Welcome to Oslo
ようこそ オスロ
Just a week before the deadly attacks in Oslo, things were more than pleasant in Norway’s capital. I walked out of the train station to be greeted by these welcoming banners in Japanese.
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Flags in Sweden in support of Norway
Malmö, Sweden half-mast flags for Norway tragedy
I spent today in Malmö. Like Denmark, Sweden is flying their flags (and those of Norway) at half mast.
Malmö flags of Sweden and Norway fly at half mast
Norway in a Nutshell
Norway in a Nutshell
“Norway in a Nutshell” is the name put together for a trip along the Bergen Railway Line that includes the Flåm Railway (the steepest unassisted railway in the world) down from Myrdal to Flam, a boat ride in an amazing fjord for a couple of hours, and a bus ride from Gudvangen to Voss. Where you start and end is up to you, and the price varies based on passes you may already have and where you begin and end your journey. I had a Eurail Pass so it costed me very little.
Norway’s fjords are absolutely amazing. Sometimes photos don’t do them justice because you can’t really tell how impressive the size is from a picture. I like this next photo because you can see just how tiny the boat in the fjord is compared to the fjord itself. (That’s a boat and the boat’s wake to the left of the photo. You may need to click on the image after maximizing your browser to see it well.) I was also on a boat in the middle of the fjord at the time I took this.
Sognefjord
Accept at Getaway Rock Festival
Mark Tornillo and Wolf Hoffmann of Accept
25 years ago, perhaps to the day, I had a ticket to see Accept open for Dio in the summer of 1986. The concert was cancelled and so that experience never happened. Accept faded from view; Dio died. I had seen Dio a few years earlier while I was in high school, but I never got to see Accept.
I never thought for a moment that 25 years later I would witness Accept in Sweden from the base of the stage. This was fun–a lot of fun.
Accept
Wolf Hoffmann of Accept
Wolf Hoffmann was full of energy, faces, and smiles all night long. He looked about half his years, and the crowd loved his enthusiasm.
Herman Frank of Accept
Herman Frank, Accept’s “other guitarist”, has only been with the band when they were at their IMO best (Restless and Wild, Balls to the Wall, and now). He was hurt (four broken ribs and a punctured lung) in a stage fall just a couple months before. This may have been his first show back in action.
Wolf Hoffmann and Peter Baltes
Peter Baltes, on bass, is the only other constant member of Accept, along with Wolf Hoffmann.
New Oslo Ski Jump (Holmenkollbakken)
Ski jump view in summer
Oslo’s rebuilt ski jump reopened last year. Last time we were in Norway, we didn’t visit Holmenkollbakken, but we could see it in the distance from a number of places. That was 2008, and later that same year the old jump was torn down.
Facing west from the top of the Oslo Ski Jump
The views from the top are quite amazing.
View of Oslo, Norway from Holmenkollbakken
Oslo Harbor
Oslo Harbor in July after 9 p.m.
I took today’s photo last Thursday night in Norway. The weather was really good in Oslo. The colors in this picture are in large part due to the slowly setting sun. This far north, the sun doesn’t set in July until nearly midnight. Although this image may look like it was taken in late afternoon, it was actually taken at 9:12 p.m. with a fast shutter speed (1/320 of a second) because it was so light out still.
In the background, on the left, you can see Akershus Slott, Oslo’s medieval castle.