Last day was a big success

Our last stop was the northernmost city in Europe (they claim) - Hammerfest.  It had a beautiful church - very plain and simple design.  This whole area of northern Norway was built in the 1950's after the Germans burned most of the previous buildings when they retreated from the Russians.  Then our last night on the boat was our most successful northern lights watching.  For a couple of hours they were continually changing shape and brightness.  Our camera doesn't capture it very we'll.

Our morning in Kirkeness

Mid-day at 10:30 am. Sun sets at 12:45.

Lots of outdoor sculpture in Norway.  This is in front of a museum with an exhibit of living conditions during WWII.  I learned a lot.

This town has more snow and less ice than the last one.  Much easier walking.  We still see the push sleds but also cross-country skiis.

Our New Company

Nearly all set up in Texas.  The site is taking shape in Plano.  We have a network and Email addresses.  Our internet site should be up in a week or so.  Much colder here than in San Diego with often a strong wind.  I will need to get all of my sweaters out of storage.  Our site borders on a small pond.  Lots of great birds always present and prior to the cold spell, the turtles would come up onto the logs by the bank  Twice I have seen a bob cat stroll by the window.

 My office.

 The front of our building

 Our shrine to Texas

At 3 PM we are in pitch darkness -- we are in the Arctic Circle!

Hi guys -- We left Tromso yesterday afternoon (also in darkness) and are now making our way north and east across the north cape of Norway.  The ship is the Kong Harald (King Harold) and it is a combination passenger/goods ship along the west coast into the Barents Sea. It stops at little towns along the way and we got off for lunch in the town: the streets and sidewalks were covered in ice and the people we saw were getting along on personal sleds (with one foot on one ski, pushing along with the other foot, with a connection of the two skis connected with a basket for shopping bags), or pushing their children on little sleds with handles. Last night it was clear and we saw some examples of the Northern Lights -- not as spectacular as they are in professional photos, but pretty good when Mom figured out to increase the exposure times.  The temperature in Tromso where we stayed overnight before catching the boat was about the same as it is in Rochester, because of the gulf stream, but in the Barents sea it is very cold and we walked around a little town of Honnigsvag with the temperature at about 20deg F, and a ferocious wind. More or less new expensive cars with  extra fog lights were parked or slowly driving through the slippery streets: either the fishing or the oil industry if doing well in the North Cape.
Love to all
GPaJim

Sights, Music, and food

In five days here we've enjoyed 2 evensong services in Wells,  a Sunday choral service at St Brides, and 2 chamber music concerts in London.  The Rembrandt exhibit was exceptional as were the British Museum exhibits, one on the history of Germany and another on what they now know about the lives of 7 Egyptians (the earliest was 3000bc) whose remains have been preserved, mostly in mummies.  Last night we had a wonderful pre-concert meal at a Michelin starred Peruvian restaurant.  Glastonbury was interesting with a walk/hike up the tor and then a visit to the largest of the Abbeys destroyed by Henry VIII.