Stratford -Upon-Avon

Wayne dining with Shakespeare at The Garrick Pub

If music be the food of love, then play on.We spent the afternoon with Viola, Olivia, Malvolio, et al at the Royal Shakespeare Co. It was a bright and sunny, crisp day suitable for a walk along the Avon. The streets were packed, but being mostly Brits they nicely queued up and gave way to the pushy Americans. So, we had no problems making our way to Shakespeare's birthplace and his grave in Holy Trinity Church as well as having lunch before the play. It was great fun watching a Shakespeare performance in Stratford. We will return later in the week to tour the birthplace home and Anne Hathaway's home.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is the Churchill family estate. Winston Churchill was born here.  Built in the English Baroque style, it has been home to the Churchill family for over 300 years. Our guide was very good. She concentrated on the history of the family telling it through the paintings, furniture and tapestries in the rooms. Most notable sights were the furnishings that came from Versailles, the Singer Sargent painting of the 9th Duke and his wife Consuelo Vanderbilt, the C. Duran painting of Consuelo that hung nearby, and the 10 Flemish Victory Tapestries of John Churchill.  The gardens were very formal, very green and beautifully set against the River Glynne.


We returned to Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum in mid afternoon.  There is a beautiful Uccello painting, The Hunt in the Forest, here.  We later went in Blackwells Book Store (another Morse haunt) to pick up an Oxford tour book. We then returned to Summertown and had dinner at The Spice Lounge, a very good Indian restaurant.  
See more photos at Flickr

Inspector Morse, The Ashmolean, and Evensong

We have finally gotten our body clocks on UK time. After a late breakfast we headed for Oxford Center to check on our Morse tour. On our way out the door we met our neighbor, Harold. He was with Anna, his and our house keeper. She was kind enough to help us with the oven. Alas, it would not work for her either.
From the information center in Oxford, we walked down Broad St and over to Christ Church College, the most beautiful college I've yet seen. The gardens were lush and so well tended. We visited the Cathedral where there are several Burn-Jones windows. Funny story. One of the Burn -Jones windows was being cleaned and had plain glass in place of it. When the docent relayed the cleaning information to a visitor, she exclaimed, "Oh, no. You've cleaned it completely off!" You may see this
over-cleaning on Flickr.
Next on the agenda, Morse. We are Inspector Morse, Lewis and Endeavor fans. As such, Wayne is always pointing out Oxford buildings during the shows. This tour gave us the opportunity to see those spots in true time.
When at Christ Church we saw a posting for Evensong and decided to attend. After the Morse tour we had enough time to visit The Ashmolean. We went immediately the the Pre-Raphaelite Gallery. Wayne remembers when he first saw these paintings 35 years prior and fell in love with them. The collection is small and of early works.
We ended our day in Oxford back at Christ Church Cathedral for Evensong. The choir was young adolescents. The sound was quite lovely and soothing after such a long day on our feet. Back home we cooked some pasta and settled in for a little tv and reading.
To see more photos of today visit Flickr.

The Cotswolds

Wayne with his Scotch egg in Stow

Today we drove out to the Cotswolds, a very picturesque English countryside. The area is populated with small towns and villages built othat one. In the Middle Ages the wool trade made the Cotswolds prosperous. Some of this money was put into the building of churches so the area has a number of large Cotswold stone "wool churches". the first village we came to, Stow-on-Wold was having an art show in its church. We bought a small painting of the local landscape. Here we also had lunch. I had The Best Damn Fish and Chips; Wayne had a warm Scotch egg. As we drove through the countryside to the next village of Bourton-on-Water, we saw many sheep and fields upon fields of hay or wheat. Bourton-on-Water looks like it belongs in the Shire...too charming for words. A very shallow yet wide river runs through the center of the town. There were children everywhere wading and playing. I stuck my finger in for a test run and immediately withdrew it before icicles formed.
See more photos of the Cotswolds at Flickr

