We just passed it ... 66 degrees north.

40 minutes ago, we passed the Polar Circle and in 15 minutes I am due do be picked up here (on the ocean) by a boat that will take me, and many others, to Svartisen. That is Norways second largest glacier. Later on we will be picked up by a bus that will take us to Bodø to meet the ship again 6 hours from now.
All is well, the food is just a little bit too good. Just a small luxury problem, that's all :)
I do miss Ásta and Anna and Rebekka........
Hugs and kisses.

Can not upload

Sorry folks. There will be no pictures from the cruise for now. Only a screen and a keyboard here, no usb, no cd-rom, no nothing.
We started out from Bergen at 8pm yesterday. Had a fantastic dinner a little later and then I went to bed, absolutely finished after a long day. To flights, first to Oslo and then to Bergen. For some odd reason we had to fetch our luggage and go through customs in Oslo. Took some time and out flight was delayed leaving Copenhagen.
The taxi I had ordered never arrived, one that could take all of us plus the wheelchair, but I spotted another big one from the same company and he saved us.
We are here now. All is well and we are sailing on Geirangerfjorden at the moment.

Turning Torso

When the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava sent in his idea for a bridge between Denmark/Copenhagen and Sweden/Malmö, a picture of his sculpture "Twisting Torso" was in a brochure he enclosed. The bridge that eventually was built is not his creation, but the people involved found the torso interesting and obviously kept it at the back of their minds.
The Kockum shipyard in Malmö is closed and has been for many years and the huge Kockum crane that has been Malmö's landmark for decades has been removed. Needing a new hallmark, The Twisting Torso became The Turning Torso. It opened in 2005, 54 storeys in all - rising 190 meters high and thereby one of the highest residential buildings in Europe. The building turns 90 degrees around it's own axis so this is no photoshopadventure you have before your eyes. Offices on the first 14 floors or so and from there and to the top, apartments.
I have been wanting to take a shot for some time now, and last week I did. I think this building is a fantastic idea, if not genius, and seems well executed.

Our "Hurtigruten" on MS Trollfjord

Well, there you have it - our itinerary for the trip to Norway. We are leaving on June 26th and will be back on July 7th.
Now all I have to do is pack. There is a washing machine on board, so we can be light travellers. The hard decision is what reading material to bring along. On WWTTA (link on this page) we will be reading a wonderful collection of Virginia Woolf, 6 titles in all and I will bring one book from that list. Other than that title, this is the current shortlist that I will be making much shorter in a day or two:
Suzanne Brøgger, Sejd is a collection of essays, excellent on a trip.
Ida Jessen, Det første jeg tænker på, published earlier this year.
Katarina Mazetti, Grabben i graven bredvid, Swedish but in an Icelandic translation, done by my good friend Hildur. (Already started, might even finish befor we leave).
Zadie Smith, On Beauty. (Have read a few pages, it is promising).
Mozart's letters in a collection from last year. But I am afraid it is too heavy.
Karen Joy Fowler, The jane Austen Book Club.
Any ideas from YOU are more than welcome.
I'll be packing my mini-scrabble and playing cards. The others are planning on taking Cranium and TP.
I will be taking my camera and everything that goes with that. I'll even bring the old Nikon F80 along, IF..... It's a film camera, but even if Janke's Point&Shoot is ok, it's not as good as either of mine and my lenses fit on both cameras.
In seven days, we will be on our way to Kastrup.
We: Gunnild, Henry, Ulla, Janke, me, Pia, Peter, Ida & Jarl from Copenhagen and Charlotte, Klaus and Jakob will join us in Trondheim on Day 3.

Happy Birthday Gunnild!

Yesterday was Gunnild's birthday, 80 years old with the energy level of a toddler. The family met at a restaurant downtown for a typical Danish frokost (lunch) and then we sailed on the canal, a small rehearsal for the 12 day cruise coming up very soon (I am actually finding it hard to sleep, very excited about the whole thing). After that we went to Ego and Ásta made us some hot chokolate and her's is about as good as it gets. A good day in good company and I think that Gunnild enjoyed her day and that is the most important thing. She is one of a kind.

Yes, Salt Cedar can be found in Scandinavia

We decided to celebrate Janke's birthday this Monday by crossing the bridge to Sweden. It was a wonderful sunny day and we visited a place not far from Staffanstorp that sells plants and herbs and has a café and a wonderful old fashioned garden were we enjoyed our food in beautiful surroundings.
Salt Cedar or Tamarix Ramosissima (hope I have spelled this correctly) is not a common tree/bush in Scandinavia, but there it is, in bloom. Pink tiny flowers in May/June so we were indeed very lucky.
A good day and tomorrow a new birthday, Janke's mother will be 80. I will be taking the camera along and hopefully I'll have a nice shot to publish in a day or two.

I Can Read

This shot did well on dpc, I was actually a little surprised, but then again, that crowd is impossible to figure.

Do YOU have a Dream?

Maybe a book you want to write, a film to make, a picture to take, a woman/man you want to marry (or divorce)? Is there a house you want to live in? A job you would love to have a go at?
I have not got many dreams or wishes. The biggest one for years has been to have a day of from chronic pain; I still dream and hope that one day it will go away, for ever and a day or just for a day. I dream of taking a vacation from being me. Why doesn't some travel agent specialize in trips away from who we are? Ok, there are drugs that I am told can do that, but I'm not travelling down that road.
Then I have a dream about countries to visit and for years, actually since I was a teenager, I have wanted to travel by boat and see almost the entire Norwegian coast. It's called the Hurtigruten and the home page is here . I really didn't think it would happen. But, against all odds, I am leaving on June 26th; my mother-in-law decided a few years ago, that for her 80th birthday she would take her clan on a Hurtigruten cruise.
We will be sailing with MS Trollfjord and you can at any time find us by checking here
I am really looking forward to this trip and have been for a long time. As it is a dream come true, very unexpectedly so, the thought of going is a bit unreal. Maybe it will become real when I am standing on deck with my camera, shooting away. There is an Internet room aboard and I will try to post while we are travelling, here and/or on flickr.com, the link to my pictures on flickr is among the links at the top of this page.

It is important to have dreams, to set goals. I for one need to remember that.

Whitsuntide in Copenhagen is Carneval Time

For 25 years, this weekend has been Carneval-weekend here in Copenhagen. A long weekend, often sunny (as this year) and in Parken there are many colourful costumes, fantastic music, good dancers and everybody having a good time. The summer is here at last, so this young woman didn't have to freeze - after all, she is not wearing anything that keeps her warm. She was a member of a group from Sweden. Somewhere along the line, her ancestors probably came from Brazil, who knows. It was enjoyable to walk through the park, a colourful day.

A Recent Self-Portrait

Yet another photograph for a DPC-challenge. Never done a self-portrait before and it was actually fun. Difficult to keep all 6 pairs in place and go back and forth for each shot, but I made it.