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 to add a bust of the man… which adds a striking contrast.

Inside the “Love of Music.”

It’s one of the most popular tourist sites…

As Rick Steves says, it’s a forest of pipes in a forest of pipes.

In Wisconsin, we have Frank Lloyd Wright’s House on the Rock.  Well, this is the Church in the Rock.  It was built in 1969 and blasted out of solid granite.  Underneath the church is an air raid shelter for 6,000 people.

The center of the roof, which is made up of 13 miles of copper coil.

A typical house.

The Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral (that’s Finnish Orthodox … answering to the patriarch in Istanbul).  The cathedral was built in 1868 for the Russian military… back when Finland was a part of Russia.  There are 12 onion shaped domes (in orthodox fashion) that represent the 12 apostles.

Food in Market Square.  Delicious and fresh.  I love street food.

Anchovies.  Yumm.

Grilled salmon with berries.  We tried this and it was spectacular.

This is the Three Blacksmiths Statue.  It was built in 1932 and although I can’t find an officially intended meaning, I would say it seems to capture the spirit of hard work and cooperation pretty well.  Those are of course good Finnish traits as well.

That wraps up our brief stay in Finland.  Next up, the land of ice…

Until then…

–Jim

We based ourselves out of Harstad in order to be able to access all the amazing natural wonders nearby.  This is Trondenes church and its claim to fame is that it’s the northern most medieval stone church in Norway.  It was preceded by a stave church (like the one we saw in Oslo), and this one was built in the 15th century (although there is claim that it was built in the 13th century).

We decided that since the town of Andenes is one of the best places to see sperm whales, we wanted to go out and look for Moby Dick ourselves.  Fortunately, our captain was no Ahab.  The crew aboard our Whale Safari was all about studying and learning from these immense animals, instead of hunting them.

Sperm whales are so named for the large amounts of spermaceti found in their head.  This fluid looks somewhat similar to sperm and was therefore initially mistaken as such.  However, the actual function of spermaceti is uncertain.

Although they aren’t as acrobatic as the humpback whale, these creatures of up to 20 meters (for males, at least), are certainly impressive.  On our trip, we encountered four of them.

Ironically, this sperm whale was called Ishmael.

In the land of the midnight sun, twilight has a great color.  This photo was taken at 9:30 PM on a coastal road that was simply breathtaking.

These beautiful flowers were in full bloom almost everywhere we went.

A typical Norwegian barn.  However with the Scandinavian influence in the Midwest (particularly Wisconsin), this could easily be an image from there too.

More of the wild coastal road.

The Lofoten Islands are some of the most spectacular in the world and one of the main reasons we chose this area to visit.  Here are handful of pictures from our time on the islands.

Quintessential.

Although it looks great in the summer, I’m not sure how I would feel living here in the eternal darkness of winter.

The fishing village of Henningsvær.

We drove to the tiny village of Eggum next.  On the way, we encountered some sheep who had taken over the roadway.  As you can see, they also marked their territory. 

The coastline was beautiful and the three of us took a hike out along the remote trail.

The landscape was a unique mix of alpine and maritime.

Markus Raetz sculpted this head to be seen in 16 different ways as you walk around it.  The idea is that everything is a matter of perspective.  I agree.

More sheep … and X preparing his attack.

I’m coming to get’cha!!!!

The village of Eggum with billows of clouds forming on the mountain top.

More views of the Lofoten Islands.

Another gorgeous sunset in an Arctic paradise.

That concludes our forray into the Arctic.  Next stop, Finland.

Until then…

–Jim

The juxtaposition and symbolism struck me…

One of our first stops was the Norwegian Folk Museum.  This is very similar to the folk museum we visited in Sweden.  There are 140 buildings gathered from around Norway in this open-air museum.  It was fascinating to wander through the spectrum of Norwegian architecture.

This is one of the highlights of the museum, the Stave Church.  It was built in the 12th century, with remodeling done in the 17th and 19th centuries.  The church was moved to its present location in the museum in 1884.

These are a couple of the stabbur, or raised store houses.

Alexander had fun on the slide.

A self portrait.

We also stopped by the Viking ship museum. This is a view of the Oseberg ship.  It was used in the 9th century by the Vikings.  In 834, it became a burial chamber for two women.  It was relatively common practice to equip the burial sites with everything that was thought to be needed in the after life.  As such, this ship also became an important source of Viking age artifacts.