The Botanical Gardens, Magdalen College, The Bodleian

Wayne at the King's Arms, Oxford

Yep, we did all those things. We started the day searching Corn Market St for some electrical adapters. The street is pedestrian and has an enclosed market nearby where these poor pigs were begging for attention. From there we walked to the botanical Gardens. They were mostly interesting for the perennials and wild flowers. Across the street from the Gardens is Magdalen College. Inside is a most beautiful chapel. Among the many notable alumni are Oscar Wilde, CS Lewis, Cardinal Wolsey. Up the hill and on our way home was The Bodleian, the library for the Colleges.More photos at Flickr

Boston and Beyond

We began by being tourists on our home turf. We spent the day walking around Plymouth Harbor, visiting the Rock, looking at The Mayflower. Remembered the last time we were here with Carolyn and Ralf. Met Jeff at the house; he drove us to the bus. Arrived at Logan 5 hours early. We are EXCELLENT travelers. Really, we just rather sit there and read than kill time elsewhere. Met an interesting guy in the restaurant. He was from Cambridge, UK but living in Maine. The flight was smooth, quick and uneventful. Love British Air. Arrived Heathrow 9:00am, got the car, panicked, drove any way. Arrived at the house around noon. Left the house around 12:01pm. Strolled to Summer Town and caught the bus to Oxford Center where we walked down High St past the Sheldonian. Wayne was grinning ear to ear. Walked back to a pub, The Eagle and Child where we had the worst beer you can imagine. So close to Belgium, yet so far. There was a trivial pursuit game going on. After finishing the awful beer and stuffing myself on a burger, we caught the bus back to the house.
More photos at flickr.

The Night Before

We spent he night before our departure for the UK in Plymouth because our home exchangers had arrived and were in our house. There was the most beautiful sunset occurring as we approached the hotel. I think it is a very good omen. Tomorrow we fly to London.

Great Barrington and Tanglewood

Neighboring Picnicers at Tanglewood

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  We spent it in Great Barrington, which has a different feel than the other surrounding towns.  There are far more young people, more of a hip, funky atmosphere.  We ate lunch, roamed the streets window shopping and gallery browsing.  Tonight we returned to Tanglewood for an all Wagner program.  It was thoroughly transcending.  More pictures at flickr.

Norman Rockwell and William Shakespeare

Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell moved to Stockbridge, MA in 1953 so that his wife could be treated at the Austen Riggs psychiatric hospital.  (side note. James Taylor was also treated there and refers to his time at Austin Riggs in the song, Fire and Rain).  Stockbridge remained Rockwell's home until his death.  He helped established a custodianship which became the Norman Rockwell Museum.  The museum is the authority on Rockwell and holds over 700 pieces of his.  We went primarily to see the current show, Howard Pyle.  Pyle was an illustrator and children's book author during the fin de siecle.  Rockwell studied and admired his works as a student.  Pyle hardly had his own style.  He would mimic styles he felt best illustrated the texts he was illustrating.  To my delight, the show included Hokusai's The Great Wave of Kanagawa.  Previously, I've seen this print only in reproduction.  There is always something new to discover in the Berkshires.
Tonight we saw The Tempest at Shakespeare and Co.  It's our only play this trip.  The production was not great.  Olympia Dukakis played Prospero and she was extremely weak.  Her voice is not suited to Shakespearean dialogue.  Physically, she didn't control the character, either.  To our delight Merritt Janson played Miranda.  We saw her last year as Rosalind in As You Like It.  It was the best portrayal of Rosalind we've ever seen.  She was equally good as Miranda.  Other principals were also noteworthy.  Kristin Wold as Ariel was charming and captivating.  More photos at flickr.

Hancock Shaker Village

Hancock Shaker Village

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing....USBCSA....nope, no hope of an acronym there!  The Shakers are a religious sect who live communally and are amazing at invention, music, egalitarianism. The only remaining members live in a Maine commune. Since we had seen Borrowed Light at Jacob's Pillow on Sunday, we wanted to visit the Shaker Village in Hancock, MA.  It is a beautiful setting in which most of the buildings still stand in pristine condition.  The Shakers have not lived in the village since the 1960's.  We heard nice talks in the round barn and the dormitory about the structures and life in general.  The dormitory dining room had 2 interior windows, borrowed light.  

