Wild Flowers

Wild Flowers, Norway.

Is it too early to crave spring yet? This Liberty pouch is on my desire list.

Happy holidays!

Dear friends, thank you for being here with me. I wish you all a happy holiday. We're looking forward to lots of family and friend time in the coming week so I'm signing off. See you in the new year. x, Rona

on m.e.t.r.o.n.o.m.

Troll, Bergen, Norway and Car Camping, Lensvik, Norway © Rona Chang

The web is such an interesting trail of interconnections. Carmen, a blogger in Vienna, wrote a nice email to me asking to feature my work on her blog m.e.t.r.o..n.o.m.. Thanks Carmen!

Play

Play, Lensvik, Norway © Rona Chang

Moving Forward, Standing Still which will be on view at En Foco's New Works #14 Photography Fellowship exhibition, is featured on Flak Photo every weekend this month. I'm off to drop off my pieces at Skylight Gallery in a bit. I hope you have a good weekend!

Collecting Memories

I'm not a big souvenir person. In the past I've always bought clothing in Hong Kong, picked up eyeglasses in Asia (it's significantly cheaper than the US), or brought back some kind of food item that is allowed through customs like coffee. This time, I wanted to bring back a Cathrineholm pot, pan, or bowl (made in Norway) or a small enamel lamp shade from Norway. Although I managed to spot some Cathrineholm pots all were pricier than the US and in poor shape. So this time I'm walking away empty handed but with lots of memories of my extended stay in Norway.

Sverresborg

I am beginning to realize that I enjoy open air museums. Last summer's visit to Hancock Shaker Village in the Berkshires was so lovely that my Mom and I vowed to stay at one for a future vacation. (There are some old Shaker homes that have been turned into hotels.) The Old Bergen Museum was great but I thought the tour was way too short. I wanted to go into every building and peek into all the nooks and crannies. In Trondheim, there is a collection of mostly 18-19th century buildings that comprise the Sverresborg Trøndelag Folk Museum. We took a short tour of four of the buildings, bumped into the bride and groom of a (real) traditional Norwegian wedding, ate some freshly baked flat bread, and lingered in the shade of a sod covered roof house. Now I'm thinking I should plan a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Has anyone ever been?

Munkholmen

Morgan, Ross, and I went for a a little picnic outing to the island of Munkholmen, just a short ferry ride from Trondheim. Through its thousand year history, it has been execution grounds, a monastery, occupied by the Danes, the Germans and held some famous prisoners. We took a tour of the main building which contained the prison and dungeon. I managed to hit my head really hard going into the dungeon, and then fell against the stairs and hit my back, bruising myself. So either I'm really clumsy or the place is haunted. There was a German gun machine that we climbed into and tinkered with. It's a great place for picnicking and hanging out in the sun.

Nidaros Cathedral

We're now back home in New York so I'm going to try and wrap up the Norway posts, and share some London pics with you. It's sweltering hot and a shock to my system but I am happy to be home and to return to a sense of normalcy and routine.





Ross and I visited Nidaros Cathedral and climbed the narrow tower for a 360 degree view of Trondheim.




And we were lucky enough to be around for one of the house moves for the tunnel construction. It was completely fascinating.

Fløyen Mountain

We took the Fløibanen Funicular up to Fløyen Mountain for a wonderful view of Bergen. And instead of taking the funicular back down, we walked down on a wide path on the front side of the mountain. It was a really nice way to enjoy the mountain and surrounding neighborhoods. It took only 45 minutes to get back to city center. There are also a bunch of hiking trails on the top of the mountain if you find yourself in Bergen with a bit more time.