Maybe that’s the best part of going away for a vacation-coming home again. ~Madeleine L’Engle
Chase your dreams but always know the road that will lead you home again ~Unknown to me
Tag: Norway
A popular though steep trail in Bergen
Spectacular view of Bergen city from Stoltzekleiven, which is one of the most popular trails in Bergen. It is a steep paved trail and stairs with approximately 722 steps up to Sandviksfjellet. Sandviksfjellet is one of the traditional seven mountains that surround the city centre of Bergen.
Weekend: National day
Every year on May 17, Norwegians shed their typically reserved shell to dress up, hit the streets and party. It’s a day full of national pride, yet there’s no displays of military power and the politicians keep quiet. Norway’s Constitution Day is all about the children.
The lack of military parades is perhaps the most notable difference about Norway’s Constitution Day compared to many other countries around the world. Instead, the main parade is full of children from local schools, often in marching bands. Proud parents watch on with smartphone cameras at the ready before joining a people’s parade later in the day.
Some highlights of the day’s parade.
Also joining the people’s parade are Norway’s high school graduates. Known as russ, they are easy to spot in their brightly-colored overalls. On May 17, they are likely to be taking it easy as the day marks the culmination of a two-week period of partying that is seen as a rite-of-passage by most Norwegians.
I was invited for tradition brunch/lunch with a norwegian family. I met the 94 years grandma, a fantastic enthusiastic lady. She is still actively living in her own house. She talked about flowers, garden, grocery shopping and even she told us about her country tour on bicycle during war time.
The whole event reminds me of celebrating festivals in India. The table was full of fantastic traditional dishes. Members of extended family paying small visits and tasting the food. It was a sunny day and as we were sitting outside, passing neighbours were stopping by for a moment and some even dropped in and enjoyed their share of champagne. All in all it was a fantastic day for everyone.
My contribution for Jo’s Monday walk and lens-artists-photo-challenge as I see the parade an example of lively street art.
Reference article:
Routine travel shots
For Lens-artists-photo-challenge I shall share my routine travel shots though earlier I thought of sharing my captures at cafes in Malaga. oops cafe shots have to wait now 🙂
Yesterday I travelled again and I realized these images show “my” routine moments. I couldnot resist showing them again. Hope you enjoy them.
A book in hand but my eyes are looking out for such cosy settings.
Not all shots are perfect.
My routine mistake due the “speed”. 1/nth second late and the focus changes.
The trees and the small boats are my favourite subjects when watching reflections.
One might not find them great but these are my real routine moments 🙂
A tour to Norwegian cherry farm
For Jo’s Monday walk, today we shall take a tour to a farming village called Lærdal in Norway where major agriculture production includes potatoes, apricots, oats, raspberries and most of all cherries. Sweet cherries or Morello cherries, originally from China now grown in Norway are popular and are sold in majority of grocery stores in Norway. The cherry production in this region is more than 200 tons and accounts for half of the total cherry production in Norway.
To learn about Norwegian farm life and its challenges we took a guided tour/walk with one of the renowened farmers of this region. His talk also includes the following topics:
- Cherries – varieties, root stocks, tree architecture and cover systems in operation
- Testing and benchmarking for the cherry varieties: The Canadian varieties from Summerland reseach: Van, Lapins and Sweet Hart, and the European: Regina (Germany), Kordia (Czeck rep) and Girgia (Italian)
- Ideas around robotics and drone monitoring in fruit orchards
Protection against rain, wind and birds
Tempting
Result of good care
The chief
No grapes just berries
Bees had their share
Ready to go to the packing station
Nutrients supply
Long growing season, soft light, good soil and plenty of fresh water give the cherries the good taste. Cherries or Moreller tastes best when they have a deep dark red color and kept on room temperature.
The Norwegian agriculture has by far the strictest rules. It’s one of the reasons why one can safely eat cherries and other norwegian proctuct. Our tour also included
- Visit to Lærdal Grønt Pack House to study the operation of cherry grading machine that will deliver more then 200 tons of cherries to the Norwegian market this year (about 50% of Norwegian production)
- Discussing ideas around big data and cherry grading based on the 30 pictures pr cherry data optical grading system
- Visit to “Smak av Sogn Landhandel” local & regional food and drink shop
Right from farms
Washing of cherries in very cold water
Grading of cherries
The best are ready to be sold in shops
Weekend 58 – The mountains are(were) calling…
On Saturday, with everything in place we decided to go hiking on mount Ulriken (643moh.) It was a good decision after all.
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves ~Edmund Hillary
May your heart like a lake, with a calm still surface, and great depth of kindness ~Lao Tzu
In every season we make interesting memories on mountains. Little surprises wait for us on every corner.
We enjoyed our short breaks for relaxing and chit chatting. The view from every stop was awe-inspiring.
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley. ~Theodore Roethke
Time to go back! There are hundreds of unpolished stone stairs to hike down. Sherpas from Nepal are building stone stairs by hand with no powertools.
The major portion of 800 m trail is finished. Sherpas are working on the last section near the top. This section was very steep, dangerous and nothing to hold on. I really wanted to showcase this specific part but was asked to walk carefully instead of thinking about taking pictures which I promptly accepted. A tourist (lady) fell down and hurted herself badly just luckily air ambulase was not needed.
We were able to cover a distance of around 10.5 km due to supportive weather with clouds and little breeze.
Fun Fact: Norwegians do not normally greet people they don’t know if they don’t have to. This is true most everywhere, except in the mountains. So be prepared to say hello to everyone you meet when hiking. It might turn into a beautiful friendship, or even relationship.
Did you do anything special on the weekend?
