Visual Norway

A Buoyant Reflection

2009-11-06T21:00:00.002+01:00

James at Newtown Area Photo has a meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on at his site - and you're on.

An old bench with a view

2009-11-06T01:00:00.003+01:00

Not long ago we walked in an area I once knew well. This bench looked as if it had been there then. But is still served its purpose: Sitting on the bench we could see the youngest generation playing as it always has. Some things never change.

P is for Paraglider

2009-11-03T17:40:00.002+01:00

A Wikipedia definition:

A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.

I prefer to stay on the ground with a camera. The picture was shot during "Ekstremsportveko" 2008, at Voss, Norway.

Today's post is an entry in the FIFTH round of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt.

For more, you can log on via the MckLinky enabled site

Visiting my old school

2009-11-01T09:00:00.001+01:00

This used to be the caretaker's quarters. Once upon a time they really had caretakers.

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Autumn by a Norwegian lake

2009-10-31T00:30:00.002+01:00

This week's reflections are from a lake that once was part of the water supply in Bergen. Now it is only used for recreational purposes.

James at Newtown Area Photo has started a meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on at his site - and you're on.

I have not been able to access Blogger or indeed any Blogs through my normal ISP all day (this post add-on is via another system). The same is true for many others around the world. I will thus not be able to answer any comments, make new comments or make new posts until this has been fixed by Blogger.

The problem has now been fixed, so then it is back to normal business!

Bench along the trail

2009-10-30T01:00:00.001+01:00

When you walk along a trail you are usually glad to see a place where you can sit down, relax and enjoy whatever sight there might be to see. In this case I was walking along a trail in The Forest of Canada.

No, I have not moved away from Norway. However, in Bergen there is a forested recreational area called The Forest of Canada (Kandaskogen in Norwegian). One might imagine it looks a bit like it too - judging from the pictures I have seen, for instance on Barbara Martin's blog.

The name stems from a group of boy-scouts who in 1918 went hiking in "Canada".

I only hope the authorities in Canada take better care of their benches than we do.

O is for Otter

2009-10-27T15:00:00.002+01:00

Wikipedia has this to say about otter:

Otters are semi-aquatic (or in one case aquatic) fish-eating mammals. The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others. With thirteen species in seven genera, otters have an almost worldwide distribution. They mainly eat aquatic animals, predominantly fish and shellfish, but also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals.

The word otter derives from the Old English word otor or oter. This and cognate words in other Indo-European languages ultimately stem from a root which also gave rise to the English words water.^[1]

Some of you might like to know that Oter, which is mentioned above, is also the current Norwegian name for this very animal.

Today's post is an entry in the FIFTH round of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt.

For more, you can log on via the MckLinky enabled site

After a night on the town

2009-10-25T10:30:00.001+01:00

A statue outside our former Stock Exchange...

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Autumn by a Norwegian fjord

2009-10-24T06:00:00.001+02:00

These photos were shot at a small marina not far from where I live.

James at Newtown Area Photo has started a meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on at his site - and you're on.

Empty benches in the autumn

2009-10-23T01:00:00.002+02:00

The amusement part of Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park has closed down for the season.

An experiment in contrast

2009-10-18T10:30:00.001+02:00

Too much of a good thing?

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

A Reflecting Young Gull

2009-10-17T06:00:00.002+02:00

He has made it through his first summer. Maybe he is reflecting on his future prospects there on his stone?

James at Newtown Area Photo has started a meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on at his site - and you're on.

Ancient Benches

2009-10-16T01:00:00.002+02:00

This week I post benches that are definitely not Norwegian and may well be (at least some of them) very old. We are at the Acropolis of Rhodos (Rhodes) in Greece. This area consists of several buildings and constructions that date to the Hellenistic and Late Hellenistic periods (3rd-2nd c. BC). However, there have been large excavations and rather heavy reconstructions.

Above you see an Odeion.

It held some 800 spectators and is thought to have been used either for musical events or for attending lessons in rhetoric given by famous Rhodian orators.

If you doubt that they sat on benches - look below. The picture was taken half-way up the left-hand stairs.

Right adjacent to the Odeion there was a Stadium.