This evening we attended a Brahms Piano concert at Ozawa Hall performed by Gerhard Oppits who, over 4 evenings, is playing the complete works for piano without one piece of sheet music.  Very impressive.  We sat on the lawn this evening among the crowd that spilled out of the hall like fruit from a cornucopia.  It was beautiful to watch the interior of the hall warm as the sky cooled to evening then night.  We re-visited our discussion about LeWitt's art.  I asked why Wayne could consider the Brahms' piece art and not the LeWitt wall paintings.  More photos at flickr.

Mass MoCA

Sol LeWitt Wall Painting

Mass MoCA in No. Adams, MA is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual and performing arts in the US. It is located in a converted factory building, which offers huge display spaces. We went primarily to see the "Oh, Canada" and "Invisible Cities" shows. Fortunately, a tour of all the galleries was beginning as we arrived. It was nice to get an over view and introductions to pieces in each gallery.  We had not been to the museum since its initial opening and were pleased and surprised at the improved holdings and curatorship. The most interesting was the Sol Lewitt retrospective. Please visit this site to understand the magnitude and importance of this show. 65 artists and students spent 6 months installing the work which will be on display for 25 years. Lewitt had gifted his work to Yale University when he was dying from cancer. Yale, realizing their limited space, sought out Mass MoCA and LeWitt agreed. He visited and collaborated on the placement and configuration of the spaces prior to his death.

Sol LeWitt Wall Paintings

Of the two other shows, I liked The Mountain by Graeme Patterson in the Oh, Canada show.  My best description is art within art within art.  Patterson describes it as the first of four installations that focus on his personal experience with male bonding.  Coming in a close second was the entire Invisible Cities show, particularly Melting Pot by Miha Strukelj.  The concept is inspired by Italo Calvino's novel of the same name in which imaginary conversations take place between Marco Polo and Kubla Khan.  Polo describes his voyages and the cities to Khan.

Invisible Cities

I was so happy to have finally seen some contemporary art that can be visually exciting, provoking, evoking and accessible without extensive reading and probing to understand the artists' intents.  More photos at flickr.

The Clark

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is in Williamstown, which is also home to Williams College.  This makes for a great day visit.  The very small town center hosts a wonderful gallery, The Harrison and an adequate little lunch spot, Thai Garden.  The Harrison's main show was John MacDonald's paintings and Paul Caponigro's photographs. MacDonald's work, pictured above, was of landscapes in and around Williamstown.  The quality of the paints is almost encaustic in appearance.  I couldn't decide if that was a mixing choice or a medium effect until reading the artist's statement.  He's a plein air painter interested in light and texture.  

The Clark is a very interesting place.  It  houses the private collection of the Clarks, (he, grandson of Singer Sewing Machine founder) and has a mission dedicated to research, and extending and advancing the public understanding of art.  This trip was a bit disappointing because the original building is under renovation and the current show is recent archaeological discoveries of northern China.  I admit this lack of interest is due to my complete ignorance of Chinese art, religion, culture, etc, etc.  I did enjoy a couple of the sculptures. Zhenmushou (Tomb Guardian Beasts) from the Tang dynasty.  The expressions and the melding of beasts/humans was captivating.  And the Warrior Guardian from the Qi dynasty because of his posturing amused me greatly.   ZhenmushouWarrior Guardian


John and Kathy returned for a sleep over on their way back to PA following their trip to P'town.  We ate at Chez Nous.  It was enjoyed by all.  More photos at flickr.

