Linear view vs. Masonry View

Archive for ‘Travel’

Barcelona

Barcelona

When we got on the plane in Göteborg, Sweden it was +15°C and, arriving the Catalan capital welcomed us with +33°C! The high temperature stayed all four days in this beautiful city. Luckily, it was a happy surprise that I could get cold gluten free beer in most restaurants. Nice but to save my pictures from being blurry I drank mostly water.

It’s a huge city but the public transport system is well developed so with a 72h travel pass it was easy to get around. We did all the musts, Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell and a Flamenco show. We walked in the shade of the maple trees, the La Rambla street. A near death experience, for a man with vertigo, as my wife tricked me in to a cable car ride.

I had only one must see, The church Santa Maria del Mar. The construction of the church plays a central role in one of the best book I’ve read, La Catedral del Mar, Cathedral of the Sea, by Ildefonso Falcones. It was translated in to Swedish so I pretty sure it’s available in English. There is also a well played TV series available on Netflix.

Stay cool when the heat is on, ha de Gött!

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Wandering light

Wandering light

Rubjerg Knude lighthouse outside Løkken in Denmark has a fantastic story. It was built in 1899 and was lit up in 1900. The tower is built by bricks and is 23 meters high and, at the time it was built the light was 67 meters over the ocean. It was built on wandering sand and was at the end of the last century almost buried in sand.

The lighthouse was taken out of commission already in 1968 due to low visibility from the surrounding sand dunes. A museum was opened in 1988 but was forced to close 2002 when all surrounding buildings were covered in sand. The wind moves the sand towards north-east and at the same time the shore line erodes up to 2 meters every year. The estimate was that the lighthouse would fall into the sea by 2023.

In august to October 2019 the 720 kilo tonnes tower was moved 70 meters inland. An amazing engineering achievement to lift and place the giant on rails and across over the sand. It took 4,5 hours to move the tower to the waiting new concrete foundation. The work was done by a local contractor company under the lead of master bricklayer Kjeld Pedersen, hats off and cheers. It is now estimated to last another 40 years.

I scouted this place with Google Earth and with the light it was everything I hoped for. Beautiful place and an amazing story.

Source: Wikipedia Swedish page

Walk into the light, ha de Gött!

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Grenen Skagen

Grenen Skagen

The most northern point of Denmark where two oceans meet, Skagerack and Kattegatt. Not a castle but, built up by sand moving up along the west coast of the Jutland island. The sandy point is in constant change and moving towards northeast, growing 10m each year towards the Swedish west coast. The strong currents makes it so dangerous to swim so it’s forbidden. It is allowed to put one foot in each ocean. 7°C in the water, nope I did not!

With over 1 million visitors each year I guess it is one of Denmark’s most photographed places. Even on a cold day in March there was a even flow of people walking along the sandy beach to the edge. It’s heavy to walk in the loose sand and I understand why when I emptied 1 kilo of sand from my shoes when getting back to the car.

Don’t be foolish and build your house on loose sand, ha de Gött!

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ARoS

ARoS

It’s super expensive but I love Denmark and this past weekend I did a photo tour to Jutland in northern Denmark. One of the days I spent in Århus and the art museum ARoS. Though the exhibitions are great I spent most of my time with the architecture and the playing of light and shadows in this fantastic cubic style building. The name is a wordplay from the latin word ars and the old name for Århus Aros.

The picture is from the roof walkway named Himmelrummet that was designed by Olafur Eliasson and is considered Denmark’s most expensive art piece. Completed in 2011, while the museum itself was opened in 2004. The design of the museum is inspired by Dante Alighieri‘s The Divine Comedy. The basement is the hell and the roof walkway is the heaven, hence the name. Himmelrummet translates to room of heaven.

I’m not sure if there is such thing as coincidences but in the car on the way there we listen to the book Inferno by Dan Brown. The story in the book also circles around The Divine Comedy.

We are red, we are white. Ha de Gött!

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Isar river walk, Munich

Isar river walk, Munich

  • Grosse Kaskaden and the fisherman
  • Salmon stairs
  • Fisherman under Maximilian Bridge
  • River flows
  • Isarstrand (beach) and the fisherman
  • Kabelsteg Walking bridge
  • Isarstrand with St Lukas Kirche in background
  • Isarstrand with Volksbad in far end

Isar is the river that runs through Munich. The river flows from the Austrian alps and finally ends up in Europe’s second largest river Donau after 263 km. The water is clear with a green and blue colour. Along the river runs pleasant walks and parks for sports and fun.

Pre trip checks on Google Maps showed some promising photo opportunities and I was not disappointed. Even with thick compact clouds there was a reasonable good light. I was also happy with the guy fishing for salmon and that he moved around along with my movements giving me a great focal point. Hope you like the pictures.

Let the river flow, ha de Gött!

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Light over the Alps

Light over the Alps

The Germans take their Weihnachtsmarkt, Christmas markets seriously. Me and my little wife been travelling a lot this year so we decided to crown the days before Christmas with a trip Munich. Situated in Bavaria in the south of Germany you could see the alps from the city hall tower. When the sky opens like this over the alps in the otherwise grey days. Well, hallelujah!

Even without snow the Christmas spirit was present among tourists and natives. With temperatures around freezing point the sellers of warm drinks, glühwein (mulled wine) and hot chocolate made good money. Walking around the smells of different things to eat and drink while rubbing shoulders with the world is great. Best is when you find that unique craftsmanship sold by the artist themselves. We came home with some beautiful hand painted Christmas ornaments.

Not all shopping and photo. We attended a fantastic organ concert in the Frauenkirche and string concert.

Marienplatz market
Marienplatz and Neues Rathaus

Frohes fest (happy holidays), ha de Gött!

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