Our 2017 Norway holiday

Recently my wife and I went on a wonderful holiday to Norway. At one time in the past Norway was among the poorest countries of Europe; now it is the richest. There are countless places to visit and things to do in this most beautiful country. One of the things we enjoyed doing was to visit some of the churches. With the exception of the Anglican church and the last two photos below, these are Lutheran churches. The Lutheran Church of Norway is the largest denomination. Here are some photos.

Our first port of call was Eidfjord. We visited two churches there, the old one dating back to the twelfth century, with stone walls five feet thick!

The new Eidfjord church.

The new Eidfjord church chancel had some impressive artwork, depicting biblical themes.

Our next port of call was Ålesund. The church here was locked unfortunately, and it was pouring rain when I took this photo.

Our next stop was the UNESCO world heritage site, Geiranger Fjord. We attended the worship service (all in Norwegian) in this octagonal church on Norway’s constitution day, May 17, 2017.

Members of the 17th of May parade dressed in traditional Norwegian costumes.

Our next port of call was Bergen, where we visited three churches.

The Church of the Cross.

St Mary’s Anglican Church.

Bergen Cathedral exterior.

Bergen Cathedral chancel, with altar, elevated pulpit, and pipe organ.

Bergen Cathedral windows.

Kyrke in the village of Flam.

Then we sailed on to the beautiful city of Stavanger, where we visited Norway’s oldest cathedral, dating back to 1125.

Stavanger Cathedral pulpit.

Stavanger Cathedral stained-glass windows.

Stavanger Cathedral pipe organ.

After that, we stopped at Kristiansand and visited the cathedral there.

Mjondalen Church side view.

Mjondalen Church.

Our final port of call was Oslo. This is the Roman Catholic cathedral, Trinity Church.

Oslo Trinity Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edmonton’s Fringe Festival 2016

Yesterday, while still on holidays, we visited the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. It has evolved and grown over the years. In the early years, from what I remember of it, the Fringe was a fair bit smaller, and more confined to the Strathcona area of the city. Now it has expanded considerably, and venues are more spread out. We decided to go to two plays. Here’s some photos.

Edmonton’s International Fringe Festival 2016

The Fringe 2016

Watching a hoop act, the boy on the left was chosen from the crowd to participate.

The hoop act b & w

Scaramouche Jones

Scaramouche Jones by Justin Butcher, played by Robert Benz, was the first play we chose to see. In this engaging storytelling adventure, Scaramouche reminisces the events and multi-layered stages of his life, which include, among other things: sorrow and joy, darkness and light, tragedy and comedy. If you like long monologues, this is the one for you.

James & Jamesy in High Tea

This play was co-written by Aaron Malkin, Alastair Knowles, and David MacMurray Smith. Malkin and Knowles entertain the audience with light-hearted British humour. The play is quite imaginative and audience members were ‘conscripted’ in the performance. If you like to keep it imaginatively light, this is the play for you.

For more information on the Edmonton Fringe Festival, click here.

Canada Day 2015

Today, Canada Day, we celebrated Canada’s 148th birthday and the 50th anniversary of our flag. In my humble opinion, it is still one of the best places on earth to live. We are a very blessed and privileged nation. I wonder what our pioneer ancestors would think or say to us if they were with us today. At any rate, below are the photos I took of our Canada Day celebration here in Camrose, Alberta.

Kokopelli

We enjoyed the Kokopelli choir from Edmonton, there were a couple of guest choir members from South Africa and Namibia, and most of the songs were, interestingly enough, African.

Colourful Canadian woman

This person celebrated Canada with class!

All aboard!

This train was busy most of the day, providing rides around Mirror Lake.

 

 

My new photo site

Please check out my new photo site GWH Photos. I may take a while to work out all of the glitches!

WP Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

Krista writes:

“In a post created specifically for this challenge, share a photo that captures the threshold — that point just before the action happens, that oh-so-sweet moment of anticipation before that new beginning. It could be a door about to open, or something a bit more metaphorical like a flower about to bloom. Looking forward to seeing how you capture “threshold.””

So here’s a photo I took upon arrival at the Tel Aviv airport. When I took the photo, myself along with the tour group were excited and had a lot of anticipation of our dreams coming true and being realized by visiting Israel. To view other entries go here.

Tel Aviv Airport

 

WP Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life

This week Cheri writes:

A place reveals itself on its streets, from pedestrians strolling during lunch time, to performers entertaining tourists on sidewalks, to the bustle of local markets, and more. Whether you’re shoveling snow from your own driveway or walking a familiar route to work or getting lost in a foreign city, a snapshot of a street (or road or path) can tell a tale.

I explored the cobblestone streets of Lisbon one summer, captured above in a shot of one of its neighborhoods, Bairro Alto. I especially loved the city’s sloped alleyways, as well as the graffiti-strewn walls and grittier feel of this particular district.

For this challenge, document the movement (or stillness) of a street: tell a story with your snapshot, capture a scene that reveals a bit about a place, or simply show us where you live — or a path you often take.

Recently, my wife and I made our first pilgrimage to Israel. Here is a photo I took on the corner of busy Ha Kotel Street in Jerusalem, near the temple mount. This street, down through the centuries has likely been walked on by all kinds of people, likely from all over the world. Visit the other entries here.

Members of our Israel trip tour group

Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon

This week Sara at the Weekly Photo Challenge writes: Horizon. The space or line where the sky meets the earth. So many places where the sky meets the earth around the world, and millions of interactions between two elements. It can be water, a city skyline, a forest, a wasteland, a desert, a sunset outside your bedroom window.

There are, of course, different kinds of horizons in life beyond the external physical world. There are, for example, mental horizons, thinking new (even sometimes old, yet valuable and time-tested true) and creative thoughts that are life changing. There are emotional horizons, experiencing certain feelings that open up new opportunities in life for health and healing. There are spiritual horizons, which draw us into deeper and closer relationships with others, the world and God, and shed light on life’s ultimate meaning and purpose.

Hope you enjoy my entry this week, the photos were taken back in 2007 on our holiday in Denmark.  Please check out the other entries here.

The North Sea from Hanstholm harbour, Denmark

Windmills along the North Sea, Denmark

Village along Limfjord, Denmark

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.

Dag Hammarskjold

As soon as I finish one thing, there’s always something else on the horizon I want to do. I don’t have any intention of retiring from anything.

Marla Gibbs