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Signs of the City.123

July 5, 2025 in Minden, Germany. A train re-routing due to track problems allowed me half an hour to walk around this mid-sized city en route between Berlin and Amsterdam, thus having the chance to appreciate how many more cultural and free-time activities might be available in such a city than when, say, I myself first spent time in Germany back in 1980. A further joy that day: my arrival in Amsterdam was still on time; nay, one minute early.
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Bridges.32

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Coasting.132

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Windows.22

Signs of the City.122

Two last “city” signs from the arctic circle winter in Norway to cool the thoughts of us in hot climates currently 🙂

Skylights.12

This was May 21st as the rising sun headed further north. I missed its pass through this building last week on its way back south :-(, because I’ve been out of town for a bit.

Village Views.112

This is whatever village we docked at for 15 minutes at 2am on the morning of the 25th of January, somewhere between Tromsø and Honningsvåg.

Islands.92

The island of Magerøya is now connected to the Norwegian mainland by a bridge. Prior to that bridge’s construction, anyone wishing to see Nordkap, the northernmost point in “mainland” Europe (it’s an island, but a close-coastal island, I guess is how they justify that?), had to take a boat. I took most of these from the tour bus which took us from Honningsvåg along the windswept landscapes and rocky coastal plains up to Nordkap.

City Lights.92

Concertgebouw’s “Mahler Pavilion” in Vondelpark (live streaming for anyone wanting to enjoy the music but hadn’t gotten tickets), past which I biked after the bittersweet enjoyment of the very last concert in this year’s Mahler Festival with Sam.

From the Air.82

If it was 20 to 30 minutes after take-off from Kirkenes at 11am on the 27th of January…this must be Finland, so I’ve added a new category. (Now maybe I’ll have an added incentive to finally get on ground up there. Hmm. Watch this space.) As promised, photos of cold and snow as a chiller for anyone needing it.

Mountains.82

Above, shortly after 8am on the 23rd of January, roughly two minutes before our boat crossed into the arctic circle. Below other mountainous coastal shots from the following hours before we docked at Bodø…including Gary with the ship’s spotlight illuminating the arctic circle monument behind him.