There are windows in all these shots from the Snowhotel Kirkenes – starting with a photo of the frozen fjord taken from the dining room mid-morning after we arrived and checked in. Note that the photo at the very bottom, which looks rather late-night, was taken 3:26 pm. On January 26, so I think they said five days or a week after the sun returned to Kirkenes. 🙂
I think I’ll aim to use up my snowy and dark Norway shots in July & August, in hopes maybe it’ll help friends sweltering in hot summer weather appreciate the seasons a bit. Including myself, though sweltering hot remains, mercifully, a rare weather pattern here in A’dam specifically. Last from our short port call at Finnsnes in January.
In the center left of the photo above, you’ll see a bit straw sitting on the water, and a coot swimming slightly to the right. That’s a coot nest, of one of two in the mini lake – canal thing that wraps around my building here in A’dam (yep, the tall on reflected in the water there) that I’ve enjoyed watching this season. All the various shots in this post are from the past few months on the interconnecting canals and lakes in my neighborhood.
Sunset on June 20, left; sunrise about seven hours later on June 21, right. Were we up in the arctic circle on these days, the sun would journey all the way around, continously above the horizon. Maybe next year I’ll get up there again and photograph that! The joy of summer solistice is followed by the pain of ever-shorter days as the sun migrates further south again from this annual high point. Ah, well, c’est la vie.
Some last shots of Bissone, the lovely little village on the eastern shore of Lake Lugano where I stayed for four nights last November :-). The serpents are the city (village, really) symbol, taken by the public pool.
OK, so I went for this fabulous dawn / sunrise walk in Rome last week, with various buildings framing the setting moon wonderfully as the sky lightened. Couldn’t help myself, just kept taking photos. Yes, you’ll see the moon in each of the photos below, if you look closely enough or tap and enlarge. Don’t hate me if I’ve again gone overboard on this whole beauty thing 🙂
I began this series four years and a month ago, when my brothers and I gathered briefly in Oregon for time together before my move from the Pacific Coast all the way over to Amsterdam for work. I’m feeling a bit nostalgic – perhaps even a tad homesick – for the Pacific, even as I enjoy the Mediterranean and North Sea coastlines I’ve visited more recently :-).
Last bridge pics from my lovely Centovalli afternoon trip down from Locarno last year. Interestingly, I saw these hills and lakes from the air en route to Rome from Amsterdam, two Sundays ago: look for it in upcoming posts :-).
These little guys were in that same lovely Chiang Mai temple complex as my most recent “orchids” post :-). (Tap the images to see uncropped versions.) And yeah, that was a work trip too. No wonder my poor body and brain sometimes get a bit confused and feel their age lol.