Kodachrome... Gives us the nice bright colors, gives us the greens of summer, makes us think all the world is a sunny day, oh yeah!We had a beautiful clear day the other day - unusual in Bergen in winter. Here's the Statsraad Lemkuhl, the tall ship that lives here in the harbor most of the time. And here's the view across town from the Johanneskirke (St. John's Church).
Ed and I decided to visit the Cultural History Museum. We've been saving the Bergen museums for when the weather doesn't encourage wandering around outside. Even though it
was beautiful, it was cold, so off to see folk art, knitting, weaving, Egyptian mummies, American Indians, and Norwegian clothing went we. Doesn't that sound like an eclectic collection of culture? They have perhaps the best collection of church art from Norway anywhere. Naturally, it's almost all wood; painted, intricately carved, inlaid, etc.Ed's beginning to think I'm trying to make a religious man out of him. We've been to several concerts in the churches in Bergen. The Advent concerts are remarkable. The pastor of New Church has a fabulous voice. The churches are very interesting in and of themselves. The Cross Church has the most intricate wooden support structures for the arched ceiling! Earlier this summer, the organ concert at the Bergen Cathedral was Bach done on the most beautiful organ I've seen so far.
Tonight at midnight, all the church bells in Norway will ring in the new year. Won't that be spectacular? I wish you all a Godt Nyttår (Good New Year)!
The churches of Europe are fascinating places to see, and abound in history. We've enjoyed the cathedrals of England, France, and Germany -- steeped in history, dating back well over a thousand years in many cases, fantastic sound of voices in chant (remember evensong at St George's, Pilla?), and incredible artwork.
ReplyDeleteIn my ancestral home of Finland, there is a story (you know I always have a story) of an old painting in a church that seemed to depict heaven in the top half and hell in the lower half. The disturbing part to some tourists apparently was that there was only one woman in the heaven bit -- surely the Virgin Mary -- and only one man in the lower part -- assumedly Judas Iscariot. When a woman tourist took exception to the painting the guide, without missing a beat, replied that the explanation lay in the Revelation of St. John, where it says that after the opening of the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for a period of about an half an hour -- and he maintained no woman could hold their tongue that long.
Hey, I just report the facts.
Don't worry, Pilla, cvow will be barricading himself in his new compound in Wyoming one of these years, cutting off contact with much of the world, and surrounding himself with portraits of Dick Cheney while consuming the remainder of his single malt scotch collection.
ReplyDeleteI always found it fasinating to be in a church built in Germany long before any church was built in the US. Connie
ReplyDelete