DENMARK
A few pictures from our trip to Denmark last weekend to see Hanne, Flemming and Rebecca. Almost the first thing we did was to take a trip with Hanne around the harbours and canals of Copenhagen's beautiful, ancient, complicated waterfront , on a boat from Nyhaven.

From the harbour tour boat you get a proper sense of Copenhagen's lovely waterside buildings. 

The square in front of the Domkirk in Roskilde. 

Inside the Viking Museum in Roskilde, in the kids bit....good for big kids too! (see next pic). 

This is my idea of a museum - you get to dress as a viking! 

Calder on the terrace at Louisiana. I can't remember if his free-standing works are still called stabiles if they also have a mobile component. Wonderful location in any case. 

The terrace at Louisiana. Sweden just visible in the mist. 

The harbour at Dragor (which is not quite how it is spelt, but we have not enough letters in the English alphabet). Site of the best ice-cream shop in Denmark. 

Waiting for the best ice-cream in Denmark! 

Rebecca eating the best ice-cream in Denmark. 

The fairy princess and our surrogate grandaughter! 

Website of the day

I've often wondered whether there were dinosaurs on Noah's ark. Haven't you? Anyway, now we can know the answer to this and other questions by going to

http://www.christiananswers.net/dinosaurs/j-ark1.html

How could I resist this marvelous picture of Cliff as Bongo Herbert in his *first starring role*? I'd go a long way to see Expresso Bongo! 

Bombs in London

The day of the Twin Towers bombing, knowing that my friend Mark spends the greater part of his working life in the air, in and out of New York, I emailed him to check that he and his family in Oregon were all ok (they were).

Yesterday we had the following email exchange:

“Paul,
I trust this will reach you. In the aftermath of today’s violence in London my thoughts are naturally with yourself and Nick and Adrienne and those close to you as I know you are all in and out of London on a regular basis. I hope you are all well and in good health even if the spirits are dampened somewhat. Odd, as I have been admonishing an old friend in Edinburgh to keep a lower profile as the G8 and the big concerts from the pretend politicians that wield guitars would seem certain to light the fuse of those unbalanced and those feeling disaffected. I have seen the carnage both in Seattle and Quebec City from such. Did not cross my mind that the obvious statement would be in London. The world does not get any less strange.
My very best to you.
Mark “

Hi Mark
I greatly appreciate you thoughts. We are all fine, but I had a very frantic morning , as Naomi had left home on a very early train to London, and was taking the underground from Liverpool Street to Paddington - the exact route of the bombed tubetrains - en route to Bath for a conference.
As it happened she was on train to Bath at eight am, so missing the blasts by minutes. But because the phone networks were all out, we couldn't contact each other until early afternoon. And of course, both the boys now live in London, so we were anxious to contact them, and eventually did. Altogether a frightening day, and how much worse it must be for those who have lost family and friends, or don't yet know.
As you say, a very strange world.

I know it's wonderful news about London's bid to host the Olympics, but another event today is equally inspiring. It's the Dalai Lama's 70th birthday... 

...and naturally he celebrated in exquisite musical style, including...

The wonderfull Scottish legacy in Tibet! 

Rain rain rain

This is where I'd rather be 

Hello peeps 

...lest ye forget 

Blogger images

John - you may want to try this instead of Picasa. Picture of that rambling rector on blog using blogger images rather than Picas. Alternatively try Flicka. Haven't tried it myself but do intend to have a look at it. N

Where...

are the pictures of Barcelona Roy and Michelle?

A Rector Rambling up our holly tree

Today I decided to see if I could create a photo-document of a Norwich riverside walk from the Adam and Eve to the Cathedral. Naomi was away in Sheffield, so I had the time and space to experiment. This first picture establishes the slow calm of the Wensum at the start of the walk. 

This was the formal beginning of my riverside walk. 

It's a bit difficult to see, but this is a sluice leading from the river towards the gardens in the background. 

The riverside walk leading east from the Adam and Eve. Poplars shedding huge amounts of seed, Dawn Redwoods just beginning to take off. 

I took this shot of the rather forlorn Cow Tower. It is gradually being filled with rubbish. 

I never realised that if you had to make a quick get away from Zak's, you could sneak down to the boat house and escape by water.