Greetings from Norway

Spring is in the air, but still cold and snow on the ground, even out here at the coast.
Saturday it was snowing heavily:


.PHOTO: KNUT M. TJØRSTAD

Yesterday evening the same:


Own picture

Today, Monday, the sun is shining over Northwest Norway. The snowdrops peek out of the snow:


Own picture


Sunshine over Ålesund. Photo taken from Fjelstua, looking southeast.
PHOTO: STAALE WATTØ

Next week is Easter holiday and the hope is for the same weather then:


There may be an opportunity to bring out both oranges and chocolate when Easter comes. PHOTO: GORM KALLESTAD/ NTB THEME

A bragging video about Norway:

No, It is not even made in Norway, or by Norwegians.

BTW; not all the info is correct, but that just shows it is not made by professionals, or as Norwegian propaganda.

Towards the end there are pictures from Norway “before and after oil” to show how things changed from poverty to riches almost overnight. (A popular belief)
The picture for “before” is from early 1900s, not 1960s.

In fact Norway was the 3rd richest country in the world per capita in 1970:

FYI: First oil from any Norwegian field was at Ekofisk, 15. June 1971.

Source: Norway’s oil history in 5 minutes - regjeringen.no

Two cruise ships from the same Cruise line together happen some times in Ålsund, but rarely this early in the season:


Aida Bella and Aida Mar in Ålesund today. One heading north and one south, using Ålesund as a convenient stopover on their Northern Light cruises. Photo: Eva Gjærde Vassbotn.

A postcard from Ålesund in the mid-1950s:


The WW ship alongside is M/V Topeka:
https://skipshistorie.net/Tramp%20og%20linje/Tekster/LTK00119491400000%20TOPEKA.htm
The smaller ship partly seen is one Bergens Dampskips Selskap (BDS) coasters, (not named).
Maybe M/V Lynx, blt. 1948:

https://www.sjohistorie.no/no/skip/18232/bilder
PS> My childhood home can be seen across the harbour, on the island of Hessa.

Update: Almost same view today:

Mapping the Norwegian coast anew, with different technology and for a different purpose than navigation:

Hvaldimir didn’t come into the harbour in Ålesund. He is now a bit south of here, helping to collect plastic from the sea: (see video)

PS> Maybe that is what he was trained to do by the Russians?

Not every Norwegian goes to the mountains during Easter holiday:


Some combine a trip on the fjords with skiing on the nearby mountains.

(See picture gallery at end of advert)

Ålesund today:


The quiet week!!

How Norwegians view the rest of Europe:

1 Like

It is spring!!!:
image
Photo: > Steinar Hildre-Almstad

Life are back to normal, after an exceptionally sunny Easter Holiday (1. - 10. April) in Norway
Today is cloudy but calm:

The cruise season is getting under way for real, with ships arriving almost every day from now on:

Today the IONA is in town on her first visit for the summer season:


She is due back every 2 weeks, or so, until October.

Source: Nå kommer cruiseskipene på rekke og rad - smp.no

To compensate for the cruise ships going into the fjords, a number of smaller boats take passengers from the cruise ships docked in Ålesund on trips into the fjords on half or full day excursions.
Here are three of them attending two Aida cruise ships on 2.April this year:

The small one on the right is running a regular service to Langevåg, which is also popular with tourists, visiting the factory outlets at the old Devoldfabrikken:

Today it is 175 years since Ålesund got status as a City:

Happy birthday to my and many others’ city, Ålesund :heart::heart:

Additional pictures in today’s smp.no:

1 Like

Bug where was I?


That is from Kristansund and the bridge over Nordsundet:


Photo: Jan-Tore Egge - Own work

Kristiansund is built on three islands that is connected by bridges and small ferries, known as “Sundbåter”:
image

The statue is one called “Sildegutten” (the herring boy): :


He stands near the statue of the “klippfiskkjerringa” (Clipfish wife)
Photo: Unkown

Kristansund is known for it’s Clipfish (salted dried cod) and claim to be “Clipfish Capital of Norway”:

They also claim to serve the best Bacalao and Fish n’ Chips in Norway, although both claims are contested by Ålesund patriots.

I thought that might be you carrying some klippfish. This one will be harder.


Yes that is a lot more difficult. I have spent most of my life in Asia so I’m not all that familiar with Norwegian places.
My first thought was Bud at Hustadvika, but this appears to be somewhere in the very far north of Norway, probably in Finnmark. (??)

Nice work, it was indeed Bud. I was told that was the Viking Sky anchor. They apparently served as an evacuation center at a local sports field / center during that incident. There was a Jerry gun emplacement and bunker up top that hill. I now return control oh this thread to you.

Have you just done the Atlantic Road tour?

We did that trip a few years ago in the summer and stopped off in Bud to visit the old German fort there (now a museum):
image


Source: Franks Reiseblog: Bud Camping ved Hustavika (franks-husbilsblog.blogspot.com)

The trip is also popular during winter storms:
Giant waves hits the Atlantic Ocean Road - YouTube

There are now plans for a hotel near the spectacular Storseisundet Bridge:


The preliminary sketch from Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter shows how the hotel on Geitøya can become. ILLUSTRATION: REIULF RAMSTAD ARKITEKTER


The illustration shows how the 15 cabins with accommodation rooms are intended to be located out in the terrain. ILLUSTRATION: REIULF RAMSTAD ARKITEKTER

The same owner already own and operate Håholmen Havstuer at a nearby skerry:


Håholmen Havstuer - by Classic Norway Hotels, Karvåg – Updated 2023 Prices (booking.com)
The boat to take gusts out there already operate from Geitøya.

“Viking Sky” anchor to Bud

Published: 24 February 2021

Outside the restaurant Bryggjen in Bud in Romsdal, the anchor from the cruiser “Viking Sky” has arrived. The ship lost engine power on 23 March 2019 at Hiustadvika itself, where there was a full storm. Those are very poor odds. But somehow the machine was restarted so that progress was possible in some way.

Here everyone can take a look at the anchor. It has been located at the Bryggjen restaurant in Bud:


Photo: Yngve Ingebrigtsen


On Saturday morning 23 March 2019 when the ship passed outside Meldahlsholmen in Kristiansund. The ship did not move in the storm. It immediately got worse when the machines stopped outside Storholmen on Hustadvika. A major rescue operation was launched:
Photo: Daniele Cecchinato

Source: “Viking Sky” anchor to Bud (brunsvika.net)

PS> That anchor saved a lot of lives that day and it has the “scars” to prove it