So here I am back in Norway for a week, where, if in doubt, there’s always the landscape shot. This is the lake of Seljordsvatn, by which I was lucky enough to be spending the weekend, in the cabin of my friend Eystein and his family (you’ll be seeing him on Sunday’s pic). The lake is famed for its legendary water serpent, apparently. This is also one of the better shots I have ever taken from a moving car.
As you’ve probably noticed I experience a lot of hotels. The Rica Forum on the outskirts of Stavanger is nothing special really: except in one respect. This is the view from its breakfast room.
Although I should add that I’d really like to meet the man (and it will have been a man) who thought that building that concrete monstrosity to left of centre was a good idea. Do you think we should go for a trial by jury, or move straight to the execution? Anyone who could willingly offend the eye so readily and permanently really must have been a severed child.
Here I am in Stavanger, another new place to add to the list. I could have chosen a picture of the great view from the breakfast room at my hotel, could have chosen one of a rather attractive swan by the lake, but here’s one of a bunch of baby’s dummies (pacifiers) tied to a pole in the woods. Hundreds and hundreds of them. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.
Gosh, here I am in an airport, that hasn’t happened much this year has it (sarcasm warning). Sat out a half-hour flight delay at Oslo airport (which doesn’t seem to be particularly near Oslo) by watching others watching Norway v Italy in the UEFA Under-21 championship: final score 1-1, if you’re interested. Slightly strange light on the guys in the middle but I like the shot anyway, it was taken very candidly and quickly so you never quite know how they’re going to turn out.
I know there are plenty of you who read this and probably don’t think I do any work, but here you go, some evidence of it anyway. Not that anyone is ‘working’ right at this moment, except the Italian chap silhouetted against the window. There was a spectacular view of the Oslo hinterland from this venue (the well-named Soria Moria hotel), but this is the first interior shot since my return to Europe on 28th May. I know it would have been better to get all the lines on the carpet straight as well as those on the wall, but hey.
Remember, the rule on the blog is — all photos are taken on the day. So I bet I’ve seen more snow than you today, unless you live in Antarctica or somewhere. This is what Norway looks like, on June 9th, at 1,222m (4,000 feet approx) above sea level, from the train on what must be one of the world’s great rail journeys from Bergen to Oslo. And a bargain at 399 Norwegian kroner: and there aren’t many of those in Norway I can tell you. Particularly in the Voss – Geilo section this is a truly spectacular ride. Do it some day…
I have started going to certain places simply because I think there’s a chance that I might get a decent photo. Tjeldstø is a village near the end of a chain of islands that extends into the North Sea to the north-west of Bergen (specifically, it is on the island of Alvøy). For 50km (32 miles) or so, as you drive up route 561 along a chain of bridges, things are much as you see here – rocks, water, sheep. Here’s my best attempt to encapsulate the region in one picture. What is missing are the twenty or so seabirds that were buzzing me at this point. Guys… I wasn’t after your nests, honestly. Just the photo.
Maria-Carme is my hostess/contact/employer/friend in Bergen and almost every trip I have made here during the course of this blog has been down to her, so it’s about time she made it onto the site. As you can see, she has a great look, and this photo also deserves to get on when you consider a) the time it was taken and b) the amount of daylight still in the sky. So much light here at this time of year, so much to see.
‘Brua’ is Norwegian for ‘bridge’. This bridge connects the mainland with the island of Sotra, near Bergen. We sailed under it today on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a large ship which I occupied with about 300 (mostly drunk) Norwegians, an ambiguous way to spend one’s evening, but the views were good.
This is one of those where I didn’t seek much photographic quality out of the daily pic, and instead just documented an interesting event. Well, I mean, it’s an everyday event, but look how low in the sky this sun is. And I’ve applied no filters or digital manipulation to this shot. This is really what high noon looks like in Bergen in late-November.
Being 42 