Balestrand, Norway

Toddler went hiking alone, in the middle of the night

Donning a backpack and going for a hike is deeply engrained in the Norwegian culture. A little girl up north took the national pastime to heart, much to her mother's dismay.

The four-year-old girl apparently woke up in the middle of the night, climbed out of bed and decided it was time for a midnight stroll.

She put on her playclothes (pink), slung a backpack over her shoulders and set off into the newly returned darkness of a late summer night in Tromsø, northern Norway.
Police got a call shortly after 5am that a little had been spotted out wandering alone near the Tromsdalen campground. They sent a patrol car to the spot and found the little hiker, who told them her name.

She also could tell them her mother's name. The police called her, and then took the intrepid little girl home.

Old house

Eroticism!?!

Football: ManU's Solskjaer retires

Norway's most famous footballer, Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Solskjær), has decided to retire from the sport with immediate effect.

The report says Solskjaer had been informed that an eighth operation on his knee would be needed if he wanted to continue his career, and that this had made the 34-year-old star decide to retire.
He underwent his last operation last June, and was then convinced he still had something to offer.

Soskjaer has played 366 matches and scored 126 goals for Manchester United since he transferred from Molde in 1996. He became legendary in ManU when he scored the winning goal in the Championship League final in 1999.

Jaws

Jungle in my garden

Vikersundbakken ski flying hill

Vikersundbakken is the only ski flying hill in the nordic countries. With a hill record at 219 meters, Vikersundbakken is the world's third largest ski jumping hill.

The swan family

Swan

Fair play?

Svolvaer (Svolvær), Lofoten, Nordland county, Norway

Mountain

Killer claims compensation

A man who wildly stabbed fellow passengers on board an Oslo tram three years ago is now seeking compensation from the state. He claims he never should have been released from psychiatric care just days before he went amok, and his victim's own mother agrees.
The man, an immigrant from Somalia in his 40s, killed one of the passengers and wounded four others in the bloody attack on board the tram.
He had been sitting quietly on the tram when he suddenly pulled out a large knife, which he'd just bought in downtown Oslo, and started slashing at everyone around him. The shocked driver of the tram brought it to a halt and frantically called for assistance.

An old house

An old house called Stabburet in Norwegian. It's a house where they kept most of their food in old times. I think this house is over 200 years old.

Football (soccer) match Norway-Argentina 2-1

Carew boosted to hero status

His teammates, his coach, Norwegian fans and even Argentinian rival Lionel Messi -- one of the best soccer players in the world -- were hailing John Carew after Norway's surprise victory over Argentina Wednesday evening.

The Norwegian national soccer squad beat Argentina's 2-1 in a so-called "friendly" match at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. Not many had expected that Norway, not exactly known as an international soccer powerhouse, would be any match for Argentina.

The ferry arrives

Burping moose bad for the environment

Amidst all the talk about carbon dioxide emissions and global warming comes news that Norway's national mascot may be contributing to the destruction of the environment, through burping and other bodily functions.

The country's so-called "King of the Forest" hasn't been widely viewed as having any really nasty personal habits, surely none that could be considered an environmental threat.

But now some researchers linked to Norway's technical university (NTNU) in Trondheim contend that moose are responsible for tons of gas emissions a year through their frequent burping and, well, farting.

Shoot a moose and save yourself a climate quota.......ha...ha...

A grown moose will burp and pass so much methane gas in the course of a year that it amounts to 2,100 kilos of carbon dioxide emissions.

A motorist would have to drive 13,000 kilometers in a car to emit the same.

The mountain plateau

Old car

Gimsoy (Gimsøy), Lofoten, Nordland county, Norway

Vestvagoya (Vestvågøya), Lofoten,Nordland county, Norway

Children on the trampoline

The Nærøyfjord

The Nærøyfjord (Nærøyfjorden) , Norway,maybe the worlds most beautiful and dramatic fjord? It is about 20 kilometers long, and a branch of the large fjord Sognefjord.
Since 2005, the Nærøyfjord is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nærøyfjord is an adventure. Experience it from boat, in kayak or by walking in the surrounding mountains and green valleys. Breath in the fresh air and drink the pure water straight from one of many waterfalls and rivers ending into the fjord. Listen to the silence, to the nature, to the sounds from the waterfalls. Listen to the sound from the fjord...

I just love this fjord, it's my favorite....

Crown Princess Mette-Marit chided for smoking

Norway's crown princess was caught smoking at a wedding recently, and that's disappointed officials at the country's cancer society.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit, like many other members of the royal family, enjoyed her cigarettes for years until she finally claimed she'd kicked the habit while pregnant with Norway's new heir to the throne.
The crown princess is one of the country's most photographed and visible women. It's negative and sad that she's seen as a smoker.

Millionaire used helicopter to search for missing dogs

Exhausted or drunk?

