vinter

:) en sånn vinter vi haft. har. fortsätter att ha, hoppas jag. fast det inte snöat på "eeevigheter" är snökvaliteten otrolig, det är som att glida fram på silke. längtar naturligtvis efter mer puder, men det är omöjligt att klaga.

allra allra minst en ordentlig tur i veckan är mottot, och ofta blir det mer än så. några bilder får illustrera det.

italia invading

Sitting at the cafe. Wow, sitting at 'my' cafe. Came in to do orders with our chef, but we have been invaded by what i guess is an Italian cruise ship staying in Flåm on day trip up to Voss. It's 'espresso', 'piccolo', 'grandi' and 'euro - si?!' all over the place and our, for the moment single toilet, has slightly impatient southern europeans lining up in front of its heavenly blue door. Sun is shining though, and the energy is good. Julian had to step in for language reasons, and since there isn't more room behind the counter and enough staff i'm sitting here observing, and - smiling :-).

The Grand Opening Party on Sunday was a success :-D. Feeling happy.

casual cafe corners

This is probably how it will continue... a bloggpost once in awhile, with no regularity whatsoever. Not having spread this site to more than a few other blogger-friends, it almost feels like my own little space for adding some odd bits and pieces when the feel for it appears. I like that.

Now, the last couple of months have been full of planning and fixing for the opening of a cafe that has been in the thoughts of a few friends of mine and me since the fall. Last Saturday we opened, and it is with a lovely warm feeling that I enter the place for a take away coffee, or a sit-down with a paper and bowl of soup. It has such good atmosphere, and it's made with lots of heart and soul. It is a place for friends to meet, and for relaxing on your own if you please. Looking forward to time being spent there. Welcome.

november magic

A magic day kayaking in Naeroyfjord, November 28th. This is one of my favorite places in the world. I don't think I can ever tire of quietly cutting through the mirror surface and float away on beautiful thoughts, nor having to work harder against the wind on a stormy day and letting the air clear my mind.

Graphic

I got up in the morning, and after initially having so much time (as in lighting a couple of candles because it is DARK outside until eight o'clock now, having some porridge with apple jam and cinnamon, a good cup of tea - in the absence of newly grinded coffee beans), suddenly had to rush to make the bus to a two day meeting for work that was to take place 6 hours north of here (a tiny stretch on the map, but far because of ferries and mountains). Getting on the bus just as it left the station I took out my Ipod, chose some Nouvelle Vague and leant back. Wow. We entered such a graphically stunning world that it felt like being in a computer game. All white, patches of all shades of gray and details of black. The mountain tops were so sparkingly white it would have hurt had the sun been out, every tree was covered in frost, giving the mid parts gradient, creative patterns, and then rocks down by the rivers and lakes so black underneath that it looked like made of coal, still covered in white snow on top, like bakery goods. I was mesmerized. As the kilometers went by there was color too, although subtle, as a maple with yellow leaves, covered in snow, but some of the yellow working its way through. A red wooden barn, frozen, but still red when your eye worked on it a little. an old blue tractor halfburied and forgotten. Honestly, I had felt that I didn't have time to put 12 hours on traveling for this meeting, there was too much to get done here in Voss, but my... it was so lovely a ride. Stopping in a few small towns, driving along a dark blue fjord fighting against being covered by ice, past sheep with fur double their size - it was worth every second spent away from the office, every hour I would have to make up. The wonders of the harsh part of the year here.

Hmmm... not sure about this.

Hehe, so my blogging didn't take off during the OZ/NZ trip. Nor am I sure if I will want to do this on any type of regular basis... Well, I guess to a certain point it would be a good way to express whatever one can imagine sharing so publicly. So I'll still hold on to this space, and then we'll see where it goes. Over and out from Voss, Norway.