Friday, August 6, 2010

Trondheim in Summer

At last I got to see Trondheim in slightly better weather than previous visits. And I have to say I was delighted to be able to walk around in a T-shirt.
My first visit to Trondheim was for surgery, in December last year. It was a little bit cold, but not too bad.
When I returned in January, for 6 weeks radiation therapy, I could not believe that any place on earth could be so cold, and yet at the same time so beautiful. Click on this link  for some pictures on my photobucket site from that visit. On one of the days it was about -25C and my damned mustache froze, now that's cold. :)
Here's a sample picture from January. Ice floating down the river had damaged pontoons for small boats.

But back to this week, and the whole place looked better. Here's a view over Nidelva (River Nid), towards the main bridge into town.
And a view of a lovely footbridge. It takes ages to walk across that bridge because you just want to stop all the time an look at the river, which incidentally is teeming with fish. Norway, like many other countries, has made great efforts to clean up previously polluted rivers, and this is a great example.
This is just my attempt at an arty-farty shot of the top of the cathedral.
A view down river from the main bridge. On the skyline, left of centre is the fort which I posted about earlier. In fact if you look at my posts from early May you'll find a load more pictures from Trondheim.
And, nearly forgot to mention, the tower on the skyline, to the right, is the Tyholt Tower. Location of the most expensive beer I have found in Norway, so far. ;)
After taking those few pictures and doing what no man should ever have to do,,, 2 hours of shopping for shoes, I headed for St Olav's hospital for my check up.
I honestly can't say enough good things about the staff at St Olavs. They're brilliant, pleasant, polite, warm, kind, etc.... But, above all damned good at their jobs. The hospital itself, which is a university hospital, has been greatly expanded in recent years, with a host of new buildings. The latest building project is the demolition of this block, from the 1950s, which is an architectural failure so I'm glad to see it go.
The thought did cross my mind though that it was amazing to see this building pulled down, when some old buildings on the site, from 1908 I think, are still looking good, and serving a useful purpose.
And, check out the arm reach on that demolition digger.. I'd love to play with that machine for a few hours. :)
Well, after driving all the way from Vestnes, which was over 300km on the route we took, I had 10 minutes with the doctor, to be told that all tests were fine. I have to admit that the best fun with the consultation was when she asked, "Are you back at work yet?". My reply was, "Yes, since 3 days after my treatment ended". Then she asked, "Full time, or part time?".
"Overtime", I replied, "Been working 12 hour shifts for the last few months".  I don't think she expected that answer, and she went on to explain that most folk with my condition don't get back to work for 6 months.
That made me feel a whole lot better about myself, and keener than ever to get back on the road to see more of Norway.

I've, as usual, written too much about very little, but the next few posts will be better, I promise, with a little touch into Sweden, and our visit to Røros which has the most amazing museum I have ever seen.

Yun's aa fir enoo

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