Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth

Opeth was brilliant as always at the Getaway Rock Festival. Unfortunately, Mikael spoke all in Swedish (of course, since the festival took place in Gävle, Sweden–less than a couple hours north of Stockholm), which meant that while everyone else was laughing at his between-song comments, I couldn’t understand a word. Apparently he is as funny in Swedish as he is in English.

Opeth at the Getaway Rock Festival 2011

The setlist was:
The Grand Conjuration
Face of Melinda
The Lotus Eater
In My Time Of Need
Master’s Apprentices
The Drapery Falls
Hex Omega

I thought it was a bit short considering they were headlining. Also, Hex Omega seemed like a strange choice to end the evening (morning actually as it was almost 2 a.m. when they finished). It would have been great had they come back out for Deliverance and/or Demon of the Fall, both of which would have ended things more nicely. I’m also sad to see that they no longer play Baying of the Hounds. I don’t think I have heard it the last three times I’ve seen them now.

Of course, I could never say they played too long or even just enough. Two or three hours of Opeth would be fantastic.

Martin Mendez (bass) and Martin Axenrot (drums)

Fredrik Åkesson of Opeth

Joakim Svalberg (new keyboardist)

The new keyboardist sounded fine. I always enjoyed Per Wiberg’s headbanging.

This far north, the night never gets fully dark in early July. The sun sort of sets (just before midnight), some orange moves along the horizon (for an hour or so), and then the sun begins to rise before 2 a.m. This last photo was taken at 1:30 a.m., and it only got lighter from this moment on. I could actually see the sun by the time I got back to my hotel just after 2 a.m.

Opeth plays through the sunrise

Posted on July 19th, 2011 under Other. Tags: getaway rock festival, metal, opeth, sunrise, sweden. Comments Off on Opeth at Getaway Rock Festival

Jet lag can force you up long before the sun, even in this country where the sun rises very early in the summer.

Posted on June 27th, 2011 under Denmark. Tags: copenhagen, living in copenhagen, nikon d7000, sunrise. Comments Off on Copenhagen Sunrise

After Mt. Hood the view was rather unspectacular until the sun began to set. We went over a piece of Idaho, Calgary, much of Canada, Hudson Bay, and then things got interesting.

Before Greenland, the sun set, sort of. It was the slowest sunset I’ve ever seen, and it never completely set (keep in mind this was two days after summer solstice). The horizon was always orange and sometimes touched with brilliant red streaks. Unfortunately, these pictures don’t do it justice. Taking photos through thick, dirty airplane windows in relatively low light does not yield the true picture. I wanted to roll down my plane window and stick my head out the window. 😉

This was my first time seeing Greenland from the air. We were so high that we had a good angle on the lower part of Greenland. The water, rocky coast, ice sheets, and sunset combined for a breathtaking view. Note that most of that is ice, not clouds, in the above photo. Again, it’s difficult to see and not reflective of the true beauty at the time when the photo had to go through that many layers of unclean glass. On the east coast of Greenland I could even see a few lights.

I think I was the only person on the entire plane looking out the window. Everyone else had their windows closed so they could sleep or watch a movie. I was riveted to the view out the window which looked otherworldly. If you are like me, and enjoy aerial views, be sure to get a window seat on the left of your plane if you may ever be flying over Greenland from the west in summer.

Soon after Greenland the sun began to rise again. The sunset/sunrise combo clocked in at about three hours. It never did get dark.

The sun rose perfectly behind the plane wing so that the sea glowed the sun’s orange reflection while I could still view the scene without hurting my eyes by looking at the sun.

At long last we reached the coast of Holland.

Posted on June 25th, 2011 under Other. Tags: aerial photography, sunrise, sunset. Comments Off on Leg 2 (Portland to Amsterdam)

5:30 a.m. on a July morning
riding a bike through the mountains of Nikko
a little piece of heaven

Posted on August 12th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: nikko, sunrise. Comments Off on Nantai San (男体山)

For our one night in Nikko we decided upon the Funamiso, about 20 minutes away from downtown Nikko on the train (Kosagoe Station 小佐越駅 covered with our Nikko Pass). We were debating between a place right in Nikko (without an onsen but convenient) or a place far from the city (which would have taken more than an hour to get to from Nikko but with a great-looking onsen). The Funamiso seemed like a happy medium. I’m not sure if this place is technically a hotel, ryokan, minshuku, or pension. I suppose it could fit into any of those categories.

Not being a huge fan of seafood, I opted for the no meal plan at Funamiso. I’m sure I would have enjoyed the shabu-shabu dinner, but 7,000 yen each is more than I want to spend on a single dinner no matter how delicious. Waking up to a Japanese breakfast of fish, rice, and vegetables isn’t my cup of tea either. The no meal plan is affordable at 5,000 yen per person.

Funamiso was a bit disappointing from the outside, but once we made it inside everything was great. The place was very clean, the staff was nice, the views were good, and the outdoor part of the onsen was spectacular. Our room was Japanese style so we slept in futon on tatami floors. We had a private bath in the room that looked like it had never been used. We didn’t use it either. Who would when there is a wonderful onsen downstairs? My only complaint is the privacy fence around the outside onsen. It provided very little privacy (not that I cared) and obstructed the view. Lose the fence and this onsen is close to perfection.

The above picture is from the room on the evening we arrived. The steam from the onsen below beckons. Snow had just fallen. A couple of spotlights allowed onsen users to view the snow-covered trees and a little waterfall into the river even after dark. Speaking of users, I was the only user of the male onsen. Funamiso has several dozen rooms, but only three were being used on this weeknight in February. I had the onsen, all three pools, completely to myself each time. I have had fun talking to random Japanese strangers in onsen, but I didn’t get the chance with this onsen basically being private due to a lack of guests.

We arrived at Funamiso at about dusk. The view from our room was more stunning the next morning as the sun rose.

The moon was setting as the sun was rising.

After checking out we went for a walk that took us over two different bridges spanning the Kinu River (鬼怒川).

Would I recommend Ryokan Funamiso? Absolutely.

Posted on February 17th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: nikko, onsen, reviews, snow, sunrise. Comments: 2