The Watson Airport Shuttle service

The past few weeks the Watson Airport Shuttle has been very busy!
Not only was Pia here in the beginning of October and she came back again on Friday for another week. 

A little over a week ago I was at the airport FIVE times, during the course of five days! I picked up and dropped off Anna, picked up Linnea, and also picked up - and dropped off - this one after a very short visit:

Lucas' friend Simon was on his way to Sydney, and had a 14 hour layover here in Abu Dhabi. Staying at the airport all night wouldn't have been tiresome for him, so instead I picked him up and brought him here. He got fed and watered and got to sleep in a bed and have a shower before it was time for the next long flight down-under. 

After Pia goes home on Sunday, we have a few weeks break from visitors before the next lot arrives though!

All Saints Day

On the weekend it was All Saints Day, and I know that traditions around this day vary widely across different countries. In Sweden, families honour their lost ones by visiting cemeteries, decorating the graves and lighting candles. 
My Mum sent me these photos from back home. I found them so beautiful. The atmosphere is somber and serene, but communal, and the whole cemetery is glowing and peaceful. 

I was so happy that Dad's headstone was done so fast so that it was in place for this holiday. Mum had tended to his resting place, brought a lantern and planted some winter flowers, it really looks beautiful. ❤️

Birthday dinner

We celebrated Linnea and her 20 years down here in Abu Dhabi as well. It was a more modest celebration, but with some of her favourites; like a Cinnabon (with candles to blow!) for dessert one evening:

... and a snazzy dinner at Asia Asia on her last evening. Sushi has always been her go-to food, so that was almost a given when she got to choose where to go. 

 

Asia Asia is always a hit, such tasty food!

We brought Will, again ha ha! Well, he is part of the family!

Linnea and I had their Lemon Pavlova for dessert, divine.

Tonight she is off back home to Sweden again after her little break. It's been so nice to have her here and fortunately it's not long before she's back for Christmas.

Art Here 2025

Louvre Abu Dhabi has also inaugurated the 5th edition of 'Art Here', to celebrate contemporary art in the region. This time on the theme of Shadows. For each edition the invitation has been extended further and further away, so this year the artists are coming not only from the GCC but also from Japan. 
Out of over 400 submissions, 6 artworks (by 7 artists, one is done by a duo) are competing this season. 

I really liked these artworks, and the fact that they are once again displayed outside and interacting with the architecture. I took the following photos in the daytime, but considering the theme is Shadows, I believe the artworks come even more to their right during the evenings. I will have to stay late one day and see!

Tree Studies, by Hamra Abbas from Pakistan. Beautifully colourful artwork made out of cut stones of lapis lazuli, and marble.

I remember. A light, by Palestinian artist Ahmed Al Aqra. Like a library of frozen memories!

Skadw by Riouchi Kurokawa, from Japan. This is actually a 16 minute long installation that involves sounds, lights and fog. It doesn't really come to its right through a photo.

Echo, by Emirati artist Jumairy. An artwork you are supposed to interact with, inspired by the myth of Echo and Narcissus.

A Sundial for the Night without End, by Rintero Fuse from Japan. This is placed on top of one of the buildings, on the viewing terrace. A poignant place for this artwork, with the beautiful views over the Saadiyat Cultural District.

Choreography of a cloud, dancing shadows, by the duo Yokome and Bouyad, from Japan and Morocco. I absolutely love this installation, love love love! So poetic!

Cardio is cute, but power is permanent

Yesterday I got to hang out with my friend Anna, for 24 hours. She had been invited to be a speaker at the GCC Menopause Summit in Dubai (go Anna!), so she had asked me to come along and support her at the summit. 
She flew in to Abu Dhabi and stayed over with us, and we drove up to Dubai together to the Summit.

We had decided to come mid-morning, as for Anna to network for a bit, and to be able to participate in some of the panels and the lunch. I was mostly there to support Anna, help her to film some content for her social media, take photos and just be her companion for the day.

Her own panel was not until late afternoon, so we were able to listen in on several of the others. All very interesting.

Anna did very well during her panel, so proud of her! It is so cool what she has accomplished with her Holistic Midlife business, she is really going from strength to strength at the moment, and is having a lot of success.

