Hans Christian Andersen Sculptures in Odense

A week or so ago, The Polar Bear's Tale blog shared some pictures of some sculptures in Odense, H.C. Andersen's hometown. She wrote:

This weekend I was in Odense - H.C. Andersen's hometown - and mine ;O) I was at Hotel H.C. Andersen...and saw these beautiful cobber sculpture groups consisting of three large pillars by the artist Jens Galschiøt. The ornamentations are inspired by the fairy tales of H.C. Andersen.

She shared about a dozen pictures, close-ups and studies mostly, so I wanted to share a few here and encourage you to look at all of them on her blog. She shares many beautiful images on her blog and I enjoy visiting it regularly.

And because I have had mermaids on the brain:

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing, Aputsiaq.

Maison Moschino, Milan

Today I wanted to share a clever hotel located in Milan, the Maison Moschino. It was recently picked as one of the ‘Top Ten Sexiest Hotels in the World’ by The Luxury Travel Bible. (Another that made the list was The Library Hotel in New York which has been on my wish list for a while already.)

One of the rooms offered at the Maison Maschino is the Little Red Riding Hood. There are many other themes that would make me waffle between choices such as The Forest, Clouds, and Sleeping in a Ball Gown. Here are some images of the other rooms. All of these are interesting juxtaposition of ultra modern and whimsy.

Spend Your Holidays with Hans Christian Andersen

A few weeks ago I found this lovely article about traveling in Odense and Denmark with an emphasis on seeing Hans Christian Andersen related sites: Follow Hans Christian Andersen in Odense.

It's really a great article to save if you plan to ever visit Denmark and see some of the Andersen related sites. The recommended sites aren't limited to Odense despite the article title. I've seen many articles of a similar vein, but this is one of the most comprehensive I've seen. I learned a thing or two!

And traveling to Denmark is one of the trips I plan to make one day. The Fairy Tale Road in Germany will come first, but this is on the list.

Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Solvang, CA

About eight years ago, while living in California, John and I were encouraged by several friends to go visit Solvang, CA. We finally used a Memorial Day holiday weekend to take an overnight trip and ended up eating some great food (best grilled artichokes I've ever eaten) and enjoying a change of pace not too far from home at that time.

I also discovered a tiny Hans Christian Andersen Museum that added an extra level of fun for me as we spent an hour inside, exploring the displays. Most of the displays are of his books from around the world, with beautiful illustrations. There's also photos and other items that give a charming overview of Andersen's life and work.

This little museum was definitely a highlight of the trip for me and I'm not a big HCA fan in comparison to other fairy tale collectors and authors. However, this little museum and then Andersen's bicentennial birthday in 2005 inspired me to add more of his tales to the SurLaLune main site.

There is also a Hans Christian Andersen Park with a statue of the author in the town.

Now most people don't know about Solvang, so I'll add a little from one of the many websites here, this time the City of Solvang site here:

Solvang (Danish for 'sunny field') is a beautiful little city nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. Founded in 1911 by a small group of Danish teachers, Solvang now is a diverse, modern city, with fine restaurants, lovely shops and outstanding activities to enchant young and old alike.

There are Danish festivals, quiet tree lined streets, horse drawn wagons, Hans Christian Andersen Park, windmills, Danish pastries and dozens of quaint shops to explore. Solvang was incorporated as a city on May 1, 1985 and now has a population of approximately 5,555.

The historical town is entertaining and yes, touristy, but not annoyingly so. We enjoyed exploring the shops and getting a little taste of Denmark--especially with the food--without wandering too far from home.

Fairytale Town

I collect information about family, tourist and vacation attractions that feature fairy tale themes. The list is short and I will eventually write about them all on the blog. Today I wanted to mention the one I've learned about most recently, Fairytale Town in Sacramento, California. (Edit: I actually wrote this post last week before finding and posting the article about Disney's German Fairytale vacations yesterday.)

Fairytale Town is celebrating its 50 Year Anniversary this month, having first opened on August 29, 1959. The park is more local attraction than tourist spot with activities oriented towards young childrens with petting zoo animals, gardens, storytelling and other activities. I've never been there--hadn't heard of it before last week--but it sounds charming and perhaps even a little quaint in a good way.

For the month of August, the park is offering 50 cent admissions on Mondays although the admission price is reasonable at anytime.

From the Examiner's article about the anniversary:

It's a wonderfully imaginative park with over 25 different classic children's stories used as themes throughout. There are numerous play areas for the children to entertain their minds and be active. This park also features various animals to view and learn about as well. If your child has an upcoming birthday, be sure to check out info on having his or her celebration at King Arthur's Castle! This park is a non-profit organization that does rely on the support of the public to keep benefiting children of the Sacramento area. Sign up to receive their free weekly email, The Humpty Dumpty Report, to be informed of special events, invites, and news.

