Tour of Norway (Grimstad)

various Norwegian web-sites | May 6, 2005 | self

[franksolich]

Grimstad is a city of 18,000 located south of Oslo, east of Kristiansand, on the map below.

Grimstad manufactures a great deal of, not surprisingly, furniture.



This is the only photograph I can find that I can GUARANTEE is of the small village of Ada, near Grimstad. If one looks very closely, he can see a couple of houses.



Grimstad from the sea.



Grimstad from the docks.



Boats in Grimstad.



City center, Grimstad.



Either a hospital, or a school, in Grimstad.



You know, no matter where one is--in Nebraska, in Pennsylvania, in Ukraine, in Italy, in Norway--all elementary schools look alike. There must be some architectural school somewhere that produces architects specializing in elementary school architecture, and they are all taught to design elementary schools exactly alike.



Hotel in Grimstad.



Bookstore in Grimstad.



Library in Grimstad.



Canal in Grimstad.



Some sort of museum in Grimstad.



Some unidentified structure in Grimstad.



The city council of Grimstad.



Bar in Grimstad.



Beer in Grimstad.



Beehives in Grimstad.



Women in Grimstad.



Teenagers in a Lutheran Church organization getting rowdy, as teenagers are wont to do.



The very best photograph of Grimstad, a church in winter, with snow.









Another church (not the same as above) in Grimstad.

[franksolich]

By popular demand, another "tour of Norway," in this instance the charming little city of Grimstad, on the southern tip of Norway; although on the globe, about as far north as Juneau, Alaska.

You know, I am getting highly suspicious of Norwegian web-sites; there are so few photographs of snow in Norway on them.

If one did not know any better, and was ignorant of geography, just judging from photographs of Norway on the internet, he might conclude that Norway is somewhere around Brazil, rather than way up north.

[franksolich]

Ping for the Norway ping list.



Well, I still have a long way to go, in refining the "tours of Norway." I should mention I am not a "scenic photographs" sort of person--one fjord looks just like another fjord, one mountain looks just like another mountain--but of course the purpose of the Norway ping list is to "sell" Norway to members of Free Republic, and if I had to put on a funny hat and stand on my head on a bicycle, to "sell" Norway, well, one must do what he has to do.

By the way, "tours of Norway" do NOT have to be ONLY cities and towns; if anyone has a "topical interest" in something Norwegian, such as the Battle of Narvik or Norwegian food or agriculture in Norway or stamps of Norway or bison in Norway, I am sure I can come up with something.

[motife]

The Gulf Stream keeps Norway about the same temperature as Ireland. Only in the far north is there a lot of winter long accumulation. However, they can get huge big dumps of wet snow that melts very quickly. That's while almost all buildings in Norway have roofs made for snow to slide off, with ladders to climb up with a shovel to ensure it.

I was in Molde at Christmas and they had no snow at all. Molde is very far north.

In Nord Norge, there is a lot of accumulation. You'll always see photos of people entering their houses through the 2nd floor.

The yellow building that says "Kuntsforening" is an art studio.

Wonderful series, thank you!

[Koblenz]

Kunstforening is an art society, probably runs some sort of art gallery.

[Casaubon]

been to norway
sorry gov.
great people
bland food (texas native)
damn purdy country!!
great fishing

cant do winter though...as a texan anything below 70 degrees F will kill me.

[franksolich]

You know, the statistics say otherwise--the statistics say that Norway is underpopulated--but one gets the impression that Norway below Narvik is very crowded, tons and tons of people bumping into each other.

(For those who do not know, Norway although one of the largest countries of Europe, in territory, is one of the smallest countries of Europe, in population.

(Compared with Norway, Denmark and Sweden are behemoths; giants.

(Norway, with 4.7 million people, has fewer people than most capital cities of Europe.)

[Martin Tell]

Thank you, sir, for the lovely photos. Really seemed to capture the reality of life in that town.

Makes me homesick for Scandinavia.