Ozawa Hall

We spent most of the day reading and napping.  Sometime in the early afternoon we went to Lee for lunch and then to the new Big Y for water, milk and bananas.  Not very blog worthy.  But tonight we attended a concert at Ozawa Hall.  The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra played Brahms' Tragic Overture, Schubert's Symphony in B minor, and Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra.  Each piece used a different conductor.  They were all big symphonies with large sound which we thoroughly enjoyed.  It is fun to see the student musicians revel in the opportunity to play and be heard. The picture is taken from the top of the hill. Attendees have the choice of sitting outside or inside.  The angle disguises the orchestra seats but highlights the drama of the building and the stage.  More photos at flickr.

Jacob's Pillow 80

We had an early performance time today, 2pm at Jacob's Pillow, to see Tero Saarinen's Borrowed Light. Saarinen is Finnish who began his career with the Finnish Ballet. The piece is inspired by the Shakers and uses original Shaker music. However, the work is not about Shakerism but rather community and devotion. There are 8 dancers and 8 singers from the Boston Camerata. The dancers and singers share the stage; their costumes are black and the light is stark, cast at an extreme angel from stage left. The title comes from the Shaker practice of adding interior windows to a building in order to extend daylight hours. There were many aspects I liked. The dancers make exaggerated zombie like movements with a lot of stomping. All of us would have preferred more traditional dance. But I did appreciated Saarinen's ability to extract and project a visceral feeling of human struggle both emotionally and physically within a community or space. Here is a brief clip of Borrowed Light from the company's website. I don't believe it is the Camerata performing the music here, though.
Tonight we ate at Bistro Zinc. It was amusing that at our 8pm reservation the menu was practically empty of all selections. All these old folks around here eat early and wiped out the kitchen.

Tanglewood 75

It was a sun scorching day. We had worried that the predicted evening showers would affect our Tanglewood concert. But it was beautiful all day and night. First thing I realized at around 5am was that I left all the tickets at home. Thus, we began the day by stopping at the Tanglewood box office for replacement tickets. We next stopped in Lenox for a light lunch at Patisserie. They have the most mouth-watering, beautiful desserts. I highly recommend it. We ate on the patio and then went across the street to visit The Wit Gallery and discuss works and possible options with the clerk. We didn't have time for extensive visits to other venues, but we did take abbreviated tours. First, we stopped at Arrowhead, Herman Melville's home in Pittsfield. There was a very funny sculpture in the field of Moby pursued by Ahab.

We also stopped at Ventfort Hall, the filming sight for Cider House Rules.

It was now late enough that we headed to Tanglewood and took our place in the short line for the 5:30 opening of the grounds. Inside we found a beautiful spot under a huge maple tree to spread out and relax. The performance this evening was in celebration of Tanglewood's 75th anniversary. The pieces were all relatively short with various conductors attending. I'll list the highlights for my own memory, but to also recognize the performers. 1. Keith Lockhart conducted Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and 3 dance episodes from On the Town by Bernstein. 2.James Taylor sang with John Williams conducting selections from the Great American Songbook. 3. Stefan Asbury conducting Haydn's Piano Concerto in D. 4. Andris Nelsons conducting Anne-Sophie Mutter playing Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy and Yo-Yo Ma playing Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile. 5. Andris Nelsons conducting Ravel's LaValse 6. David Zinman conducting Beethoven's Fantasia with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver conducting Our groups' favorites were Mutter's performance and the Beethoven. The Chorus gave me chills. Everything was topped off with a fabulous fireworks show.

Becket Bound

We are back in the very lovely Berkshires of Massachusetts. We come every year to enjoy Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Co., Jacob's Pillow, The Clark and more, more, more. Our friends John and Kathy met us. They actually arrive ahead of us because we got a late start and then hit very heavy slow traffic. We had stopped at Whole Foods along the way and picked up steaks and every cheese, cracker, hors d'oeuvres one could desire. After conversation over the hors d'oeuvres in which we solved most of the nations political and social ills, we ate, drank and laughed into the wee morning hours. Great to be back here where we are staying for the second year in Becket at the home we exchange with Kate and Greg. Hope they have as much fun in Wareham.

