The sort of strange looking, but endearing Nutcracker character appeared everywhere in the castle. Every detail was attended to.
The castle is, well...A Castle! A real one! And wonderful in just about every way, with amazing things to look at around every corner. It was snowing as we went in, making the whole castle scene even more perfect and whimsical.
Every winter the Paine Center transforms many of the rooms in their castle into different scenes of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker. Visitors are led through the castle for a tour by one of the ballet's actors as the scenes unfold. There are a few surprises along the way, and it was great! The girls were so excited.
The tour begins here, in the main ballroom, and along with the long corridor right outside this room, is the only place in the castle where pictures were allowed :-(
We were served punch and cookies, and there were a variety of cool, old fashioned toys under this Christmas tree for the kids to play with as we waited for our tour to begin.
By the huge fireplace in the ballroom.
And for our guide: The Beloved Godfather Drosselmeyer who was the one that gave Clara the Nutcracker. He was an excellent storyteller! Very funny and quirky, he captured the character perfectly.
As I mentioned before, the Nutcracker was everywhere! Even hiding in the Christmas trees. They had an upside down Christmas tree in the Sugar Plum room, completely adorned in glass ornaments that were all a pretty purple color. It took all my strength to keep my camera in the camera bag, there was actual pain involved :-)
Little peek a boos around the pillar. If the upside tree wasn't enough, The Land of Sweets had the most detailed and prettiest desserts I have ever seen. I cannot even put into words the time and creativity that went into each cake, cupcake, cookie, and candy. Imagine the best, most intricate wedding cakes you have seen decorated with the prettiest combination of Christmas colors. Then multiply that by 100, the entire long table that the room was centered around, and the surrounding shelves spilled over with all the delicious treats. It was quite a sight. My camera was calling to me, but I could not bring myself to break the rules.
The performance ended in the Land of Afar, where we were welcomed by ballerinas from all the corners of the world, dancing traditional numbers from the ballet. Here, an aspiring little Clara poses, back near the entrance where photos are allowed.
Grandma with her girls. The architecture everywhere was beautiful, my dad would have loved it. We can't wait to go back sometime and see all of the castle's gardens too.
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1 comment:
That sounds amazing! Ava would have LOVED it!
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