Visiting Ålesund

Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining an old friend on his 70th birthday party in Ålesund. Photos and comments from this male event will be shared between close friends and not in a public blog.

However, a visit to Ålesund gives a lot of possibilities to present images that give people in the world wishes of coming to Norway´s most beautiful city. I therefore present a combination of paintings and photos from the Jugend City.

First I give you my painting of the city from the city-mountain Aksla with the western horizon and some islands that protect the city from the North Sea.

Then you see "Brosundet" taken last Friday from the bridge "Hellebroa" connecting two of the islands on which the city is built

 Thisphoto is from the street "Keiser Wilhelmsgate", and below a painting from the same area in opposite direction.

The crossroad "Storgata / Løvenvoldbakken" with the entrance of the old cinema "Løvenvold" may very well be a motive for future paintings.

This painting from 1874 (presented in the KHÅK-Gallery) show the real Ålesund with the Lighthouse "Molja" and the "Eel-strait". In the same area I have made several paintings and give you two examples here. 

Visiting Ålesund at the same time as the opening of the new local art mall or gallery; "KHÅK", gives of course an opportunity to present a painting by the fantastic Ålesund-painter Terje Fagermo.
It will be great to see the "Solgløtt" (bright intervals) on our wall at home.

Welcome Tonga

Sometimes I like to go deeper into the visitor chart presented on my blog´s right side. Visitors from 191 countries around the world have now seen my blog since 2008 when I started to register these data. The last one came from Tonga:

Visiting a palace called cabin in the Norwegian mountains

The Norwegian dream is it sometimes called. Having their own cabin in the mountains or along the coast. We have not made that dream true. Instead we spend months in the southern Spain, in an apartment in a hotel with lots of services from management and their crew.
However, we love to make short visits to friends that have realised their dream of a mountain cabin but we like to tell that it is more a house or palace than a cabin.

Thanks for the short stay Kittan and Sissel. Your "cabin" is fantastic and we will like to return soon.

Visiting Tromsø

Tromsø lies in Northern_Norway The municipality has a population of (2015) 72,066, but with an annual influx of students it has over 75,000 most of the year. It is the largest urban area in Northern Norway and the third largest north of the Arctic_Circle(following Murmansk and Norilsk)
  Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the island Tromsøya 350 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.

We visited Tromsø in the middle of July.

 People from Tromsø likes to tell that wild animals are walking in the city streets, and some of them can be found. The reindeer and Polar Bears are not wild anymore, but interesting decorations outside and inside various spots.

This polar bear can be found at the famous "Ølhallen" where they have 67 taps of different beers.

I did not taste all of them.

At restaurant Skarven this bird is welcoming you at the entrance  Great food is also served there.

In Tromsø they have made an adventure center where you can experience the polar area and watch the seals to be feeded and trained.

There is one thing that have to be mentioned about Tromsø. Although the city centre of Tromsø contains the highest number of old wooden houses in Northern Norway, the oldest house dating from 1789, somebody must have forgotten everything about aesthetic then developing the city.

Bunkers among the old wooden houses. No more comments from me. 

However there is one building that must be added as an example  of beauty. Tromsdalen church or "Ishavskatedralen"

A spectacular building outside and inside.

 Close to the cathedral you can also find the cable car that brings you up to the view point where I took the first photo in this blogpost.

On the bus trip  to the plane bringing us back to Oslo, my last image was taken towards north.

Images from Oslo, Norway

Since we returned from Costa del Sol the blogging activity has not been the highest priority. However, here you will find some photos taken from our lovely city; Oslo

Here you see Oslo city Hall from the eastern part of the fjord.

 We often make a walk along the Akers River. The old industrial areas from the lake "Maridalsvannet" to the fjord have been renovated and are now offices for mant businesses. This photo is from the northern part of Nydalen

 At the southern part of Nydalen apartments ave been built close to the river, and a nice and safe promenade follows the water all the way

At some locations the river has to make beautiful waterfalls.

 My wife is a great walking partner and she is carrying our belongings on her back.

 I do not know the number of bridges we have to walk under through a culvert because the traffic roads, or over on there walk towards the fjord, but sone places the bridges are more beautiful than others. This is Åmot bridge with a special message from the 2nd world war.

At last an image from our "local"; Cafe Tekehtopa.

Short spring stay in Malaga

Normally we spend the winter season here in Andalusia, Malaga and Fuengirola. As last year however we decided to take a few weeks to welcome the summer and the warm Mediterranean climate here at Costa del Sol in early June.

 The Jacaranda tree is all over in late May and the beginning of June and the purple / blue flowers are really beautiful

 The Aqua Bar at the hotel is open for the summer season and we are once more placed in the Julio Iglesias chairs for a cava sponsored by the management

 The evenings are covered with Mini Disco for the children, and entertainment. This night it was Flamenco dancing

 When moving out of Fuengirola we arranged a meeting with our friends Grethe and Anton together with my sister Gerd in Puerto Banus. Luxury clothing, cars and ships are part of the Banus, but also some good restaurants for lunch.

 Lunch places are also a part of our regular visits to Malaga city and as often before we this time stopped at Los Gatos

In Fuengirola Restaurante La Farola is our most visited place, and here the magician Manuel Gonzalez told my wife about his FaceBook site between serving the nice dinner dishes

Weekend number two started with extraordinary heat all over Andalusia. At the coast we got 38 degrees on Friday continuing at the same level Monday 13th. In Torremolinos they were close to 40. The temp. in the hotel pool also increased nearly to 30 so most of the guests moved in and out every half hours. As shown on the image we also had no wind.

 The short stay are almost over. Tomorrow the SAS plane will bring us back to Norway and another springtime  in 2016. The sunset to the west and with Parque Fluvial and our hotell are nice.

And before the dark night covers the sky the pool-area is there to say goodbye and Hasta Luego.

Norway´s Constitution Day - 17. May

The Constitution Day (17th of May) has many traditional procedures here in Norway:

At 8 am we hoist the national flag on flagpoles  dressed in National costumes (bunader).

Then it is time for breakfast together with friends and families. The children are free to eat hotdogs and ice-cream from morning till night.

At the local schools children are lined up to sing and prepare for the large parade in the main streets all over the countries. Children from seven to eighteen are the major  participants  together with their school bands. In Oslo about 115 different schools walked up Karl Johan and greeted the royal family at the Royal Palace.

At the end of the parade the red and blue hordes, (ending their 13 year of school and ready for universities) make the incredible noise so we never will forget them

The Royal Gards are closing the parade, before all people can join the parade and greet the royal family

After the parade we go around in the city having a drink or two together with some food before we end in front of the TV to see the parades from other parts of Norwegian settlement home and abroad.

Beautiful flowers in Malaga

 This Saturday´s visit to Malaga will be the last one for this stay at Costa del Sol.
The flowers are now exploding and this first image is from the bridge close to the railway station Malaga-Centro Alameda.

 The next photo is taken at the start of the Paseo del Parque with the beauty of flowers and my wife

 Another photo of my beautiful wife once more. This time at the harbour with El Faro and the cruice ship and the new restaurant area behind.

This photo is a photo of many photos. Zoom out and see all the small photos that creates the image.

The last image is a video taken at the fence around the Picasso Museum. The beauty is documented.
thank you Malaga for this time and Hasta Luego.