Foto: Björn Bergenheim

Below some photos taken by my magic plastic Olympus Pen:

The Spring Salon provides an excellent opportunity to see a great variety of unexpected and perhaps expected artistic expressions and techniques. All works exhibited at the Spring Salon are for sale. The 2011 Spring Salon jury comprises art historian, critic and author Thomas Millroth from Skåne, critic and author Ingela Lind, and culture editor, literary critic and musician Martin Aagård, both primarily active in Stockholm.

Anders Bergman
title: Octopus

Nils Wåhlin
title: Inside is out (I guess you recognize the posh Stureplan area )

Bo Söderström
title: 6×4=24

Germund Lindunger
title: Like something from the sixties

Adrian Bursell
title: Pilier de Couleur

Thomas Raschke
title: Tripod and camera

Tord Larsson and his political perspective
title: A Russian beardog

title: An English bulldog

title: Vegetarian Wolf

photo by Kambiz.se©

Officially the ugliest tuning co. on the market

“The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.”
/George Santayana/

Breathe Freely is the slogan of an unknown and perhaps one of the most beautiful places in the world (of course according to my excellence ) which is called simply – Sigulda.

I have been already 5 times this year to Latvia and all the time I am there I feel like I belong there – for real , it is the place where I find myself. I become speechless all the time I visit new places in this country and I am no wondering why the local authorities are not doing a big effort in promoting the beauty surrounding them – indeed they just want to preserve the places for them and me .

Sigulda is really the place, where the beauty of nature becomes an integral part of the city. I was really amazed by all the things you can do in Sigtuna. Besides visiting the Bird festival, or maybe Opera festival, Gauja National Park, Gutmanis Cave, Krimulda, Sigulda Castle, Turaida Castle you can do any type of sport activities starting with most borring ones to Bungee jumping, bobsledding the vertical wind tunnel Aerodium, or the rope course (the kind of emotion one can experience only in Sigulda).

It is quite difficult to convince my colleagues about the beauty of this place or of this country. Anyway why trying to convince people, which were hanging around only in Stureplan . Nevertheless the photos taken there are really surprising them :

Riga

Jūrmala

Sigulda

…and of course at the end a picture with the photographer :

Prior to arriving in Hong Kong, I was expecting hustle, bustle and the kind of traffic-induced pollution so often found in South-East Asian cities. I anticipated anxiety and confusion; those feelings that so often come hand in hand with visiting an unfamiliar country – the very definition of culture shock itself. However, it was almost immediately clear that this place was different. It wasn’t due to a lack of crowds or traffic though – it just, well, it felt like home. Now, I’ve traveled around quite a bit and it’s rare that I don’t feel any kind of disorientation when visiting a new city. But what was one of the first things I saw upon my arrival? Double-decker buses!

If it’s your first time to go to Hong Kong, you might also be wondering what to expect – perhaps you envisage myriad Jackie Chan Statues and a sprawling packed city full of pollution and noodles? Stereotypes from home can easily invade your perceptions even if you try vehemently to resist. Thankfully, after spending some time in Hong Kong I can tell you this is not the case. Hong Kong is in fact one of the cleanest, most modern cities in the world and despite its relatively small size, there is a surprising lot for visitors to do.

Like many tourists, one of my first stops was the highest point on Hong Kong Island – the place best known as Victoria Peak. Although you can go up The Peak by one of the many distinctive red taxis or even by bus, the most exciting way to get there is by the infamous peak tram. You can’t stay in Hong Kong for long without hearing about the Peak Tram. To fill you in on a bit of history, the tram line was built way back in 1888 by Phineas Kyrie and William Kerfoot Hughes. When they’d first proposed the idea in 1885, everyone had thought that they’d gone insane, but conversely, the tram turned out to be an astounding success and it’s now one of the most memorable landmarks in Hong Kong.

Going up such a steep slope, and believe me – it is steep; the sky scrapers of the city begin to turn on unusual angles as you begin the ascent and your back presses hard against the wooden seats. It’s not the most comfortable of rides that is for sure – and there is no business class I’m afraid, even if you do wave your money around at the ticket office!

Being pulled up the mountain by a thick steel cable, I noticed that some people began to feel a little unsafe during the ride. However, I felt secure with the knowledge that there have been no accidents during all its years of operation – quite a boast considering how long it has been running and probably making it one of the safest ways to travel in the world.

Up on the peak, I was stunned by the panoramic views and noticed that it’s a bit cooler than down in the city. Someone told me that it’s usually about 5 degrees cooler on the peak than down below, which is probably why it has been a popular place to come ever since the British arrived in Hong Kong in the mid-nineteenth century. British company bosses used to build summer houses up on the peak to get away from the intense summer heat and humidity. Now, a modern complex has developed – a galleria shopping mall, entertainment (including a great waxworks museum), restaurants, in fact, it is one of the best places in Hong Kong to visit. I stayed there until it was dark and watched the nightly light show unfold down in the city below.

