lightning strikes

This picture by Hans K. Aspenberg is one of many that were taken just before midnight last night in and around Oslo. Mr. Snow was tucked up in bed as the winds whipped up. Everyone was on tenterhooks just waiting for the storm to burst… and burst it finally did.

From our kitchen window I watched the rain spatter down heavily onto the street, and the water gushing down off the roofs. Many of our neighbours were doing the same, each framed by their own warmly lit-up window. Every couple of minutes, in shocking contrast, everyone and everything was illuminated by lightning.

For once Oslo had a tropical downpour. I felt so at home.

aire de bardenas

Another excuse – if I ever needed one – to visit Spain. Close to the nature reserve of Bardenas Reales National Park in Navarra, Aire de Bardenas is a hotel of the sort I have only seen in desert dreamscapes. The stunning portraits evoke a dusty, hot silence. And with the kind of red wines there a native once introduced me to, surely it can only be good. One day…

bø!

As promised, a multimedia report on our weekend here which included a fair amount of:

But the crags we found on Sunday were blazing hot, so we cooled down (both evenings) here:

Travelling is never complete without meeting some locals (much to Little Climber’s horror):

And of course lots of singing/shouting along in the car as we sailed back into Oslo to this:

Thanks Climbers for a great visit!