Snow

A White, White Walk – and Nostalgia

/ Leya / 22 kommentarer

Some fluffy snow last night made for a lovely family walk today.

I love it when there are layers of forest colors and different tree species collaborating.

They live together in harmony and they create harmony in the minds of us walking by.

On our way back to the starting point, voices rang from the meadow where my children used to play in the snow as kids. We heard a young family with two children. These two had climbed the fallen giant (see the header), pretending it was a ship. I stood listening to them, smiling. My son too. Then he said: ”I wonder when we start losing that magic ability…it should stay with us forever. I am sure we all would feel better inside.”

My camera battery was gone – so this shot is with my Samsung phone. I can still hear their laughter. And marvel at the very size of that tree. And – their imagination.

Snowy Mist

/ Leya / 20 kommentarer

Snow arrived during the night, and then the temperature rose above zero C. I had a lovely forest walk with Totti – light shifting and no wind.

The first half hour, there was not much mist, but …tangible silence.

Have you ever noticed how the colours – the few colours there are during winter –

seem to stand out in the mist?

With the fading light, you feel like walking inside a movie landscape. And you keep looking for a glimpse of the sky – just to stay real.

And for well known landmarks…

…to keep track of where you are.

In the open landscape, the sight is even worse – luckily the snow reveals my path.

As a farewell of this beautiful day- the light returns for my last 10 minutes of hiking.

CFFC: Letter O anywhere in the word

/ Leya / 15 kommentarer

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter O – Needs to have the letter O anywhere in the word

In the header, one of my Phalaenopsis orchids, and above my friend Robin…

…and to finish it off, my snowy lagotto romagnolo, Totti!

Travel theme: Snowy

/ Leya / 10 kommentarer

Travel theme: Snowy

All we have had so far is some powder snow – but maybe enough to fit snowy!

A Taste of Reykjavik

/ Leya / 40 kommentarer

My greatest love in this beautiful city is of course the symbol of Reykjavik, Hallgrimskirkja (1937, 74,5 metres, and named after the Icelandic priest and writer Hallgrímur Pétursson.) by architect Guðjón Samúelsson. The church is spectacular in many ways – not only from the outside, but also the inside is serene and breathtakingly beautiful.

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We arrived late in the evening this time, and walked slowly up to her in the freezing cold, Icelandic darkness.

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In front of the church  stands the Leif Eriksson statue. A gift from the US 1930 when the Icelandic Parliament, AllÞingi, celebrated its 1000 year jubilée. The Viking Leif Eriksson was the son of Erik Röde, who settled in Greenland. Leif himself was the first white man to discover America.

Let us go inside. My greatest love here is the magnificent organ.

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Houses in Reykjavik have to be strongly built for the rough climate. Some old wooden houses are being restored to show the old architecture – on which of course the new one is built. But I doubt any new house here has a wooden structure.

Restored old architecture
Not wood – but still beautiful
New materials – being repainted
The Concert Hall
Parliament and the Cathedral

What is difficult to see in these snowy pictures, is the typical Icelandic colourful houses. In my summer memories, Reykjavik looks like this:

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Tjörnin is the lake in the middle of the city. There are always people here, playing, feeding the birds, or just walking and chatting.

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The main shopping street ends with Hallgrimskirkja. And that is where we too end our snowy, first walk in Iceland and Reykjavik.

Två veckor – Two weeks

/ Leya / 11 kommentarer

Om två veckor är det julafton. Det snöade äntligen igår och jag såg barnen dra sina slädar mot backen. En timme senare skulle jag handla mera mjöl och jäst till julbaket. Barnen kom långsamt gående tillbaka i regnet med de gröna slädarna släpande.

Christmas will soon be upon us and yesterday – it was finally snowing! Children took their sledges and walked happily to the little hill by the forest. One hour later I went to our local store to buy some more flour for the Christmas buns. The children were slowly walking back, dragging their green sledges in the rain.