wait for it

Some of you may have noticed I have been a little absent from the internet, though I did my best to schedule some stuff ahead of time to not disappear completely.

In June I was travelling through Canada with a friend for nearly the whole month! We covered over 5000 km (about 3200 miles) all over BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. A wonderful, exciting, exhausting road trip that I will blog about soon.

I’ve been home for a week but catching up on both office work and photo work (the shop is open again), getting rid of that annoying jet lag and getting back into the pace of things takes time. I am trying to preserve a bit of slow, of laid-back, of letting go and taking time, something 5000 km of car time on endless canadian roads definitely teaches you.

It will be a while before I’ve sorted out the thousands of photos from our trip and before I’ll be ready to write it up into coherent blog posts.

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norway – part 3

Finally, the last in the Norway series!
We spent the last few days before returning to Oslo in the Flam / Laerdal region. Driving along these narrow fjords is exciting, but the region also featured a 25km tunnel through the mountains which was quite an experience. Instead of taking the tunnel, one time we took the alternativ route over the mountains instead, the Aurlandsfjellet road. It takes you up high over the mountains, snowy even in the height of summer.




It’s a breathtaking route, not least of all because it’s all serpentines going up and down the mountain. The region itself was just beautiful, with lots of old norwegian houses I loved to capture.




We would be ending our journey in Oslo so we decided to drive down in one day and spend the last two days exploring the city. Bye bye, beautiful fjords!


Hello Oslo! Such a sweet and cozy city. I’m not much of a city person but I really liked Oslo (though we had a hard time finding a warm dinner that was also bordering on affordable each night).


We spent the first day just perusing the city but for me the museum island Bygdoy held most interest and I had a great time visiting the Kon Tiki Museum (I now have a crush on Thor Heyerdahl), the polarship museum ‘Fram’, the viking ship museum and most of all the norwegian folk museum. Lovely place!




I loved learning more about norwegian culture and life in the country in times gone by (I’m a big history buff and for me travel isn’t complete without learning at least some background of the country and people). Thank you for showing yourself in the best light during our two weeks, Norway! I can’t wait to go back some time.

norway – part 2

Here comes part 2!
After the first two hikes we felt quite comfortable in our hiking boots and gear so on our next tour stop in Seljestad near Odda we decided to hike up to the foot of the Buarbreen glacier.



The hike was beautiful and quiet amidst wildflowers and roaring glacier waterfalls and streams. The mountain air is wonderful for hiking, so clear and fresh (more so in my memory since I’m writing this from a stifling hot apartment).




Getting to the top is always exhilarating! This hike also featured some rather alarming bridges over the fast streams and some passages where we had to climb the mountain sides with ropes. I’m scared of heights and not one for sporty rock climbing, so this was a real challenge for me.
We drove back via the magnificent Latefoss waterfall.



Until then, we’d always done one day of hiking, one day of driving. Since we were staying a day longer at this location, we decided to go hiking two days in a row and tackle the hike up the 612m Langfoss waterfall next. A hint: if the Norway-tourist page says it’s a demanding hike, don’t do it when you’re already tired out. The hike itself is beautiful, but climbing 600m in height within two hours on rocky ground is hard. Really hard.




You’re probably tired already of reading about this hike and that hike, but I’ve one more to share: the glacier, blue-ice hike we booked on our last location was hands-down the highlight of our trip. This was walking on the Nigardsbreen glacier itself, with spikes on our shoes and ice axes to help the climbing parts.


The blue ice is magnificent!


We had a lovely norwegian girl as our guide but most of the other guides were actually Sherpas from Nepal with Mount Everest experience, who come to Norway during the summer months to work as glacier guides and earn some money for the family back home!

Two more parts to come with fjord and fjell pictures as well as some lovely shots I took in Oslo!

norway – part 1

Here goes, a review of our recent two-week trip to Norway. For a shorter version with only a few top photos and a little on how Norway felt for me as a country head over to the Norway post on my photo blog.
Here’s the more detailed account:
We started out by flying to Oslo, from where we had rented a car. On the way to our first stop we saw our first stave church in Heddal.

We were excited to go hiking in the norwegian countryside so on our first full day we hiked up to Gaustastoppen. Our physical fitness (or lack of it) became apparent quickly, as we toiled up the mountain puffing and sore and out of breath. Meanwhile we were constantly overtaken by norwegian families with small children who apparently considered this their sunday afternoon stroll. Those norwegians are just so fit! The view from the top was spectacular though and so worth the effort.


Cooling our feet in the icy mountain springs.

We moved on to our next stop to do the hike to famous Preikestolen. We loved the little cabins we rented along the way and this one was especially charming. The camping was Hamrane Hyttefelt in case anyone is planning a trip to Norway soon.



After our previous hike the way to Preikestolen seemed easy! We were lucky to reach the top in time to enjoy the great view of the turquoise fjord beneath it. Minutes later thick clouds came and we climbed down again in a dense fog.



Norway is such a vast country that we had to plan our route carefully to see all we wanted to see and yet not spend all day driving. We often took ferries which provided spectacular views of the fjords.



So much for part one and I have so much more to share! Again, for a short and sweet version, see the post on my photo blog.

there and back again

I’ve just returned home from a wonderful 2-week-trip to Norway and I can’t wait to share infos on our trip and some (lots) of photos from this amazing country with you.

