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City Views.253

County Views.153

Bergen is the capital and most populous city of Norway’s Vestfold county, which is second in population only to Oslo county.

Ah, Royalty.53

When Ålesund burned in 1904, Kaiser Wilhem II was a big supporter of its rebuilding in this lovely Jugenstil (Art Nouveau) style. Other towns we visited on the cruise had rebuilt after a fire, but none with such royal support! 🙂

Ah, Royalty.52

We launched this series in August 2023, after Nikos & I had done a swing through Het Loo palace and museum in Appeldoorn. So this was my first visit since then to London, home to that most quintessential royal head-of-state institution full of pomp and circumstance (and a fairly high level of dignity, compared to some other global heads of state one can think of). So although really the weekend was all about celebrating Howard’s 60th birthday, I simply had to post my first ever blog shots of this well known royal location.

Mountains.72

We could also title this post “37 Views of the Matterhorn,” because these should be the last 37 views of this beautiful mountain that you’ll see for now. I arrived in Zermatt after dark on the 30th of October and posted my very first Matterhorn shots the next morning, so today is precisely three months from when I posted the first of many Matterhorn shots. I did many long and wonderful walks / hikes during my three full days in Zermatt, as well as sitting on benches drinking tea in the morning while waiting for the sun to peek around the facing mountains to shine directly onto the peak on at least one morning. So these show the mountain as seen from various directions and elevations. I’ve edited out quite a few, but find these that remain so lovely each in a slightly different way that I’d feel I’m failing to share the joy of beauty if I didn’t post. And Steve always reminds me that folks can glance quickly and then move on if they want. Hugs & may the coming month bring love, joy and some mountain tranquility to your daily life.

From the Air.72

Our coastal-Norway cruise wrapped up early Sunday in Kirkenes, a town closer to Murmansk than to any other large-ish city I know of. It’s at 69N degrees; the arctic circle starts at 66N degrees. The above photo, taken shortly before noon, and two minutes after the take-off photo below right so at whatever altitude our plane had gained by that point, shows you the sun managing to peak both through some clouds, and over the horizon. We knew that at ground level the sun had only begun to peak above the horizon the week before we arrived in Kirkenes, and in general the most we had during the three full days we spent inside the arctic circle were maybe five hours of long dawn / dusk light (the same, with the sun actually above the horizon and maybe peaking through clouds) for a couple hours in the middle of it. It messes with one’s head and sense of meal and bedtimes, when full dark lasts until 9am and resumes by 2pm 🙂

City Lights.82

Bergen between 16:00 and 17:00 last Monday, as Gary & I caught up on a city walk before boarding.
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Islands.82

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Country Canals.92

Urban Entrances.152

First of the few photos from my pre-Norway weekend in London 🙂

Urban Canals.192

I’ve stuck with just Norway posts since last Wednesday, so now I’m back in A’dam as of this morning I figured I’d reiterate my love of this city on a clear morning, circa two weeks ago on a morning bike commute to the office.