This is the hull of the second intact Viking ship, the Gokstad.  This ship was also built in the 9th century, but slightly later than the Oseberg ship.  It’s an impressive ship… it’s built to be rapidly reconfigured for use with sails, oars and in deep and shallow water.  A replica of the ship sailed from Bergen in Northern Norway to Chicago (via the Great Lakes) in 1893.  Seeing a ship like this, it’s clear how the Vikings were able to reach North America, hundreds of years before Columbus “discovered” the Americas.

Anna with a sleeping Alexander on her back.

Perhaps our favorite park in Norway was the Vigeland Park, where the work of artist Gustav Vigeland is proudly displayed.  His works highlight the range of human emotion … in its purest forms, without the cover of clothing.  This is the world’s largest sculpture garden by a single artist.  It was executed between 1939-1949 by the artist himself.   There are over 200 sculptures included in this masterwork.

Even the iron gate is a work of art.

This is the monolith that is the center piece of the park, but more on that later.

As you might imagine, we liked this family sculpture.

As with this couple.

There are numerous couples and groups of people.  Not all were happy, and all had deep symbolic meaning.  Vigeland’s idea was to capture the whole range and we feel like he was very successful in doing so!

This is the monolith.  It’s a huge carving from a single block of granite.  There are 121 figures carved into the block and it stands a mighty 17.3 meters high.

A group of smiling girls in front of the monolith.

Some of the figures from the monolith.

This, to me, depicts the constant struggle of life.  We can help and hinder those near us, and the repercussions travel throughout the whole society.  Everything is interconnected.

The grounds of the park were quite beautiful.

A carefree girl in bronze.

Break free of the endless cycle of repetition.

We also took a little break from the sculptures to let Alexander explore by himself.  As you can see, he loved it.

Hey, what are you guys doing over there??

And with a little smile, he made a couple friends.  As you can see, he seems to be drawn to pretty girls.

Anna’s touching the Sinnataggen or the Angry Boy … apparently, the sculptor was depicting a young English lad in a particularly ill tempered moment.

After the park, we headed out to see the Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Ski Museum.  This is a view that the ski jumpers get right before they plunge head first down the steep ramp.  In the short amount of time it takes to reach the launch zone, the skiers have accelerated to about 95 km/hr (60 MPH).  Although the platform is only 3 meters high, they skiers can fly for about 4.5 seconds and can end up traveling another 130+ meters before touching the ground again.  Talk about a rush!

Looking back up the hill.

The steel ski jump with a K-spot of 120.

That completes the first leg of our journey… next up, into the Arctic Circle.

Until then…

–Jim

Alexander liked playing with the rocks and lavender.

We also had the opportunity to meet Nicolas’ parents whose house is in the area.  They have also trained their Jack Russel Terrier to hunt for truffles (AKA black gold and very tasty).  In the span of only a few minutes, the dog had found this HUGE truffle meters from their house.  Although it looks black, it’s apparently a white truffle.

Nicolas and the truffle for size reference.

Nicolas’ parents had outfitted their house for Amandine.  Alexander enjoyed the house too.

The little man with his sun hat.

Nicolas, Amandine, Alexander and Anna.  Alexander is wondering … what’s over there?  I want to go there.

The region around Sault … lavender fields strike a strong contrast with the rest of the fields.

Sault from a distance.

Did I mention Alex likes to play with rocks??

More lavender fields around Sault…

Essential to the health of the flowers, bees are a big part of the eco-system.  As a result, there are lots of beekeepers or apiarists in the area.  They offer tours and tastings like many wineries in the area.  The lavender honey is like ambrosia.

From the village of Sault.

The view from the village square.

The Nesques Gorge.

Anna enjoyed the spectacular gorge.

That finishes our short escapade in the lavender fields.

Until the next adventure.

–Jim

Also, a big thanks to René who was kind enough to take pictures and enabled Anna and I to enjoy the party.  Here is the birthday boy opening his first presents.  He kinda figured it out…

I don’t know if he’ll want to be a pilot when he grows up, but at least he has a place-mat to inspire him in the meantime.

A fun book to read.

Alex still loves his magnetic train.  Thanks, Daisy!

Alex, Juliette and Natalia all playing together.