The Stadium, with a N-S orientation, is on the SE side of the hill; it was excavated and restored by the Italians. It was one stadion in length, namely 600 feet or 210 metres. The authentic original surviving parts are the sphendone (rounded end with turning post), proedries (seats of officials) and some of the lower seats in the auditorium. Also preserved is the starting mechanism for the athletes.

And of course - the spectators had to sit on something...

Nature's revenge

2009-10-14T13:04:00.002+02:00

A colourful autumn, in more ways than one. Shot today.

M is for the Mane of the Male Master

2009-10-13T15:18:00.000+02:00

The Mane of the Male lion is the Mark of the Master of the Mammalian world. The Maximized Might Mastered in so Marked a Manner by this Monarch of the Males cannot be Mastered by the Most Macho of Men.

And where there is a Male there is a feMale - Meaning this Matriarch of a Member of the species.

And the Minors? In the Meantime they are Manhandling the Meat off a no More Mobile (if I am not Mistaken) Morning Meal.

Today's post is an entry in the FIFTH round of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt.

For more, you can log on via the MckLinky enabled site

Grooming Mallard

2009-10-12T07:00:00.001+02:00

I see that I haven't shown you a bird for some time, so today I'm posting a grooming mallard I saw yesterday - the female of the species...

The British Museum - inside

2009-10-11T09:56:00.000+02:00

The "Millennium" roof - looking up

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Reflection of an Antelope

2009-10-10T01:00:00.000+02:00

In yesterday's post I hoped for a closer look at one of the savannah's animals. We did - here is an antelope at the waterhole.

James at Newtown Area Photo has started a meme called Weekend Reflections. Post a reflection during the week-end, log on at his site - and you're on.

A bench - in Africa?

2009-10-09T01:00:00.001+02:00

I found a slightly unusual bench (at least for Norway) that I could post this week. Exotic and comfortable. A feeling of far away.

Obviously placed in a well protected shelter with a good view and possibilities for photography.

This is what a Norwegian savannah looks like in October - at least at Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park. The animals are at the other end, but maybe we can tempt one to come closer?

La Sagrada Familia - inside

2009-10-04T10:30:00.001+02:00

Inside one of the towers of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona. Shot in 2005.

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly

Evening at Toftøy

2009-10-03T01:00:00.002+02:00

James at Newtown Area Photo has started a meme called Weekend Reflections that is very promising. Post a reflection during the week-end and give him a notice - and you're on.

My contribution is from a small island called Toftøy, close to the North Sea.

Bench of the week (27) - Goathland station

2009-10-02T01:00:00.000+02:00

I had sort of thought of using some benches from London this time. Not so. The one(s) I had were even below my standard. So I thought - why not use some British railway benches I had on file, and then I would also be able to continue my motif of station benches from last week? So here they are:

Goathland railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Goathland in North Yorkshire, England. It is famous for appearing in the television series Heartbeat and as Hogsmeade station the Hogwarts Express stop at in the Harry Potter films.

All information from Wikipedia, of course. I also did them in black & white. I felt it suited a veteran railway.

I have now been showing benches once a week for half a year. Maybe I should do something else?

K is for Kayak

2009-09-29T16:00:00.000+02:00

My contribution for K has of course a definition - from Wikipedia as usual:

A kayak is a small human-powered boat. It typically has a covered deck, and a cockpit covered by a spraydeck also known as a skirt. The kayak was used by the native Ainu, Aleut and Eskimo hunters in sub-Arctic regions of northeastern Asia, North America and Greenland. It historically was, and often still is, propelled by a double-bladed paddle in the hands of a sitting paddler. Modern kayaks come in a wide variety of designs and materials for specialized purposes.

And as you can also see: You can have one - or many...

Today's post is an entry in the FIFTH round of ABC Wednesday, the meme initiated by Denise Nesbitt.

For more, you can log on via the MckLinky enabled site

A puddle in Weekend Reflections

2009-09-27T17:19:00.002+02:00

James at Newtown Area Photo has just started a new (and linky free!!) meme called Weekend Reflections that sounds very promising. Post a reflection during the week-end and give him a notice - and you're on.

I take part with this one from home. Very representative for our climate right now.

A Night at the Opera

2009-09-27T10:30:00.001+02:00

A foggy, winter night at The Opera House, Oslo, Norway

This Monochrome concept came from Aileni at The Monochrome Weekly