The JimAnna Chronicles

Next stop was the Finnish capital, Helsinki.   This is the Sibelius Monument, or the “Love of Music.”  It’s an abstract work of 600 pipes (like a pipe organ) to commemorate Finland’s greatest composer, Jean Sibelius.  Apparently, the artist only wanted to include the pipes as a monument to the composer, but critics forced her [...]

After Olso, we headed to the furthest Northern point we’ve ever been … inside the Arctic Circle in Norway, and it was very beautiful and well worth the trip.  Although when we first arrived, it threatened to be overcast most of the time, the sun eventually come out.     We based ourselves out of [...]

Over the summer we took a little trip to Scandinavia…  We began our voyage in Olso.  The Norweigan capital was still reeling from the tragedy of the mass murder by a domestic terrorist.     The juxtaposition and symbolism struck me…   One of our first stops was the Norwegian Folk Museum.  This is very [...]

When you think of Provence, does lavender come to mind?  It’s mythic here.  Although it was only introduced to the region in the 1920s, it’s become synonymous with Provence.  When it’s in bloom, it is an impressive site.  Although there are fields near our house, the best we’ve found are in the hill towns of [...]

Well, although this is really late, below are the images from Alexander’s first birthday party … back in June.  I have upgraded my photo processing software (thanks, Julie) and hopefully will be slightly more prompt with my posts.  Time will tell.    Also, a big thanks to René who was kind enough to take pictures [...]

Back in June (where does the time GO???), we took a short trip to another great wine region … with lots of interesting history and architecture to boot.  It was of course to the iconic Tuscan region. In fact, the trip location was somewhat inspired by a book we read:  “Too Much Tuscan Sun” by [...]