[Rodney King]

No more on Ada? As you enter Ada, there is a small church there with a graveyard that is full of my relatives, along with a WW2 monument to my great grand uncle who escaped Norway to England and became a Spitfire ace. I'll be going not this summer, but the next.

[franksolich]

Having never been to Norway, sir, I am trying to get a "grasp" on the REAL life of the people there.

I was working on a request from a member of the Norway ping list, to feature her town, when I got lonely for snow. It was 85 degrees here in Nebraska today, and that is about 45 degrees too hot for me.

(Yeah, yeah, I know; I'm in a distinct minority here--to each his own--a very tiny minuscule minority of people who actually like cold weather, and who sweat like a pig when the thermometer goes beyond.....50 degrees. It must be something genetic.

(My highest heating bill [natural gas, entire house, hot-water and stove also natural gas] this winter was.....$28. During the summers, I try to live in a beer cooler, whenever possible.

(Naturally, being so naturally and genetically "cold," there are sometimes, uh, problems with, uh, women, but as every male has "problems" with women, I am not too embarrassed to mention mine.)

So then I looked up "Berlevag;" despite this being one of the northernmost towns in Norway (about equivalent on the globe with the charming Gamvik; or, on the other side of the same globe, way far north of northernmost Alaska), there was alas little snow in those photographs.

But looking at Berlevag was so interesting I decided to feature it tomorrow (Sunday), bumping that one request back a day.

Berlevag is surely the jewel of Norway; surely there cannot be any place in Norway more delightful than Berlevag--but I will let members of Norway ping list determine that.

[franksolich]

When I was looking around for "Ada, Norway," I kept coming up dry, excepting for lots and lots of photographs of boats; no people, no buildings, no forests, no rivers, no mountains, no fjords.....just boats.

I finally found this one single solitary lone sole photograph of Ada on a "tourist's" "diary."

However, if I ever find some good photographs of the village of Ada, never fear; I shall post them.

[NorseWood]

Thanks for the great pictures.

[Tamberlane]

Frank,

Thanks for another fine series. Just two insignificant corrections: There's a certain dejá vù here, but the person to the right in #7 from below is male. I can almost guarantee it! And #10 from below depicts a grocery store, not a bar.

But no need to send a check to Free Republic. Your doing so in my name in connection with the Ålesund tour was an extremely graceful gesture though, and proof - not that any was needed - of what a gentleman you are.

Looking forward to the promised tour of Bergen later today.

[gobucks]

Excellent; please add me to your ping list.

[franksolich]

Consider it done, sir.

By the way, I always considered the annual Ohio State-Michigan football game one of the very best in the country (no matter how high or low the teams were ranked), and of course always favored Ohio State.

Why? A University of Nebraska graduate?

Uh, part of the "culture" here in Nebraska. For decades, for whatever reasons, the Omaha World-Herald kidnapped sports-writers from Ohio, who naturally liked Ohio State, and infused the rest of us with their enthusiasm--and so I grew up knowing more about Ohio State, than any other team other than, of course, Nebraska.....and Oklahoma.

Ohio State has always gotten very good press in Nebraska.

However, after Frank Solich was so crudely fired--the then-winningest active coach in college football (Robert Stoops of Oklahoma had been gaining on him, but was not quite there, at the time)--I chucked my two red-and-white University of Nebraska diplomas into the trash.

[censored]; Big Red is dead.

I have "transferred" my "allegiance" to the University of Ohio (which many might not know is NOT Ohio State, by the way), which so perceptively saw the character, the values, the solidity, the integrity, the talents, of Frank Solich, and hired him as coach.....but also in the meantime, I'll be cheering on Ohio State (just not as enthusiastically as the University of Ohio).

[gobucks]

And I too, from afar, have often thought that something was very very right about Nebraska ... and I've told my wife my hunch is that we would be very happy there should fortune's winds blow us that way.

Thanks...

[Martin Tell]

Given your love for Norway, you really ought to go. Unlike some countries I have visited, Norway exceeded my expectations. It's not that expensive to travel there either. Particularly during winter the airlines run some great specials.

Hope you make it soon.