Reason Rally

It rained pretty heavily on and off today. We walked down to the Reason Rally to check things out. There was a fairly large crowd despite the rain. After hanging around for a few speeches, we went to the National Gallery to escape the downpour. There we saw a Picasso exhibit of some 55 works. The exhibition presented the development of Picasso's drawings over a 30-year period. There were his earliest drawings on loan from the Barcelona Picasso Gallery which we remember seeing years ago when we were in Barcelona. Another reminder from our travels were two large-scale group portraits from the Dutch Golden Age, on long-term loan from the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam Museum. We ate lunch in the Gallery and bought an umbrella for the duration of the day. Back at the Reason Rally we heard Dawkins speak, but the speech was uninspiring. Far better was Greta Christina. She laid it all out about how religious enthusiasts work to destroy the freedom of others.
Tonight we picked up Adam and Maura for dinner in their neighborhood at an Indian restaurant and a Dvorak concert, Stabat Mater, at the Kennedy Center. The concert was excellent. The choir blew us away.
For more DC pictures please visit my flickr page.

Cherry Blossoms

Today was beautiful, warm, and sunny; perfect for a walk along the Tidal Basin through the cherry trees. Prior to the Tidal Basin we walked to the Hirshhorn Gallery to see a light show. It was okay, a bit dated in technical terms. But still worked optically. We also got to see one of our favorite sculptors, Juan Munoz, pieces "Last Conversation Piece" which is a permanent installation outside the Museum.
The walk along the Tidal Basin was jammed with people. But everyone was in good spirits, taking photos and lounging. This year we walked toward the Lincoln Monument rather than toward the Potomac as in the past. At one point a helicopter past overhead and sent the cherry blossoms flying through the air. Our walk took us to the new Martin Luther King Monument. The area has MLK quotes engraved in granite along a wall. Very moving and sad.
To end our day we stopped at the Corcoran, our first visit ever. The holdings are fantastic. There are many Hudson River School pieces.

The Nation's Capitol

The drive into DC from Juanita's and Carlton's is an easy 15-30 minutes when you do it at noon. Otherwise, it is a tangled nightmare of traffic. We chose the noon time trip. At the HIlton we were told our room would not be ready for a few hours. We walked around the corner to the Mozart Cafe for a light lunch. I thought the Renwick Gallery was close by and we headed for a quick visit. Unfortunately we headed the wrong direction. What should have been a 5 minute walk turned into a 30 minutes walk. The exhibit was not anything I was interested in, either. It was decorative arts from the White House archives. This was mostly furniture and china. In the past we have seen amazing exhibits of turned wood and jewelry.
Back at the hotel, Adam stopped by after work. He went to dinner with us at Alabardero, a Spanish restaurant. It was an elegant place and reminded us of Paris. Strange, I know, since it was trying to be Spanish. I haven't taken any pictures in 2 days, so you must be happy with the restaurant. Lo siento!

Manassas and Peking (Duck)

The first thing we did today was go into the Wegman's that is adjacent to the hotel. I've been curious about this chain. eh. The wine selection was great, but otherwise Whole Foods, et al, seems comparable. We went into Fredericksburg and had lunch at Soup Taco, a small Venezuelan restaurant near the visitor's center. My dish was sumptious homemade corn tortillas stuffed with refried beans, cheese and onions. George Washington, James Madison and James Monroe are among the luminaries who called Fredericksburg home. We drove out to Spotsylvania and then through the battlegrounds.
We arrived at Juanita's and Carlton's home in early afternoon. Sandra came over after work and we headed to Falls Church, VA to eat at the Peking Gourmet Inn. This Inn is famous for its....wait.....Peking Duck. They serve around 250 per day. Wow. The inside of the place was elegant and the waiters were dressed in red jackets. The duck is sliced at the table and the first pancake for each person is rolled by the waiter. After that, you're on your own. The foyer walls were covered with pictures of famous visitors, Presidents Clinton, Bush, Bush. It was a great day and a great time visiting with auntie and uncle. They are the best.