Paderborn YSA Tagung

On our way to Paderborn (middle of Germany, kind of) we got to see modern-day Don Quixote "Giants"...but these aren't dangerous, because they're helping "make the world a better place, for you and for me..." - thanks, MJ ;) haha!











I don't know for sure, but I think we were in Lower Saxony (which curiously enough is further away from Saxony! ;) ....cute little village along way...























Groovy, baby - our 70's dance....














This is a 'castle' and on the grounds was the high school/boarding school where we stayed.

























They had these cute little deer there...but then their main door entrance was decorated with deer hooves....umm....yeah....

Oshlo - that's how Norwegians say it!

Okay, so back in the day, Christian IV, King of Denmark AND Norway (that was interesting to learn - Norway has always been part of a 'union' with Sweden or Denmark and the Norwegians haven't always liked that fact), renamed Oslo after it burned down in 1624, Christiania. The town was called this, more or less, until 1924 when the Norwegians (they gained independence in 1905 from Sweden) renamed it after its medieval named - Oslo. But Norwegians say OSHLO...just in case you wanted to know...

This is the palace that Karl-Johan built. Who is that you ask? He was a Frenchman who served as of Napoleon's generals. The Swedish king adopted him and the Swedish parliament voted Karl-Johan in as their king. As one of his first acts Karl-Johan placed a huge Swedish army on the Norwegian border forcing the Norwegians to agree to another 'union' kingdom (they had established their own constitution in 1811).

This is Karl-Johan Gate (street) or 'main street Oslo' with shops and cool stuff galore....

I am putting this partly in for my mother's sake. I haven't put a photo of me on here in a while - see Mom, I'm doing fine ;)

At the Palace (where the Norwegian king and queen still live) I got to see the 'changing of the Guard' as it were....

I just find their 'hats' funny...it's like an English 'bowler'(?) hat with a horse tail on the side!

I thought this was cool. This lieutenant(?) guy was taking his troops on a tour around the Palace - cool to remind the troops what they're protecting, etc.

This is University of Oslo founded in 1811....

This is the Stortinget or 'Great Assembly', i.e. Parliament building on Karl-Johan Gate...

And then an opposite view up the Karl-Johan Gate towards the Palace...

To juxtapose two buildings in Oslo - here is the new opera house being built...look at that oil money go to work! ;)

And then here is a house that was completed in 1710 - Oshlo has been around for a while that's for sure...

This is City Hall - can't say that I 'dug' the dark brickness of it all....

What is cool though is that the City Hall is where the Nobel Peace Prize is handed out 10 December of every year....Alfred Nobel wanted it awarded in Norway, instead of Sweden where the other prizes are awarded...no one knows why ;)

City Hall sits right next to the harbor...what a pretty day it was...

This is the Nobel Peace Prize Center where you can see Peace prize Laureates' work, info, etc.

And this is one of my last views of Norway (southern Norway, close to the Swedish border) on my way back, eventually to Berlin. Goodbye Norway and thanks!!

FestiNord in NORWAY!

"The hills are alive with the sound of....NORWAY!'' Okay, so different setting, but I was SO happy to see hills again! Berlin is SO flat - I definitely like Norway a lot!

These are some views on my way to a Young Single Adult Church convention in southern Norway.








More views, purdy-purdy...












Here are the masses stampeding to be fed, oh wait, this is Scandinavia, people don't do that. This was July 24, aka Pioneer Day, so some people were dressed to the West of their best...if that makes sense....









I was happy to meet my Swedish friends, Janne and Kent, again! Kent let me wear his 'western' hat, I think I look more like a 'Paco', but whatever ;)

I have no idea who the girl is - she just decided to 'join' us....








This is the area where we stayed. Very pretty too....












We had our Ball/Last evening dance in Hendrik Ibsen's House (I just think that's the name of the local concert hall - too big to have been his house ;) But what do I know?











This is a plea to all architects in the future. Whatever you think the capacity of female bathrooms should be, DOUBLE IT! No line at the guys' bathroom, so....yeah...something must be changed so that my Sistahs can enjoy life as much as others do! ;)







This was the band, Office Crew. They are FestiNord participants and my friend Robert, first on left, from Sweden sings and plays. He did a great job!

That was FestiNord. It's a wonderful time, and as each year passes, more and more non-Scandinavians like myself go - hehehe....