Drinks from the party.  Don’t worry, we didn’t mix up the bottles for the kids.

Salome already looking the part of a French star.

Ludo, Amélie, Christine and Manu … with David and the girls playing bags in the background.

Happy Birthday to you, Alexander.

Trying to protect the candles from often-present wind.

Alex had a little help blowing out his candles.

Anna cooked a delicious red velvet cake, plus chocolate cookies for the occasion.

Nay, Natalia and her daddy blowing bubbles. Always a fun game.

Soooo good.

Yup, he shared the cake with me … of course, it wasn’t in my mouth, but it was very kind nonetheless.

So, that finishes the images from Alexander’s birthday party.  It was a fun, simple event with our friends.  Next time, we hope family can join too…

Until the next adventure.

–Jim

In fact, the trip location was somewhat inspired by a book we read:  “Too Much Tuscan Sun” by Dario Castagno.  Although it’s not for everyone, I found his book a humorous, easy read.  Dario’s a tour guide in Chianti and ardent supporter of his section of Sienna. The book gives a mix of local history, culture and customs with Dario’s experiences with anglophone tourists.  It’s the ugly American, (Brit or one of several other nationalities) as seen by an Italian.  Anyway, he spoke so passionately for Chianti and the regions wine (which I already knew I liked … Thanks, Kevin), we decided to base ourselves there for a few days.

But, on the way in, we had to stop by the (in)famous tower in Pisa.  Pisa also happens to be a city Dario detests.  Although we loved the green square with the tower, we didn’t find much else compelling about the city either.

Here’s the ultra-touristy shot we HAD to make.  Anna is so strong.

The Cathedral and Tower.

Alexander playing in the grass of the field in front of the tower.  The Tower was begun in the 12th century and completed in the 14th.  It looks beautiful today due to the ongoing cleaning and strengthening of the base.

He was coming to get me … or rather the camera I was holding.

The grass lawn in front was a definite plus.  We loved lounging in the shadow of such a historic monument.  It felt a little like the National Mall in Washington D.C. or the Champs de Mars by the Eiffel Tower.

Hey, what’s all that glass for??

A rare pause in his non-stop motion.

We happened to be there on Republic Day (the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946), so there was a military display, including parachutists.

The baptistry.

Anna and a very bald looking Alexander in Chianti.

The pool of the B&B where we stayed in Tuscany.

A sunset walk in the countryside.

A classic Tuscan farm house that’s being turned into a luxury property.

The Piazza del Campo in Siena.

It’s certainly one of the most impressive city squares we’ve visited in Europe.

The 13th century Duomo di Siena

The façade of the Siena Cathedral.

As you can see, we were not alone to see the beautiful interior.

The Duomo’s dome.

A very intricately decorated library whose frescoes tell the story of one of Siena’s favorite sons, Pope Pius II.

The effect is quite overwhelming.  They were painted at the end of the 15th century and early 16th century.  This was done about the same time as another Italian (from Genoa) was sailing to try and find a sea passage to Asia…

A pack of Vespas.

The Tuscan countryside with vines and rolling hills after a summer rain.

The view from my (current) favorite Italian wine town, Montalcino.  It is where the Brunello di Montalcino is grown, aged and bottled.  This wine is simply delicious.  Although we couldn’t try wine from every producer, similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we didn’t find a single one that wasn’t tasty.  That may be due to the fact that the wine is required to be aged in oak barrels for 24 months and in bottle 4 months before being released.  Highly recommended and worth the higher price.

More Sangiovese vines… all Brunellos are made with 100% of this varietal.

After Siena, we went north to visit the arch-rival city of Florence.  Although Florence is much larger and prosperous today, it was a one-time equal of Siena.  Dario’s books offer interesting commentary on the modern and historical implications of this rivalry.  This is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore or the Duomo di Florence, built over 140 years between 1296 and 1436.

The Palazzo Vecchio, which is currently the City Hall of Florence.

The Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge.  Looks like a great place to have a table, don’t you agree?

A view of the Arno River from the Ponte Vecchio.

Another view of the Ponte Vecchio.  After having been destroyed a couple times, it was rebuilt in 1345.  There have always been merchants selling their wares on the bridge.  During the 16th century, in order to pass above the fray, Cosimo I de’Medici had architect Vasari build a corridorto cross over unencumbered by the throngs below.  Cosimo I de’Medici was also the creator of the office building Uffizi, which is today one of the best art museums in the world.

