Sometimes walking out the door and around back is the best way to hike. We bushwhacked up through juniper and blueberry towards a small lake where fish are rumored to live. Tyinkrysset, Norway is beautiful.
This little stream is just up the road a few hundred meters.
Here are some pictures of our walk in the mountains.
A view of the valley.
Chilly Romey.
Panorama
Our intrepid hosts at the top. Our fearless leader Nova was dressed for the weather.
The trail, built by hand with horses and carts through steep mountain passes, is incredible. Like a movie set. This is one hike in Norway not to miss. We did a few kilometers day hike to the Stave Church completed in the 1180s.
The Kings Road is what Kongevegen means, BTW. The scenery at peak Fall is stunning and magical.
Romey and the logo bench.
Just up over the pass the first view of the Stave Church.
We approached from behind (with a herd of sheep). These are not the sheep!
Our fearless leader Nova.
Don’t eat the mushrooms.
A quiet moment of conversation.
A boy and his dog!
An impressive waterfall on the drive home.
Coffee stop.
And back home for beer and a small fire. This is the only kind of smoking that I like to do.
It’s pretty far to get to the waterfall, and the directions are tricky.
Maybe it’s that way?
Should we follow the reindeer?
And you have to stop by the visitors center snack place where they have really nothing. No coffee today, no waffles, nope, no water, sorry only candy made from juniper berries.
But there it is! Upness in a waterfall.
OK. Not the best waterfall in Norway, or really even the most interesting. But there were reindeer!
The Roxy Music show in DC was excellent and fun. St Vincent opened up (and not many of the audience members knew her stuff). We rocked out. Here are some bits.
We parked at the arena (though it cost some $$$ it was way worth it as we drove directly out in under 2 minutes). We arrived early enough to buy a very bad gin and tonic from the sports betting center on the corner before the show.
We were in the venue about 30 minutes before the show. Row 12!
St Vincent played lots of material from her new album.
New York
Only mother fucker in the city…
Slow disco.
The stage change took about 25 minutes. And it was worth the wait.
ROXY MUSIC in the house!
The show began with Avalon interstitial into Re-Make/Re-Model.
A guitar solo by Phil Manzanera.
Bryan Ferry was full of energy during this show.
Andy Mackay on woodwinds.
The guitar gets wild
While My Heart is Still Beating
Roxy gets psychedelic.
As does Romey! You go girl.
Many of the interludes were beautiful in just the right Roxy way.
One of our all time favorites To Turn You On
The Main Thing
The crowd was into it. And the visuals were just as much of the experience at the music. One guy in front of us knew every word of every song.
An all time favorite (though honestly I would rather play this than listen to it), More Than This.
Romey captures some bits.
And a very much great version of Avalon (though, don’t be the asshole who talks over this song).
The Warhol set was awesome
Jealous Guy
Congrats on 50 years of being a band, Roxy Music! You guys still rock.
Seems like our time on the streets in Barcelona and Madrid centered around Vermut (of the local variety) and Aperol Spritz (of the industrial variety). Here are some random shots.
We might have found some gorgeous jewelry in Madrid. Maybe. Happy today day!
These handmade shoes were beautiful and very much local.
We found the barrel in Barcelona.
While waiting for fingernails.
Ayn Rand or Romey?
Dinner in Barcelona.
Flowers in Barcelona
The out take.
Walking with the hoards.
Beautiful dresses which may be too small?
A picture of the designer.
Random door.
Rubber ducky, you’re the one… (memories of playing the bathroom song with Matt in Italy…LOL).
The Picasso Museum in Barcelona is an institution and is worth a quick visit. But if you have been looking at Picasso for years, you won’t find much in the way of major works. In any case, Barcelona is proud of what it has come to think of as its home town boy. Lots of early work.
Lots. Like an entire wall’s worth.
Set in four connected villas, the museum has amassed a very deep (but not very wide) collection.
This blue.
Avant guard in Paris with the Russian ballet. Picasso was blending fine art, music, and dance in 1909. (And here we thought we were onto something with Into the Unknown.)
The locals didn’t like it much at first, probably because they were jealous. They still call it “the quarry” (or la pedrera) because it was so dusty and noisy when it was being constructed. But Gaudi had a vision. And now all of Barcelona shares it.
This is not it!
Casa Milà is just up the street from Casa Batlló, which just so happens to be where our perfume shop is located.
We were told to do the night tour at Casa Milà, so we did. Good advice. The light and sound show on the roof is cheesy, but moving in a Disney small world kind of way. But the views of night time Barcelona are worth the walk up with no shenanigans required.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. Lets go back to the beginning.
We walked one block from our hotel (the Alma) and arrived too early to be let in by ten minutes. Though the cafe in the building was officially closed, we convinced them into selling us an Aperol spritz or two.
After gulping down our drinks, we wandered into the courtyard to await the guide.
This view reminded Romey of the new building in NY (still closed due to suicide risk).
Color and light for the first floor and the primary residents.
The public clamored to get in.
The servants’ quarters reminded me of the servants’ facilities at Falling Water.
Eventually we climbed the six floors to the attic.
Where we encountered the model of the building we were in (with tiny little us’es taking videos or an even smaller model, and so on).
All squares were run to the right.
Then the roof just after sunset.
With breathtaking views of Barcelona like this, we’re not sure why the light and sound show seemed necessary. People.
