Here in mid-Norway the spot price for electric power dipped below Zero for a brief time this morning. The average today is 2.53 øre (NOK 0.0253)
Tonight it will be blowing and raining so the spot price will be below Zero from midnight until 0900 hrs.
Tomorrow’s posted spot price:
Highest price at 19.00-20.00: 12.20 øre/kWh
Average: 2.50 øre/kWh
Lowest price at 03.00-04.00: -2.67 øre/kWh
Fjellstua sits at the top of the mountain Aksla in Ålesund. PHOTO: STAALE WATTØ (ARCHIVE)
The access route from the City Park have 418 steps to reach Fjellstua. The route can be clearly seen on the picture above. (There are also a Via Ferrata climbing route for the more adventurous)
When you get there you are rewarded with a spectacular view of the town and the mountains and islands around (Clockwise from NE to SE) :
It is not, although it may look that way in that picture of a section of town that consist of a mixture of Jugend style (Art nouveau)buildings from 1904-09 and newer buildings from the last 50 years or so)
The reason for this can be found in the history of the great fire in Jan. 1904 and the reconstruction of the town centre with the help from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany who were a regular visitor to the Norwegian fjords and Ålesund, both before and after the Ålesund Fire:
In my youth the town was almost “clinically gray”, since the stone and concrete houses were not painted, incl. the decorations that had been added to the houses during the construction period (1904-1909) where hardly noticed.
Today the houses are largely painted externally and the decorations painstakingly highlighted to where they are among the most photographed subjects by the many tourists that walk the streets, especially in the cruise season (April - Sept.)
Here are some that attract a lot of attention:
OK, thanks.
The squeezed house, large less than three meters, disturbs my tectonic understanding. I always thought that the continental plates did not press against each other in Norway.
I did not understand your ‘Judgen style’, until I pronounced it for myself:
It is probably the German ‘Jugend Stil’, an art, furniture and architectural epoch (Style of the Youth)…
The stairs to Fjellstua deserve a special mentioning.
Construction started already in 1885 as a combination of gravel path and stone steps.
Over the years the steps became worn to the degree that they were deemed dangerous:
In 2014-15 the old steps were replaced with new concrete steps to cater to the ever growing popularity and the number of cruise ship visits that could be up to 4 or 5 on some days.
(Now limited to 10000 Pax. capacity/day)
The new steps are kept in a light colour to be clearly visible, with some steps numbered so you don’t have to count yourself, with benches for those who need a rest on the way up (or down)
A bit after half way up there is a viewpoint called “Byrampen”:
Likely to stay on the ground for at least the next week due to unusual low temperatures forecasted. (Clear w/ temp. down to -9 -10C at night for Saturday - Wednesday)
Good possibilities of seeing Northern Lights in Ålesund for the nearest nights:
It is forecast to last for another few days, before turning to a more normal +4-5C and rain by the end of the week.
The good thing is that Winter Solstice is only a bit over a week away, when days gets longer and brighter again. (Today the sun rise was at 09:54 hrs. and the sun will set again at 15:03 hrs.)