Unfortunately, my visit to Hong Kong was a short one and I felt like I left all too soon. I didn’t even make it onto one of the infamous Star Ferries during my stay, but still managed to make some panoramas :

1st of April – should be April Fool’s Day – a day invented to honour Dr. April Fools (according to uncyclopedia), but not this year. This year seems to be the year of every other day full of lies and only April Fool’s Day is the only day of the year where absolutely everything you see or hear is true .

Yes, I am now in Moldova and it is not a lie I came to vote and again it’s not a lie. Actually I am voting for the first time in my life and I am convinced that I will vote for a CHANGE – a better or worse CHANGE – time will show. The most important thing is that I have the CHANCE to vote for a CHANGE and I will not miss this CHANCE.

Besides voting, I am glad to be home close to dearest people with really good people from Sverige. I don’t know how many foreigners write Master’s thesis about Moldova, but I am really glad and proud that Johan and Hedvig (alias Johanna or Hedvin or Victoria ) decide to explore this country and I hope that they really had a great time and experience in Moldova – especially at the Central market in Chisinau and hopefully this is not their last time in Moldova.

I will let pictures to speak as usually :

Most beautiful country in the world

Country of contrasts

Johan & Hedvig admiring the history

Most expensive story

Proud house owner

Checking wind/temperature

Mănăstirea Hâncu

Hedvig’s first try to let the surrounding villages (-/+ 20km) that some Swedes came to visit the monastery

An important message from Her Excellence – Princess of Sweden

Amici

Very friendly and hospitable priest

The trip was of course very peaceful, except one small cross-cultural issue

In the end some photos with the local star

Next article will be written from Hong Kong, so be prepared for some spicy words ;).

P.S. some thousands fo photos from this trip are HERE.

First of all, everything you need (and don’t need) to know about The Glorious Nation of Latvia is to add all the time everywhere possible an “s”, especially at the end of the words and trust me, you will be fluently in Latvian

It is not a secret that Latvia is located near Stoneya and Lithiumania and the people of Latvian ethnicity are currently enjoying the countless benefits of the marvelous European Union – in other words, being able to eat french fries after years of suppression and persecution, also the ability to warp to Great Britain, Ireland, Spain and other EU countries such as Uzbekistan.

Referring to financial crisis, I guess the only survivors will be the Latvian banks, known as the world’s largest exporters of virtual credit cards, which are only useful for purchasing imaginary power to operate the virtual memory of PC’s .

Anyway no more bull**iting and below are some pictures :

…a here is the evidence of the crisis:

more pics HERE

As the gasses erupt from 3000 meters-deep towards the surface, through the underground layers of clay and water, they push up underground salty water and mud, so that they overflow through the mouths of the volcanoes, while the gas emerges as bubbles. The mud dries off at the surface, creating a relatively solid conical structure, resembling a real volcano. The mud expelled by them is cold, as it comes from inside the Earth’s continental crust layers, and not from the mantle.

The reservation is unique in Romania. Elsewhere in Europe, similar phenomena can be observed in Italy (northern Apennines and Sicily), Ukraine (in the Kerch Peninsula), as well as Azerbaijan.

The mud volcanoes create a strange lunar landscape, due to the absence of vegetation around the cones. Vegetation is scarce because the soil is very salty, an environmental condition in which few plants can survive.

Fram (“Forward”) is a ship that was used in expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912. Fram was probably the strongest wooden ship ever built. It was designed by the Norwegian shipwright Colin Archer for Fridtjof Nansen’s 1893 Arctic expedition in which Fram was supposed to freeze into the Arctic ice sheet and float with it over the North Pole.

…as usually I am lucky to see only the first half of the things

…improvising

FYI: The Eiffel Tower (also known as the Aw’Ful Tower, Waffle Tower or The World’s Tallest Lightning Rod) is a cheap Taiwanese knock-off of the Blackpool Tower, located in both Pisa, Italy and Tokyo, Japan, but originally constructed near Paris, France ;).

As far as I know Eiffel Tower was very useful to the French in World Wars 1, 2 and 3; during this time French soldiers used the tower as an important Battle-Station where they would take refuge when the tides of battle turned. After fleeing to the top of the tower for, er… regrouping, the French would turn off the lifts. After tense hours of-er… strategizing, the French would remove rivets from the structure and proceed to drop them on the Germans.

With these pictures a calendar will be printed.

My spot which will be in the calendar is the one taken in Lappland:

Ice Hotel

For me it doesn’t show a lot of creativity and innovation in Europeans’ life, but is a pleasant feeling that somebody valued my effort under -30C .

p.s. yeah there should be as well a material prize…they shall contact me these days…

Basically the aim of competition is motivate those, who travelled around Europe and to share their best moments showing:

1. Multicultural Europe
2. Creativity and innovation in the Europeans’ life..

I have decided as well to participate (just for fun ) and show the EU what my plastic camera can do .

Every participant was allowed to submit 6 pictures (3 in each category).

My pictures are very ordinary, but it seems that somebody appreciated them

The ceremony of awarding the best photos will be held tomorrow (6.11) in Prague and the pitty is that I cannot be there to take my 1st place – yeaaaahh my very first photo award i .

I don’t know in which category and which is the winning spot, because they told me that is very confidential and they don’t want to make publicly before the ceremony…I have really no idea which is the choosed one, you decided