Norway in HD

Strong icy cold winds and waves breaking onto land is a common sight in our part of the world. Particularily so during the winter season. Enjoy this natural theater in today's episode.

Most people know that the Statue of Liberty was given to the US as a gift from the French at the Centennial in 1876. However, not that many would know that the copper used to give the statue its characteristic green surface came from the copper mines at Visnes on the island of Karmoey outside Haugesund.

The mines were owned by a French company and did at one point in history account for 70% of Norway's total income from export. The mines were closed down in 1972, but are preserved as a museum.

Another little known fact about the Statue of Liberty, btw, is that it was the Norwegian engineer Joachim Gotsche Giaver that designed the iron girders and beams solution that connects the lady to her pedestal.

I found this clearing in the woods in Fana just south of Bergen. Get yourself a cup of coffee, fill your lungs with the fresh cool air and watch how the sun plays with the colors of the landscape.

It is early spring and the new grass has not yet been able to overtake the grass killed off by frost, snow and ice during winter. However, with the sun gaining power and the clear water from ice melting watering its roots, there will be remarkable things happening over the next few months.

The west coast of Norway is blessed by the warm waters of the Gulfstream passing by and keeping the temperature a bit more pleasant than you would experience in the eastern and northern parts of the country. Under normal circumstances we would have only a few weeks of snow, but this winter has been exceptional, as we have had continuous snow from mid December to April.

Join me for a Sunday afternoon of ice-skating in January. It will be obvious from these images that we are not very familiar with skating around here.

I have also included a short driving sequence shot late March as the snow had just started to melt. It is slush time!