The Duomo Dome from the roof of the Uffizi.

City Hall’s bell tower.

No, this is not multiple images stitched together.  There are really three roads this close.

David stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.  When Michelangelo sculpted David, he stood here from 1504 until 1873.  This is an exact replica that was erected in 1910.  The original David is in the Galleria dell’Accademia.  He is much bigger in person … standing over 5 meters tall.  Note that the giant killer’s right is exceptionally large … presumably a trait to better sling the stone.

That concludes our little trip to Tuscany.  Lots of art, history, beautiful countryside and of course, delicious wine.

Until the next adventure … hopefully coming very soon.

–Jim

All of this was leading up to wearing these.  The rank of second lieutenant.

Ok, on with the Thunderbird’s demonstration.

Coming in for a big climb with the sea of blue in the foreground.

The classic diamond, 4-ship formation.

Smoke on.

Pass in review.

A mirror?  Public relations?

A high-speed pass.  It was interesting seeing the differences between the USAF and French AF demo teams.  In fact, it was similar to this year’s Women’s World Cup.  The French are all about finesse and grace.  Americans tend to be more about power, energy and explosiveness.   These two aircraft were an example of that.

Standing on the engine.  Demonstrating a great thrust to weight ratio.

This is one of my favorites.  The 4-ship was going slow with gear down.  The solo came in with a lot of closure and goes right through the center.

Afterburner.

A high-g, max performance turn. Ouch.

Off they go.

Col Maïni, Manu, Maggie and me after the ceremony.

Col Maïni with this adorable little girl who’s the niece of a classmate of mine (Sam), and also related to a graduate from 2011.  It’s a small world … and much smaller Air Force.

The USAFA chapel.  At one point, this was the most popular man-made tourist attraction in the state of Colorado.  I don’t know if it still is (with the new security measures), but it’s still majestic … even for non-believers.

This is the cadet area, inside this big square (which is about 75% visible) is where I spent most of my four years here.

Col Maïni and Manu standing in front of the chapel.

Manu and I.

The B-24 memorial in the Honor Court.

The Tuskegee Airmen memorial.

A final image of the chapel.

And that does it for the trip to the US.  It was short and packed with things to do, but I had a good time.

Up next will be our quick trip down to Tuscany for my birthday.

Until then…

–Jim

The main event was of course the graduation ceremony (still one of the top 5 emotional events in my life).  So, watching the graduation ceremony really brought me back 10 years.  Simultaneously it felt like my graduation was yesterday and a lifetime ago.  Strange.

Here are the soon to be graduates of the USAFA Class of 2011.

Streaming out onto the field.

About 1,000 graduate from USAFA each year (a few less for my class ~876).

Not too bad on the alignment…  As I recall, there was only 1 practice.

Plenty of people were on hand for the ceremony.  As you can see the stadium was about half full which means that 20,000 people attended.

The Sea of Blue.  The rest of the Cadet Wing (about 3,000 cadets) attends to watch the graduating class receive their diplomas.

On stage is the USAFA Superintendent, Lt Gen Michael Gould.  He is joined by the other USAF leaders.  Behind them are the underclassmen from the outstanding cadet squadron for the year.

The Secretary of the Air Force, the Honorable Michael Donley, gave the commencement address.

Secretary Donley congratulating some very happy graduates.

Nancy and the Secretary exchanging a salute.  You may recall Nancy was one of the students who came to France last fall.

She’s now a second lieutenant and a USAFA graduate.

After they salute the Secretary (or President, or General, depending on the year), they salute the prior graduate who is waiting at the bottom of the ramp.

Then, share a smile, hug or something similar.

It’s a very happy moment.

Finding her way back to her seat, friends congratulated Nancy.

Yay!!!

Maggie shaking hands with the General, then waiting to salute the Secretary.

Maggie and the Secretary of the Air Force.

Well done, Maggie.

Picture perfect salutes.

Run, don’t walk.

Wow!  Can you believe it??!

I know EXACTLY how she’s feeling.

A USAFA diploma and Second Lieutenant Bars.  A great combination.