It was a nice day at the Summit, the best thing was getting to spend some time with Anna of course. We even had time to come back home and share some Thai food with Nathan, before it was time to bring her back to the airport again. Until next time!

A special gift

For Linnea's actual birthday, Mormor and I had left some small gifts in her room for her to open, even though she had got gifts in advance. I had bought her a Swedish table flag, as every household needs a table flag for celebrations, and some silver earrings, just to have something to open on her day.

Then Mormor and I had joined forces and made Linnea her own 'Happy Birthday/Ja må du leva'-banner, similar to the one I have always had displayed every birthday. You might have spotted it hung in her room, in the previous post. 

My one Mormor once made out of my old clothes, so it carries a lot of memories with it. This one would also turn out very special... We made it out of material left over after the dress that Mormor wore for our wedding, and out of material left over from the bridesmaids dresses. And - out of some of Morfar's old shirts. ♥︎ 

It turned out so lovely!

Happy 20th!!!

Linnea's actual birthday fell on a Tuesday. She has always loved her birthdays, and had expressed that it felt a bit weird having her birthday without us for the first time. Last year she even delayed her departure to London, just to be able to celebrate at home first.

We did celebrate her with Mormor and Morfar already back in August, and had promised her to celebrate her once she got home at the end of the week, but for her actual birthday she was at school.

I had been in touch with her closest friends and sorted out a cake for her, so they surprised her with that after school (the day before). They had also decided that Agnes and Amanda were going to sleep over in Linnea's room, so that they were there for her birthday morning, which was nice.

The girls made her go to Systembolaget for her first purchase. One cider, ha ha!

Tuesday night Linnea, the girls and Hugo went down to Malmö to meet up with Lucas for a birthday dinner. She had also invited Emma and Sofie, and Emma came along with her girlfriend Frida. 

They had some Italian for dinner, and then they went and played bowling before returning to Svalöv. 
Sounds like a good birthday to me, and the text I got from Linnea the following day says it all..! Every birthday is the best ever with our girl!

Mamluks, Legacy of an Empire

Coming back to work much later than normally this year, a new exhibition had already premiered at the museum in the middle of September, 'Mamluks, Legacy of an Empire'. 

This will be one that I actually will not be delivering. The first one ever that I skip! As I haven't been there for any of the training sessions, reading circles, curatorial walk-throughs etc, it would be impossible to catch up on the studying.

This exhibition is about the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517), and it is the first in forty years to be devoted to this dynasty. 

The Mamluks were enslaved soldiers who seized power in Egypt and the Greater Syria after overthrowing the Ayyubid dynasty they once served. For the nearly 250 years that followed, the medieval West Asia enjoyed a golden age under the Mamluk rule. There are many masterpieces in the exhibition, left by the Mamluks to testify to the power and patronage of its leaders. 

The exhibition fits perfectly into the universal approach of the museum by providing a new and broader view of this period, from a more global perspective. It goes beyond the traditional focus on the military elite and reveals the complex and multifaceted Malmuk society as a whole. 

It's another beautiful exhibition.

October celebrations

Came back to Abu Dhabi and right into a socially busy week. Pia came just two days after I returned, and while she was here we celebrated both Kanelbullens Dag and Linda's birthday.

The SwedishLadies had made Cinnamon Bun Day a family affair this year as it happened on a Saturday. So husbands and kids were also invited, and a group of baking ladies had made hundreds of cinnamon buns! What a feast!

Then on Monday we went down to a new (well, at least to me, I don't get out much) restaurant in Yas Marina to celebrate Linda together with a smaller group of Swedish girls.

Hipp hurray for Linda!

ID-travel

Finally time for me to return home to Abu Dhabi, I had to travel stand by as I couldn't get a firm seat. It didn't look that good on my first try, but I still went across to the airport as Lucas was coming in on the flight I was hoping to get home on. 
So at least we got to hang out for a bit, have a coffee and a chat.

I didn't get on that flight, but no matter, I returned to Pia's for the night and got to enjoy another day in the beautiful autumnal southern Sweden.

 Luckily the next day there were loads of seats, and I got home no problem.