The website doesn't have very detailed information about the specific fairy tales used. The limited photos appear to be more nursery rhyme oriented (Humpty Dumpty, Woman and Shoes, etc.) so I wasn't able to glean much information that way although I did spy Jack and the Beanstalk and a Gingerbread House. Fairytale Town looks like a fun place for young children whether or not the fairy tale element appeals. If anyone else is familiar with the spot, feel free to post comments about Fairytale Town with this post.

Another edit: And, of course, in the GMLFTAUG (Great Minds Love Fairy Tales and Use Google) relationship I have with Once Upon a Blog, Ink Gypsy wrote about Fairytale Town yesterday. She also posted more pictures so I encourage you to read her entry if you haven't already.

Once Upon a Fairy Tale Vacation by Disney

Here's a nice article about an unusual type of Disney vacation--a tour through some fairy tale inspiring parts of Germany designed for family groups, aptly dubbed The Fairytale Route.

First you can read about one woman's experiences on the tour here: A Storybook Vacation.

I'll admit I'm not one for planned tours or even Disney vacations. My family tends to plan freakishly for months and then leave opportunities to journey off the beaten path when we travel in the U.S. or outside of it. But if I were to choose a more regimented and vicariously planned vacation package--and more expensive--this would be a top pick for me. It would be rather fun with young children in tow, too. I have yet to travel to Germany despite a few trips to Europe but will surely go someday. When I go, the fairy tale oriented sites are a definite must.

I found the Germany Fairytale package information on the Disney Adventures site if you want more information. Meeting Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood as well as some others would be charming. I'm impressed Disney is also promoting more of the traditional sites in conjunction with their versions of the tales.

Emily Anderson as Little Red Riding Hood

Here is another treasure I discovered at the Huntington last summer. One of the most common trends for portraiture in the 1800s was to portray young girls as images of Little Red Riding Hood. This portrait is of Emily Anderson painted by Thomas Lawrence for her father circa 1821. According to the placard, Emily had performed as LRRH in an amateur theatrical performance, so this painting also reflected an event in her life unlike many of the portraits in this subgenre.

Portraits like this one are the most common treasures found in my searches for fairy tale related art in my museum visits. It is pretty easy to find little girls wearing red hoods or cloaks forever captured on canvases. This particular one by Thomas Lawrence is one of my favorites. I have some other versions included in the Little Red Riding Hood Illustration Gallery on SurLaLune.

Cinderella Decorative Tiles

I was raised with many family vacations involving trips to art museums since my mother is an art historian. I've continued the trend into adulthood and usually find at least one fairy tale related piece in any museum I visit. The usual suspects are Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood.

Last summer, I visited the Huntington Library and Art Collections in San Marino, CA during a business trip. I discovered this collection of Cinderella tiles designed by Lucy Faulkner for the William Morris Studio (Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company to be exact). She based her designs on those of Edward Burne-Jones. According to the placard, the tiles were originally designed to ornament a fireplace, but were framed to create a single picture. I am always fascinated to see which images are used to tell the story and some of the choices here are a little bit less common for Cinderella.

Swan Lake Ballet & Anna Pavlova

Here is Anna Pavlova's tutu for the her role in Swan Lake, one of the most famous of all the fairy tale and folklore based ballets. This was displayed in a special exhibit in the Opéra de Paris Garnier in Paris. Of course, in the U.S. the opera house is perhaps most famous as the residence of the Phantom of the Opera, but it has hosted many famous performers and performances, including Pavlova. The costume was designed by Leon Bakst for her role as the white swan in 1905.

Little Red Riding Hood Jewelry

More images from France, this time from the Galleries Lafayette in Paris near the Opéra de Paris Garnier. John and I spent the late morning wandering the store and discovered this little display of Little Red Riding Hood themed jewelry. Last November, John was gracious enough to capture some hasty pictures and the clerks were nice enough to remain oblivious of the stupid American tourists snapping pictures of the jewelry displays. I didn't buy a piece since it was all a little too kitschy for me for the price, but I certainly enjoyed looking.

I know the images are small. Most of the jewelry consisted of LRRH and the wolf in his various incarnations, my favorite being him dressed as grandmother in the pendant above.

In the end, I'll admit the jewelry looked like low-end Claire's boutique (and I do shop and buy at Claire's from time to time) than high end department store jewelry. I've found things I liked better on Etsy, for example, where you can find items similar to these. However, this was obviously high end kitsch from the prices and display given to it. Someday I will share my own bit of fairy tale jewelry--a self-composed charm bracelet, but that will be another day and another post to look forward to.

The images are slightly bigger for viewing if you click on them to load larger image.

Cendrillon Shoestore

Last year during our travels in France, I discovered several fairy tale references during our jaunts of discovery. I was able to capture a few with the camera, or hubby John did for me, which I plan to share over the next few days. First, was a little shoestore in Bordeaux, fittingly named after Cendrillon, who is better known as Cinderella here in the states. I didn't have time to shop, but the store banner was charming enough.