A Moment in Time Redux

Here, again, is the photo I submitted to the New York Times' world-wide simultaneous photo shoot called "A Moment in Time." I'm updating my post of May 2 because I can now link to the photo as it appears in the Times' interactive feature. Here's the link! Just wait for the feature to load and the photo will pop up. Then, you can -- and should -- explore the entire project. Oh, and if you go there, please "recommend" the photo!

Th th th that's all folks

It's absolutely beautiful in Drøbak today, about 70 degrees, sunny
with a light breeze and high fluffy clouds in the bluest sky
imaginable. And so, tomorrow I head home. Hope you emjoyed the
updates. Ha det!

This little piggy went to kindergarten. That's where he lives!

Land of the Almost Midnight Sun

Taken at 11:30 pm.

Exhibit A

If you can order beer you can survive anywhere

Not that it's difficult to get a beer while basking in the sun across the street from the Norwegian parliament.  On the other hand, a pint costs about $10 here. Though, now that I come to think of it, I was drinking pear cider, and that was probably $10 as well.

Chocolate in a Tube in Rema 1000, Botanical Gardens in Oslo

Someone told me you could get chocolate in a tube. Turns out she was
right. Not that I tried it.

Land of Unusual Pizzas

This one, not surprisingly, is popular with kids. Yes, folks, those are french fries on that pizza. It's disgustingly good.

Apple Blossom

We planted a new apple tree yesterday.

Stockholm Report

The Lonely Planet guide to Scandinavia says about Sweden that the
longer you stay there, the more foreign it becomes. "Sweden's
literature and cinema favour a weighty, gothic sense of drama blended
with gallows humor and stark aesthetics -- all of which, in some form,
at some point, will confront the visitor...Attentive visitors will
notice a tone here that hints at many things: depth of feeling,
awareness of doom, absence of sentimentality, strength of principle,
avoidance of conflict, a sombre conviction that certain things simply
matter." While these intangibles won't make it into the post-trip
slideshow, "the mysterious Swedish sensibilty enhances every aspect of
a traveler's experience."'

Of course I can only speak to Stockholm, but I definitley think the
writer was on to something. I thought about these ideas everytime I
passed through the cavernous, ominously decorated Kunstragårdan subway
station or waked through the impossibly beautiful and slightly
sinister streets of Gamla Stan. Also, the light is beautiful. I am
mostly interested in walking around and gawping at stuff, taking
picutres, and resting my feet in places where there is more stuff to
gawp at. Stockholm certainly filled that bill.'

I had found my teeny tiny hotel room (think train compartment) online
and was actually very satisified with it. The city is hugely
expensive and considering how little time you spend in your room, you
don't need a lot of space. It was quiet, comfortable, and in a very
handy location for transport. Transportation for this entire sidetrip
was amazing. When I got back, I felt as though I had been ticking
along inside a giant Swiss watch for days. My nephew dropped me at the
Oslo train station on his way to work on Tuesday morning. I got on
the Flytoget to Oslo Gardermoen airport a few minutes after that,
having bought my ticket at a machine. Twenty minutes later, I was
checking in (again via machine) for my Norwegian Air flight. Just
carried a small backback for these few days, so for once I really was
travelling light. The plane left on time and an hour later I was
buying another ticket from another machine, this time for the Arlanda
Express from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm Central Station. Again, 20
minutes later I was in the city.

Once I bought a Stockholm Card, I was able to use it on all of the
city buses, trams, and underground trains as well as the little Hop On
Hop Off Boats that travel among several of the islands that hold the
most visitor attractions. Forgive me if I started calling them the
Hip Hop boats in my head. I was on and off them all the time. I love
being on the water, and the weather was quite warm so it was also a
way to cool down. I spend the first afternoon getting oriented and
walking around in Gamla Stan. While I have posted a few photos from my
iPhone, I have many more taken with a small Canon that will eventually
find their way onto Flickr. (I'll send a link when they are up.) I
left my DSLR in Norway and somewhat regretted it, but I still think I
have a few good pictures and was definitely not weighed down by the
little Canon.

A word about the iPhone. As is no secret, I do not have any sort of
sense of direction. Can I just say that the iPhone is like a Star Trek
communicator and the Marauder's Map from Harry Potter all rolled in to
one! Every time you come up out of the subway, you can hit that
search button on Google Maps and a littel blue dot shows you right
where you are. But that's not all, folks. Punch in your next
destination - an address or a subway station or a square - and it will
give you a map and directions geared for walking. Then the little
blue dot moves along with you, so if like me you head off in the
wronig direction ANYWAY, it will soon set you straight. This really
saved me tons of time and frustration.

Besides the lovely streets of Gamla Stan, I enjoyed visiting the
Cathedral there. I believe it will be the venue for the big royal
wedding coming up next month, though I'm not 100 per cent sure on
that. I am sure that Stockholm has wedding fever in a very big and not
uincommercial way. Sadly for everyone I could not fit any mugs with
the couple's mugs into my little daypack. From the cathedral, I
carried on to the royal apartments in the palace -- ornate, barqoque,
frenchified, and charming. There is also a room that is quite modern
designed for the current royals and featuring Swedish art and design.
Quite the most cheerful spot in the place. I also dipped into the
Treasury to see crowns and swords, then stood in the hot sun with
every other tourist in town that day to watch the changing of the
guard. I have to say it seemed kind of Ruritanian to me, but very
enjoyable. The band played the uusal marches and flourishes but also
wheeled around to ABBA at one point and does some nifty things with
drum solos. A definite crowd pleaser.

My second full day I went to Riddarholm, the island where you find the
oldest church in Stockholm and all the law courts and far fewer
tourists. In the afternoon I visited the modern art museum and had
lunch there. The terrace was lovely -- and everyone wants to eat
outside because of the nice weather and sunshine. I gave it a try but
saw that the dirty plates were under attack by an aggressive seagull
and got worried about having his business plop on my head, so I
retreated to the long tables inside, which still had a spectacular view.

After checking out on Friday morning, I left my bag and hopped back
onto the subway and a boat to visit Skansen, the outdoor museum.
Don't know if you've been to one of these open air musuems or not.
Old houses and shops from all over the country are lovingly restored
and situated. There are animals, gardens, intepretive guides in
costumes and loads of photo ops. Even the reindeer will pose, I
swear. I barely had enough time to get a sense of the place and
then back into that Swiss watch for my trip back to Norway: Hip Hop
Boat to Gamla Stan, subway to hotel, pick up bag, subway to train
station, Arlanda Express to airport, Norwegian air to Gardarmoen,
Flytoget to Oslo S and then my personal driver to take me back to
Drøbak for dinner. What could be better?

Ha det!

Suzanne

Beautiful Sights in Stockholm

Changing of the guard, mystery photo, and dinner

Sent from my iPhone.

Not the most exciting set of photos, but I wanted to send something each day if I could. The changing of the guard was fine, but it was hot and went on and on.  The "mystery" photo was taken in the Kungsträdgården underground station. And my dinner was at Lao Wai, a wonderful vegetarian Chinese restaurant up the street from my hotel.

Stockholm is beautiful. I'm too tired to write more.

Bunads everywhere

Aidan Burke

I last heard Aidan play 9 years ago in Oslo. He is great company and an amazing fiddler. Here he is with Daithi Rua, (at some other venue, but) pretty much just like at The Dubliner in Oslo last night.

Friday report on Saturday

A little rainy today but yesterday was lovely. Walked into Drøbak w
Sandii for shopping and photo ops. Here is a photo of my lunch, which
I guarantee you is the best fish soup in the world.

Off to hear some Irish music in Oslo soon.

Norwegian hospitality - worth the trip

Layover at Heathrow

Hei fra Drøbak

My first official post of the trip. If you are receiving this you are
on my list for travel updates. Email me to opt out.

I did not make it to Reykjavik. The ash cloud had other plans and I
was rerouted through London. (photo soon).

Now it's Thursday and I'm in Norway and have had a good night's sleep.
More posts in the days to come.

Sent from my iPhone.

Test post 2

Bear with me while I test a new function. Here's a photo for your
trouble.

Trip updates - test post

A Moment in Time

Here's the  photo I took at 8 am this morning to participate in the New York Times' world-wide simultaneous photo shoot called "A Moment in Time."

And here's the text I submitted with the photo:

"I was looking for a parking spot near the Olympia Maintenance Facility when I spotted these diligent Sunday morning workers.  I had to be nearly on top of them to figure out they weren't real."  Submissions are going to be geotagged and put in a mosaic. If I find mine, I'll see what I can do to link to it. UPDATE: Here's the link! Just wait for the interactive feature to load and the photo will pop up. Then, you can -- and should -- explore the entire project. Oh, and if you go there, please "recommend" the photo!

What I originally had in mind was to take a photo of the construction cranes for the new state data center from the Eastside Street/I-5 overpass.  I see them every day now on my drive to work and find them fascinating. I love their geometry and how they move in relation to each other, but sadly their beauty is hard to capture.

While I was walking along the overpass, I found a little memorial, evidently for someone who had died near that spot, either in an accident or from having jumped off the bridge.  There were dead flowers wired onto the fence, tipped-over jars, and neglected bouquets.  And this:

Gone, but not forgotten. Whoever you were.

In the end, I decided the photo of the working figures was the most distinctive, as well as the most cheerful.

Postcards from Olympia

New Theme Now, New Photos Soon

I have a date to meet up with other photographers tomorrow and hope to have something to show for it. In the meantime, Blogger has come up with amazing new tools for customizing a blog. An invitation to (a) go crazy and (b) change it up once in a while.

Let me know if you like the current look!

Food Browsing in the International District

From the top....


Gingko nuts -- for chawan mushi (Japanese egg custard) and stir fry, $5.99/lb. (Do not eat raw!)

Red adzuki beans, clearly not red, price not noted.

Chinese water potatoes, or chi goo, $2.29/lb.

12th and Columbia

I was on my way to a CLE at Seattle University. It was early on February 26. February 26!

Museum of Glass

The museum exhibit space and location are lovely. Kids Design Glass is both funny and inspiring, and the Preston Singletary exhibit, Echoes, Fire and Shadows, which expresses Northwest Native Art themes, is absolutely stunning. By the way, the museum's website features live video streaming of work in its hot shop.

Click here for more pictures from me.

Pseudo Spring Is Better Than None

Remember me, erstwhile blogger?

This flashy photo is a spontaneous iPhone experiment, but I sort of like it.