Trondheim through all seasons

Around town

@brittarnhild

Walking around with a camera is like walking around with an extra eye, an eye which sees the unexpected, the hidden spots, the gems which are there somewhere.

For a week now we have been walking around, my camera and I.
Well, actually we have been photo walking Trondheim for several years, but not every day like we are doing right now.

I like to think that I know my city well.
I have lived here for more than 50 years,
I walk downtown,
I avoid shopping malls, even when it rains or snows,
the downtown city is my playground.

I will continue my photo walks,
daily in periods, weekly around the year.

And I know I will continue to find colours, charm, beauty, surprises, same old corners......

Trondheim,
the city in my heart.

You and I,
we belong together. 

House for Sale

 

@brittarnhild

In a tiny little street, almost in the middle of Trondheim, well, let´s say a ten minutes walk from the market place, a tiny little house is put up for sale. A blue bench calling out my name: "Buy me, will you BrittArnhild? I am here for you!"

How I would love to! I could make it my own tiny little studio. My cabin in the city. A perfect place to start my photo walks. To blog about Trondheim. To gather a few friends for tea and homemade chocolate cake, then walk together looking for secret spots in Trondheim. And in the end gather in the tiny little house again, for a glass of wine, a plate of cheese and a basket of tales to share.

 

I will not buy the house.
I already have The House in the Woods,
and I have Rastarbo, our countryside cabin,
and I have my millions of travels around the world.

 

But the dream will stay in me.

A tiny little house with a blue bench. 

Flower boxes, clothesline, a bridge, a statue, a kindergarten.........

 

@brittarnhild

With your ideas of what to see in Trondheim, I walked around smiling for almost three hours. Starting with a kindergarten gate, where these flags have hung since May 17, Norway´s birthday. I guess the flags are the various nationalities represented in the kindergarten.

For a few years there has been a discussion in Oslo about the use of flags in the 17th of May parades. I am so glad that ALL flags are allowed here.

Down by the canal I found some lovely flower boxes.
We have very clever and artistic city gardeners in Trondheim, they leave their marks everywhere.

This is a favorite photo of mine :-)

Several more statues along my way today.
Hard to chose which one to show here,
I must make a special statue post one day over in Trondheim Through all Seasons.

Nine statues the other day,
this one today;

which makes it: 10 
And this one comes with an extra bonus, our city tram. 

Ardi, look what I found!
A clothesline in Trondheim.
This must have been hung for you :-)

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Last in this Trondheim walk I have a series of an old railway bridge, which must be opened every time a boat need to get out of the canal.

.

 

 

 

 

Playing a game of counting. Statues in Trondheim

 

@brittarnhild

Mardelle gave me the idea when she asked about the "Go´dagen", or Torgkona as we usually call her here in Trondheim. 

I love this statue. When I first posted a photo of it, a woman from Denmark commented and could tell that her grandmother´s sister had been the inspiration for it.

With Mardelle´s question in mind, I asked myself "I wonder how many statues there are in Trondheim?"
I guess that´s a hard question, but I can start taking pictures of them, make a special statues in Trondheim folder, and see what happens.

The statue of Olav Tryggvason is the main statue in Trondheim. Olav Tryggvason, the founder of the city, is standing there, high up, overlooking the marketplace and the whole city. 

But there are so many more statues, 
let´s start a game of counting,
and see how many we find in the end.......

Go´dagen  stands on the south east corner of the market place, Olav Tryggvason in the middle. On the north east corner is an interesting statue. I have lived in Trondheim all my life, and must have passed this statue thousands of times. But somehow I have never actually seen it. Not until yesterday. It is called Water Music

    

Water Music is a fontaine, but as far as I can remember, I have never seen water playing in it.

Tordenskjold.......

The late King Olav V........

Hjallis.......

Arve Tellefsen.......

 

And this is only the beginning.
I wonder how many I will find.

 

Statues so far: 9

 

While looking for window boxes

 

@brittarnhild

I went out looking for window boxes, but didn´t find many. Instead I ended up with a memory card filled with images of doors.....and a little funny surprises in the end.

Only a stone´s throw away from the heart of Trondheim, you find old, crooked wooden houses. Come with me for a walk, and I can show you hundreds of them. Not as bright colours as you find on the Venezian island Burano, but not far from, really not far from.

The colours, both on the houses and on the doors, the old cobble stones, the peace and quiet. I love it.

Can you see the house number?
No doubt this is number 18 :-)

Once I started a collection of house number photos. My dream was to make birthday cards out of the photos. A friend, who is an amazing photographer, has used her doors with house number collection for an online advent calendar. One door to open every day though December.

  

Can you imagine, being sweet sixteen, back home after your first date, sitting down on the bench outside your door, holding hands, the first kiss. Sweetness over all!

I have so many door and house photos to show you.
I don´t think my blog has space for them all.

Better suggestion:
come to Trondheim, and I will take you on a walk.
(Elaine, I am afraid there will be no time for one when you come?)

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The funny little surprise:
-knock, knock 
-who´s there
-me
-who me
-open the door and you´ll see

    

 

 

In Advance

@brittarnhild

The weather was beautiful, nobody was home waiting for dinner, so I couldn´t wait. Already after work yesterday I started my "being a tourist in my own city" project. Down the road from my office I pass this entrance, to Trondheim Court House. The only thing I know about it is that I find it beautiful. I have a suspicion that this project is going to show me that I need to learn more about Trondheim :-)

During our short summer the market place, Torvet, is filled with stalls. There used to be flower sellers and groceries, but now there are mostly stalls selling cheap non Norwegian souvenirs.

I stopped to buy strawberries (from Belgium, it is too early for the local ones yet), and the woman behind the counter told me that this summer the minicipality has allowed only four fruit and grocert stalls. "They tell us there is not room for more than four" she said, shaking her head in disbelief, "and look at all the stalls with souvenirs. They are filling up Torvet"

Two years ago the last flower seller closed her stall, and no one has contiued the tradition. Too much work, too little money I guess.

This makes me sad.

  

My walk continued, and when I met this happy trio I got my purse out of my bag.
The begger "problem" is a hot potato in Trondheim as it is so many other places. They are so many, it is impossible to give money to everybody, though never too many to see them all, to meet their eyes, share a smile. It might be a wrong desicion, but I don´t give money to those just sitting there, begging. I LOVE the street musicians though, and gladly open my prurse for them.

 

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Thank you for coming along on my Trondheim walks and thanks for your comments on yesterday´s post.

Kristie in Colorado, thanks for your adddress. I´ll send you a postcard.

Missy wrote: I'd love to see schools and playgrounds. I was a teacher for 21 years so those places interest me in other countries. What a great idea Missy. I´ll see what I can do.

Jennifer, I´ll have an eye out for window boxes :-)

My Trondheim City Photo Walk will continue today.
More photos.
More secret gems.
More coffee.

And who knows,
may be there will be a surprise or two........

 

 

A Perfect Travel Plan

 

@brittarnhild

My vacation starts in only three days. This year I will do something I have never done before......I will stay at home the first week, while Terje is still working.

I have not made many plans for the week,
but one thing I know for sure.......

I will do daily photo walks in my beautiful city,
and look for secret gems.

Do you want to come along?

Let me know if there are special things you want to see,
and I´ll look for it.

And who knows,
if anybody are interested there might be postcards on the way.

Three days left....

......well, I might be cheating, and start with a photo walk after work today.
And may be even write the first postcards.