Toward the end of the ceremony, young kids are gathered in the end zone.  The tradition is that when the graduates are dismissed and throw their hats in the air, it’s bad luck to retrieve it.  So, kids are brought on the field to pick up the hats as a souvenir.  Also, many graduates tape the number of cents of their graduation year (e.g. 2011 = $20.11 or 2001 = $20.01).  So, it adds a nice little present for the lucky child who picks up the hat.

Taking the oath of officer to officially & finally become second lieutenants.  You can see the one guy who wasn’t wearing his white gloves is wearing his class ring.  The wearing of a class ring was started by West Point in the mid-nineteenth century.  It has since permeated to all the service academies.  It’s required for all graduates to have a ring (although there’s no requirement to wear it).

The Air Force Band playing the Air Force Song.

Class of 2011, you are dismissed!

Do you think they’re happy??

Woo hoo!!

The kids waiting for a chance at a hat (and maybe some money).

Well, that covers the graduation ceremony.  At the same time the graduates threw their hats in the air, the Thunderbirds (the USAF aerial demonstration team) roared overhead.  It’s a great exclamation point on the ceremony.  I remember my family telling me how surprised they were.  I hadn’t told them what to expect and the Thuderbirds fly by in afterburner which really shakes things up.

So, up next, I have a bunch of images from the airshow that followed.

Until then…

–Jim

After spending the better part of 5 years in Colorado, I came to appreciate the landscape … and consequently miss it now.  So, it was great to be back.

The clouds were fascinating as we were in between snow showers…

Colonel Maïni and Manu.  We were scheduled to take the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak, but unfortunately, one of the trains derailed (no one was hurt), so our train was canceled.  Instead, we hopped back in the car and took the toll road as far as we could go.  Unfortunately, the very top was still snowed in, but as you can see, we were able to make it above tree line.

Yep, there was still plenty of snow on the ground.

After the mountain, we headed back into the always colorful Manitou Springs.

I introduced them to the wonderful world of Ski-Ball and the magic of Pixie Stix.  It was turning out to be quite an American experience for them.  Although they had both been to the US numerous times, I enjoyed finding more quintessential (at least in my opinion) things to do and try.  We also sampled caramel corn and salt water taffy.

They both proved quite adept at Ski Ball.

Of course since they are French, and we all love wine, we headed to a great little wine bar, Swirl.  We had a great zinfindel and the owner/sommelier Sharon and I had a long conversation about the relative merits of Provençal Rosé.  Let’s just say we agree it’s very tasty. 

Dallas, Texas

I’m skipping ahead on our trip a little, but after Colorado, Manu and I headed down to Texas.  Since I don’t have many images from that part of the trip, I’m including them here.  We also had a long layover on the way in and we used the time to go to the 6th Floor Museum.  If you haven’t been, it’s the former warehouse from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy in 1961.  It’s definitely worth seeing if you’re in the area. This is President Kennedy’s memorial (about 2 block from the site of his assassination), the Big Red Museum which has the history of Dallas and Reunion Tower in the background.

Since the Dallas Mavericks were in the midst of the NBA playoffs and Manu had never been to an arena, we decided to stop in and check it out.  They were kind enough to let us in to have a peak around.  Even though there was no one, it was still impressive.

Finally, this is the image of the inside of a sculpture.  I liked the contrast in color.  The wide angle lens (10mm) provides plenty of both sky and painted metal.

That sums up this part of the trip.  Next up will be the US Air Force Academy graduation and USAFA’s grounds.

Until then…

–Jim

Another view from our front window.  Here you can see more of the spring green after a storm.

The poppy fields are a treat too.  Although there are lots of other fields of flowers (rapeseed, sunflower and of course lavender), this was the only one I was able to get out to capture.  So, the following images are from a late afternoon trip to a nearby poppy field (and one that I often pass on my way home). I don’t have a lot of commentary on these images, so I’ll let them speak for themselves.  One interesting fact about poppies though.  They are not cultivated here (or so I’m told).  They are wild and merely seen as a sign of clean and healthy growing conditions.  The are also the symbol of the November 11th Armistice Day.

Here is another image of the field in front of our house.

Currently, the wheat has turned golden brown and I expect it will be harvested in the next few days…

That covers my few images of the spring and early summer landscape and flowers.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Up next will be my short trip back to the US.

Until then…

–Jim