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Urban Entrances.157

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Longest Beach.57

Ah, Royalty.57

Yes, this sapling protector in my local park bears a crown design and the name of NL’s current monarch, King William Alexander. Don’t ask me why. If I had to guess, I’d say maybe the sapling itself was planted in 2013, when he took on the role after his mom abdicated and left him holding the crown?

Lake Living.67

Mountains.77

From the Air.77

The hills around Kirkenes shortly after take-off, back in January.

Islands.87

The port of Svolvaer on the Lofoten Island of Austvågøya.

Village Views.107

Though our port call in Finnsnes was only about 30 minutes (meaning I had 15 minutes to walk the waterfront since we had to be back on board 15 minutes before departure), I was determined to see this statue below, of a seafaring Viking known to Norwegians as Ottar who traveled the world. We’d attended the lecture on Vikings earlier that day and were told one of his legacies is this statue in our next port call :-). Pretty sure this is the same guy known elsewhere as Othere, whose exploits you can explore here, should you wish.

Signs of the City.117

…and the following day our main port stop was at Trondheim, one of whose cafes claims to have probably the best espresso in the world. And since I can, I’ll share below the first time in my life that I’ve photographed a drink, which was the first (and so far only) cup of chili hot chocolate that I’ve drunk. Which I did the day before, in Ålesund. And yes, it was definitely the best chili hot chocolate I’ve ever had and I drank it all with gusto. Contrary to my hopes, however, this is not a common offering in any of the other many cafes we visited along the coast of Norway, in our quest for a second cup.

Coasting.127

Next month I expect to get up to the Frisian islands with my cousin Sam, which should mean some good Dutch coastal pics for this series, so I’ll share all the remaining “coastal” appropriate shots from the first full day on the boat, 21 January. We spent much of that day docked at Ålesund, because (as I understood) daylight in winter is too short for the boat to make it up and back in the narrow fiord nearby, as it would do in the summer. One thing I loved about the cruise was our view of both the wild mountainous coastlines but also of the small villages tucked in all along the coast. The boat make short stops at many of them, but many more we glided past without stopping, including a few in the gallery below.

Bridges.27

A detail on Pont Notre Dame (Notre Dame Bridge) above, and lovely details from various other bridges along the Seine below.

Windows.17

The Source.7

Frost on the grass, ice on the pond, and water in the lake: a cold February morning walk around Sloterplas.

Skylights.7