Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

When Terje´s sunrays gave us Dionne Warwick

@brittarnhild

Yesterday was the last day of this year´s St.Olav´s Festival. as always a week filled with so much wonderful program. Every night there has been a concert in the courtyard of the Archbishop´s Palace, the huge scene just outside my office window. When I open my window I could almost touch it. The theme of the festival this year has been "body", on a wide range of layers, and in the beginning of this week a small competition was posted by the festival on facebook - post a picture with a body theme, the best image would win two tickets for last night´s concert.......with no one else than....... Dionne Warwick.

In July 2010 I posted a picture of Terje here in Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods, with the words:" Let me look close at you pappa. Your face is suntanned, the wrinkles around your eyes are not. It is like your eyes are the sun, your wrinkles the sun rays"  I posted the above picture, and I WON!

We had a wonderful night with this amazing singer.

The highlight when she sang with her granddaughter Cheyenne Elliott.

 

By the way, my office window is just behind the green lit tree climbing the wall.

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Thanks for your nice comments on yesterday´s post. I still have a basket full of Italian tales.......almost, and will continue to post them, from time to time.

 

 

St. Olav´s Day

@brittarnhild

July 29th 1030.
The day king Olav died.
One year and four days later he was canonised and work was started to build a church on his grave.

Nidaros Cathedral

The St. Olav Festival is here again,
to celebrate the patron saint of the cathedral, and of the church of Norway.

A Lutheran church.
A saint.

 

St. Olav.

The festival is over

@brittarnhild

A week with the St.Olav´s festival is over. PIlgrimages, masses, concerts and a city filled with activities from early morning till late night. And even during the night (follow this link to read, in Norwegian, about Sir John Taverner´s The Veil of the Temple)

Finally, on the last day, I found time to visit the historical market, which is set up in the compound of The Archbishop´s Palaca every year during the market.

I filled up my storage of handmade soap from the nuns at Tautra.....

I bought a few things from this potter.......

I watched young stone masons to be......

black smiths,

weaving looms,

and work by stained glass artisans.

The most precious thing I bought though, was an alder wood cup,
perfect for hiking.

 

With 350 other pilgrims

@brittarnhild

This year´s St. Olav Festival opened today. I started the morning with a pilgrimage together with 350 other pilgrims, from Trondheim, from Norway but also from all over the world.

Last year we were away during the festival week.
This year I plan to take part in as much as possible

The theme for the festival this year is "time", or tid in Norwegian.
A robot is "driving" around in the city center. With white sand it writes on grey asphalt, text created by primary school children, about time.

By the way, before the pilgrimage one of the restaurant outside Trondheim invited the pilgrims to an outdoor breakfast.

 

Olsok, or St.Olav´s Day

@brittarnhild

Today, July 29th is St.Olav´s Day, or olsok as we say here in Norway. Nidaros cathedral was built on St.Olav´s grave, and the St.Olav Festival is celebrated each year in honor of the saint why was killed in the battle north of Trondheim almost 1000 years ago.

Olsok is celebrated here in Trondheim, but also in the rest of Norway, in Sweden and Denmark and even beyond. On our drive up along the western coast we met the St.Olav tradition several places. First in the old stone church at Avaldsnes, which I have already posted about, then in the wooden church in Balestrand, near Kvikne´s hotel.

I know this St.Olav´s church has its special tale, but as I read only a few lines on a sign outside the church, I need to search more for the real story.

After Kvikne´s  and Balestrand we though we were done with the celebrations until we arrived home for the festival, but to our surprise we passed a St.Olav market on our way up to Sognefjellet.

It was just time for coffee, it always is just time for coffee, so we stopped, had coffee and svele, and I bought a real treasure,

an old wooden "something", I have no idea what to call it, but the "something" knew perfectly well how to call me :-)

 

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We are about to go downtown for the St.Olav´s festival now, and tonight we have tickets for Bach´s H-Moll Messe in the cathedral, with René Jacobs, Norsk Barokkorkester, soloists and Purchell Choir.

 

From St.Olav´s Festival to Istanbul

@brittarnhild

The Saint Olav Festival 2013 opened today.
One of this year´s focuses is Istanbul, and yesterday afternoon Terje and I went to a presentation by the Norwegian author Thorvald Steen. Steen knows Istanbul better than most people, several of his books are translated into Turkish and he is a honorary citizen of the city.

 

Today´s presentation was the first in a series of four, which will be held the coming days, and the interest was much bigger than predicted. We sat som sild i tønne/like sardines in a barrel as we say in Norway, but when Steen started to talk we were soon transported far away from the crowded room.

A young woman sat on the floor, right in front of my feet.
During the one hour presentation she was busy drawing.

I spoke with her afterwards, and she told me that instead of reporting from the festival with camera and words, she has got a press accreditation as a drawer. So the coming week she will be walking around, at concerts, services, the historial market, pilgrim walks, presentations, art exhibitions, street life, and all that will be going on, using her pencils only, to tell her tales.

You can follow Live F.Olsen and her St.Olav Festival adventure
though her website 

www.surrealive.com