Give me a few days to settle back in, get up to date with comments and blogs and photo editing and be prepared for some photo heavy posts!

shop opening

It’s finally open, my brand new print shop on Etsy!
Ever since I registered my photography business over a year ago I dreamed of being able to sell my travel photography as prints. I got quite busy last year and the shop idea took a back seat.
During the long winter months I was able work on it again and I have been very hard at work since christmas. Opening a shop is so much more time consuming than the shop front suggests, but I’m super proud to announce today that it’s open for business! I am still in the process of stocking it, but I didn’t want to wait another week or two with the announcement.
So hop over to my Etsy Print Shop to check out some stunning Travel and Landscape Photography, including some much loved prints I shared on this blog!
Also, to keep up with the shop and promo deals (and who knows, maybe even an opening discount…) sign up for my newsletter.

If you’re on Etsy too, let’s connect! I’ve been on Etsy with another username but decided to start afresh for this shop, so unfortunately I lost all of my feedback and connections and I’d love to get in touch with other Etsy users and seller.

a very late easter post

So sorry for disappearing for weeks and not even managing an Easter post! I have no idea where the time went, I meant for this post to go up right after Easter but then work and stuff got in the way and now it’s the middle of April already! I’ll try and be a better blogger, promise. And I can tease and tell you there’s a big announcement coming up pretty soon photography-wise.
But first, Easter weekend! I spent the long weekend on the beautiful dutch island Ameland with friends (yep, just like last year).
We were looking forward to a few days of rest and outdoor time and enjoyed every minute of it.


Even though the weather didn’t always cooperate (no, it still isn’t spring yet over here, yes, that is snow on the beach), we spent hours every day just walking the island, resting at the beach café’s every now and then for a nice slice of cake or some fries. Working inside most of the time makes me forget just how hungry some outdoor time makes.
Or how good it is for body and soul. Walking is a bit like yoga, you move your body while completely resting the mind with the added advantage of fresh air.



In the evenings we ate delicious home cooked dinners, mostly fish we had picked up fresh from the day’s fishing in the village, and settled down for some creative time. Somehow, between us four women, we worked on two sweaters, a pompom-rug and I knitted a tiny baby vest for my friend who is four months pregnant. To be shown here on the blog as soon as it’s washed and blocked and has some cute buttons added.




We even colored some eggs on Easter sunday before setting out again.



I have some more images from our beach trails up on my photoblog.
The rest and workout was much needed after the long winter and I’ve decided I really enjoy walking and hiking so I will try and find some nice trails in our surrounding areas to keep it up on weekends.
Now, wishing you a resting weekend!

london

The last of my weekend-trips this year (as far as planned), we headed up to London for a couple of days to visit friends of ours who live there. I was the photographer at Katrin’s and Mo’s wedding in Italy last year and now they’re expecting their first baby!

You can see the rest of their photo session here on my photography blog.
They live in a very cute area on the outskirts of London and we took some lovely trips to the surrounding areas.



We loved Waddesdon Manor house and the park and exhibitions.



Can you tell I like taking photos of flowers? I just love the quaint little market towns, the victorian houses and little gardens and of course the even older crooked little brick and wood houses in England.


We spent just one day in central London. I really wanted to visit Linley Sambourne house, because I’d read a book about the place some ten years ago and loved it. Not our most successful idea…after wandering around Kensington for an hour in the rain we eventually found the house. It was closed that day.
We then went on to visit the Victoria and Albert museum and the Science museum. Well, parts of it anyway. They are way too big to visit them both in an afternoon. The museums alone would be well worth another visit someday, so magnificent and beautiful.





I have a couple of days off from work and as the weather forecast very unobligingly predicts rain for the whole of next week, I’ll be spending them indoors, doing some much needed resting, reading, sewing, decluttering and working on my business. I have a few photoshoots lined up and also I haven’t yet given up the idea of opening a little online print shop before the year is over!

this

This beautiful video by David Kong captures Italy, my part of Italy, so perfectly that I can hardly bear to watch it…it makes me ache for these parts so much.

Portrait of Macerata from David Kong on Vimeo.

My friends live near Macerata and when I spent two weeks with them in 2008 (gosh, how fast the years have passed!) I took the bus down to Macerata every day to take Italian lessons. Before and after the lessons I strolled the city, looked at the sights, shopped at the market and generally took this ancient, bustling little town in. Those two weeks were amazing and this video takes me right back there.
My Italian instructor was beautiful Elisabetta, who has since quit teaching and become a fashion blogger: http://thechicbeat.com/
That’s the down side of travelling isn’t it? It makes you fall in love with places and yearn for them years after. When I was seventeen I lived in Ireland for a year and it took me years not to feel homesick for it anymore after coming back.

my italy #2

Find last year’s post on Italy here.
Last weekend I flew down to Italy again for four short days of visiting. My dad needed to go on business and I tagged along to visit my friends.
My Italy is




a warm welcome by friends both old and new.
baking summer heat, dry and salty.
swimming in turquoise water so warm it feels like silk on the skin
colorful, shady streets in the city centre.
a sweet baby boy, who I last saw when he was only a few weeks old and who has won my heart so completely that it was so hard to part from him, knowing he won’t remember me when I’ll see him next.



tiny village shops to buy the best goods in town.
waking in the middle of the night because it’s still basically too warm to sleep.
drinking copious amounts of Estathé, the taste of my childhood.



More photos and infos on Italy over on my photo blog.
I’ll just sit back and dream about sun and beaches and good food and speaking italian while trying to blend out the second cold and rainy summer in a row here in Germany. Back next year for sure.