A wealthy Norwegian financier contacted a psychic and received special permission to fly low over the mountains in his desperate search for two beloved pets.

Multi-millionaire Ole T Bjørnevik was out with his two English Setters, Perdita and her puppy Mira, on Friday counting grouse for the upcoming hunting season when the dogs disappeared.
Bjørnevik has spent every day since then flying low in his own private helicopter over the mountains of Meråker, in Nord-Trondelag County, searching for the dogs. He also contacted psychics, seeking their views on where the dogs might be.
The puppy Mira showed up on her own accord on Tuesday, near the spot where Bjørnevik had set off with his dogs. It was a happy reunion, but Mira's mother remained missing as of Wednesday.
What a waste of money and time.....

My walking track

A small place

Heavy rains bring rats

Increasing numbers of rats are moving above ground, and into Norwegian homes, after the wettest summer in decades.

Rats thrive best in damp surroundings, and some pest control specialists are already seeing the results of an especially damp summer.

The rats, have been forced out of overflowing sewers and saturated ground. They're surfacing and looking for food and new, safe places to stay.

The rats chew on electric cables, they dig through insulation material and can cause water leaks by gnawing through pipes.

Tele2- the company that brings you small bills and stolen ID

Up to 60,000 Norwegians have had their personal ID number stolen through the web site of a telecom company, and now risk ID theft, according to Norway's data inspectorate.


Through the home page of telecom company Tele2, someone has stolen the personal ID numbers of between 50,000 and 60,000 Norwegians.
The personal ID number is an 11 digit number that Norwegians are advised to keep secret. Pieced together with names and addresses, ID numbers can be used for ID theft, such as readdressing of mail or signing up for various expensive services or subscriptions in someone else's name.
People are angry. They think it is scary that someone has access to their personal ID numbers.
TELE2-THE COMPANY THAT BRINGS YOU SMALL BILLS AND STOLEN ID.

Hamaroyskaftet, from the backside

From the front.

Flood

Princess chastises media

Princess Märtha Louise, who this summer announced she was opening classes in alternative treatment, including healing, has chastised the media, accusing them of mobbing.

Strong criticism of the princess's new venture from the church and the intelligentsia was carried by the various media. But many also voiced their support.
Some said she should leave the State Lutheran Church, while others claimed her courses teaching among other things to come into contact with angels, were outright swindle.
In an exclusive interview with the NRK TV News, the Princess on Saturday said she experienced the media hype as a being put in the stocks.
She said: Here we live in a country where we try to put an end to mobbing in the schools, and yet we the grownups continue to put each other down, rather than carry on an exchange of opinions in a sivilized manner.
- What kind of role models are we for the children, Princess Märtha Louise said.
She said that she still considered herself a Christian, thankful that the Church had room also for her.
She said that angels to her were not physical, but creatures of light, which gave her a feeling of a strong presence and a strong and loving support.

Landscape, Hamaroy, Nordland county, Norway

A very old vehicle ( l )

The boat is leaving and I am on the docks..

A very old vehicle ( ll )

Norwegian flowers in space

Seeds of Norwegian flowers were on board when space craft «Endeavour» left Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week. Seeds of varskrinneblom (Alliaria thaliana) will help scientists understand how to grow flowers with no gravity, knowledge necessary in order to send man to Mars.

View from my summer residence

British tourists injured as ice hits sightseeing boat

This photo is not from Svalbard, but Jokelfjordbreen, Southern Norway.

18 people injured, three
seriously, after blocks of ice from a glacier hit a sightseeing boat with British tourists on Svalbard Island.
The passengers were on deck when the ice fell on the ship.

Ambulance refused to drive seriously injured man to hospital

Paramedics refused to take seriously injured Ali to hospital after he was beat up in a park in Oslo, allegedly because he had wet his trousers. Ali's family now fear that he will suffer permanent brain damage. This would never happen to a white man.
Witness was shocked by the paramedics' behaviour.
The blood was running form his head, and he seemed very groggy. When he peed by the ambulance, one of the paramedics said 'You fucking pig', and then they refused to take him with them.

Once in hospital, Ali was in surgery for almost five hours. His family said that doctors have informed them that he might suffer permanent brain damage

Hamaroyskaftet ( Hamarøyskaftet), Nordland county, Norway

Vestvagoya (Vestvågøya), Lofoten,Nordland county, Norway

Photos from last summer (2006)

Photo from the river nearby my house

A summer like no other

Never before in recorded history have there been less sunshine in Oslo in July, according to Statistics Norway. Clouds blocking the sun also brought Many Norwegians have spent all summer longing for sunshine.

Göta Canal

The Göta Canal (Swedish: Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal stretche from Gothenburg on the west coast, combined with the river Göta älv and the Trollhätte canal, through the large lakes Vänern and Vättern, in parallel with Motala ström, and to Söderköping on the Baltic Sea.

Port area, Stenungsund, Sweden (The west coast)