you can see that the first traces came from a wave motif, likely inspired by the depiction of water in a Persian carpet, in a book from the Cartier library:

The exhibition explores the many different ways this new inspiration came into the Cartier workshops, from the Islamic items that came to Paris at the time, when merchants, dealers and collectors started obtaining a large number of art works; from the Parisian museums, focusing for the first time on Islamic art; and from the new books on the subject, many who found their way into Jacques Cartier's private library.
Below you can see one of the many scrapbooks the designers created:

This tiara from 1912, made on special order for a Russian philanthropist initially and now in the Cartier Collection; has calligraphy carved into the rock crystal, borrowed from the Arabic repertoires of motifs.

Lots of beautiful pieces, and quite a few with interesting back stories as well. Like this early 20th century garland style platinum choker from the Cartier Collection, that was worn by Rihanna on a famous magazine cover in 2016.

Or this brooch that once belonged to Elton John:

And a stunning necklace belonging to the collection of Sheikha bin Khalifa of Qatar:

An amazing Coral Bandeau from 1922 is shown together with a cleverly designed projection, that in extreme magnification immerses you in its construction. Super cool!

The Tiger Eye turban ornament from 1937, on loan from the Al Thani Collection.
This has an amazing and extremely unique whisky coloured diamond in the center, of 61,5 carat; and it is set with a highly unusual feature - the central diamond can be completely released! It seems like the maharaja enjoyed taking it out, to hold it and study it under different lights, just for the pleasure of it. Like a true collector he would admire all his gems, even when alone.

This was just a first taste. I'm sure I'll be taking (and showing) many more pictures in the weeks to come!

Returning to Abu Dhabi

I was lucky enough to get entry to the lounge in Rome on the way home. Lush!

Etihad is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, so the onboard kit and menu was a limited edition. I liked the little images on the menu!

Our flight was amongst the last ones that landed in the old terminal, since the change-over to the new Terminal A was about to become complete. It was landing in a ghost town, as no passengers were waiting to fly out, no shops were open and everything was barricaded shut. Weird feeling.

Florence souvenirs! Books, books and books of course - and a beautiful Christmas tree bauble in the shape of the Duomo.

Florence - Palazzo Pitti

On our last day, before we were going to take the train back to Rome, we walked across the Arlo to visit the Palazzo Pitti. Although this palace still bears the name of its original owner, it is mostly known as the residence of the Medici family. Napoleon also used this palace as his Florentine residence during his reign over Italy.
Today it contains a huge collection of art, one of the world's best selections of Rapahaels and Titians.

Even at Palazzo Pitti we saw some temporary work from Joana Vasconcelos, here in the Sala Bianca, with its impressive glass chandeliers.

And also in The Bona Room, Vasconcelos displayed a surprising reinterpretation of the Christian 'Holy Family' theme.

There is impressive artwork to be found in every corner of these galleries.

Fascinating orientalist paintings.

Giovanni Boldini:

Elizabeth Chaplin:

And we found a painting by Rudolf Levy from 1941-42 entitled Fiamma (=flame). Supposedly the model was a Swedish girl, but no more information was left about her on the label other than that they had met in Florence.

Endless rooms and corridors here as well, with artwork covering every inch of each room, from floor to ceiling.

It was quite rugged weather once we got outside again, and the rain had started so we skipped visiting the Boboli Gardens. Just grabbed a few quick photos of the view. Selfie time!

In front of the amphitheater:

 

View of the city: