Norway, that is. This time we are in glacier country, driving south toward Bergen. Be glad that I am editing my cache, but yes, there is still more to come.
Tag: Photography
It’s too hard to describe…
Norway, that is. Fjords and waterfalls and rivers and high peaks and spectacular valleys, blue skies, grey skies, doesn’t matter…there’s barely time to blink. And there’s more to come.
A Preview of Coming Attractions
We drove into Norway, heading for Lillehammer, on a rainy morning. After the beauty and lovely weather we’d experienced in Denmark and Sweden, our spirits were dampened…until incredible natural wonders began to reveal themselves in the fog and mist. Who knew glacier water could be so stunningly turquoise?! All I could do was try to brace my camera, and shoot and shoot and shoot through rain streaked windows. I literally took several thousand photos during these final tour days, and have weeks of sorting to do before you’ll see more from me of this incredible country. Sorry.
On to Sweden
The long drive from Copenhagen to Stockholm isn’t remotely boring; it’s bucolic. The rolling hills and farmlands introduce a landscape of forests and lush green fields, dotted by barns and homesteads painted in Sweden’s iconic red color. And then Stockholm appears, with one of the prettiest Old Towns imaginable. It has some of the narrowest streets in the world, which open to colorful plazas or lead to waterfront parks. If one is bored with natural beauty (really?), visiting City Hall with its gold room covered by 25 million gilded mosaic tiles should inspire wonder; it’s the site of the annual Nobel Prize presentation banquet. Perhaps an evening boat trip to a lovely dinner location out-of-town will be on your schedule as it was ours; sunset in Stockholm is a very special memory.
Denmark Beyond its Capital
There is much to Denmark beyond Copenhagen, and short excursions from the capital brought us an even greater appreciation of its charms. Whether you’re looking for fishing villages with cobbled streets lined with hollyhocks beside thatched roof cottages, or castles such as Fredriksborg (which houses the Danish National Museum) or churches such as Roskilde Cathedral, (a UNESCO World Heritage site in which the remains of 39 kings and queens are buried), Denmark can offer them all. The country absolutely deserves its reputation for beauty and enviable high standard of living.
Charming, Cool Copenhagen
Denmark’s capital city is a wonderful mix of old and edgy. It’s location on an island creates a city of extremely accessible canals, waterfront parks and beaches. Boating, biking and walking are far and away the most convenient and pleasurable means of transportation in an area which takes prides in its high environmental standards (it aims for carbon-neutrality by 2025!) Copenhagen has ranked high in all surveys for “livability” and its citizens claim to be the happiest on earth, in spite of high taxes and general cost of living. It’s pretty, its old architecture is charming, it’s new architecture is exciting (the Opera House is spectacular), Tivoli amusement park and gardens, which opened in 1843 in the center of the city, is a delight, and the city is absolutely cutting edge for cultural and social issues. I completely get it.
Sky or Sea?
Flying at dusk into Virginia, it was easy to feel transported instead to the Arctic Ocean of imagination.
The Desert in Bloom
The Grand Finale
Here at last. The Grand Canyon. There were many more people on the South Rim than anywhere else we visited during our entire journey (a large percentage of whom were foreign visitors), but the National Park Service does an outstanding job of managing both this enormous land mass and those who come to see it. We applauded the Rangers and other staff often for their friendly helpfulness, and thought park lodging and food services were amazing in light of the high traffic and turnover demands placed on them.
As was the case in all the parks we visited, all one had to do was wait a minute for the scene to change its color and mood. It is grand indeed.
The Sky’s the Limit!
Focusing on the sky during a three hour drive in northern Arizona can quickly deplete a camera battery.
My Time Too 