Ten years in the blogger´s community - blogpost no 1960

Yesterday I received my daughter´s Thesis from her PhD studies. I must admit that I am proud of her. With all her family work during the last years, her stamina and challenges are nothing less than impressive. Well done Trine.

If you want to see Trines first videoblogging post go here HERE

When reading the thesis I just remembered that I had forgot that I started to blog over ten years ago. In March 2005 I wrote my first blogpost in Norwegian and have continued with 1960 blogposts (in English since January 2008) and have had visitors from 190 different countries. May be I can call myself one of the "early adopters" of the blogging community.

In my blog I have tried to make a personal view of my life and doings, and I know that many of my readers have enjoyed taking part in our daily situations home and on our visits abroad.

Late April 2005 (10 years ago) my wife and I went to Vienna to experience spring in this beautiful capitol of Austria. This was covered in a blogpost and linked to the photo gallery at Flickr.

The Mozart monument had of course to be visited, and many other images from our tours around the city was published.

One of the areas we visited was the colourful Hundertwasser´s house

An der schönen blauen Donau or at least on a bridge over the river was also an image to share. That I have gained som kilos since then is not worth any comment.

The last photo covers a must when staying in Vienna Die originale Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher.

Pasport renewal and images around the Police Head Quarter

 Yesterday I went to the Police House at Grønland, Oslo, to renew my passport. With a validity of less than 6 months till next trip abroad I thought it was a good idea to do so in time. The numbers of people at the passport office were huge, and I had to wait half an hour although I had booked an appointment some days before.

 It is not often that I visit this part of Oslo. We tried to be tourists in own town last Sunday, but the one hour queue around the City Hall made us change our minds. Maybe this building was one of the recommended visiting spots. Oslo Prison or Botsfengselet

or maybe the church next to the Police Head Quarter, Grønland Church, from 1868. The building is in brick, Romanesque style and has 800 seats.

Dog on red grass - Haakon Bleken

Back in Oslo and the opportunity to see the Norwegian painter Haakon Bleken´s new presentation of paintings at Galleri Brandstrup. This painting has a prize of 250.000 nok. I think it is the exhibition´s best image, but take a look in the gallery´s presentation of his images. Great.

Farewell dinner at Myramar

Another Long Stay period is over at Costa del Sol. Today SAS will bring us home to the more chilly spring than here in Fuengirola. Well, we will once more this year experience the coming of warmer times and the beauty of northern lights and fauna.

Six weeks have come to an end and last night we had our farewell dinner here at Myramar with Lillian and Knut who have stayed two more weeks down here. Thanks for the time together and it will be nice to seeing you in October.

Thanks also to Managing Director Carlos and all his staff at Myramar Castle Beach. You always do the best to make this place our second home.

Another windy day

We do not complain. We know that the wind can be strong at the Coast in Andalusia. Today is therefore just an example of what we are used to during springtime down here. However the wind today was very strong when we passed the  bridge over Rio de Fuengirola this morning.

The river has turned it´s direction.  It is not longer coming from the inland and out to the Mediterranean, it is coming from the ocean and going upwards. The people at the beach are trying to cross the river, but are they brave enough.

The waves toward the beach looks great and spectacular, but going for a swim in this water is out of the question. Take a look at the video below and take part in the scenery we can see at the Fuengirola Beach.

Safety and Security

At Myramar Hotel, Fuengirola we have two very important creatures. The cat Amina and the night security Jose Maria.
The cat is always at our windows in the morning ready to sleep in our sun beds or in some shade areas to act if something extraordinary is happening, and J.M. is watching over us during the nights.

Jose Maria is feeding the cat every evenings (this day in front of our patio) ant this photo shows both of them  in a very happy moment.

An evening out in Fuengirola

 This Maundy Thursday we had visitors from Norway in Fuengirola. They are presently staying in Puerto Banus, but an evening in Fuengirola for dinner with us became really pleasant.
Morten, Maya, Fred-Jørgen, Hanne and Bente joined Tullen and me for drinks at Plaza de los Chinorros before moving to our favorite La mejor Taperia a Fuengirola: La Cepa

I am proud to say that our friends really appreciated the food made by senior Jesus Gomez at La Cepa

An evening in Fuengirola during Semana Santa also give an opportunity to see the Pasos (Thrones) and processions through the street.

A Paso (Spanish: "Episode of the Passion of Christ") is an elaborate float made for religious processions. They are carried by porters on staves, like a litter or sedan chair, and are usually followed or escorted by a band. Some have long skirts that cover the bearers entirely, giving the impression that the statue is floating on its own power. The porters are called costaleros, cargadores or portadores and their leader is called a capataz ("Foreman" or "Head Man"). The capataz sets the chicotá, the period of time between a paso being lifted and set down again; the costaleros cannot pick up or set down the paso except by his leave. This is signalled by the llamador ("crier"), a knocker on the front of the float. During Semana Santa ("Holy Week", the week preceding Easter Sunday) the custom is to make pasos adorned with large wooden statues of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints and biblical personalities from the Passion.