Alesund
Flying into Alesund, which is about the same latitude as my hometown – Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.
It’s heartening to see the Norwegians appreciation for their artists. An example here with Norwegian Air – a large tail graphic of their celebrated poet and journalist, Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, 1818 – 1870.
Wouldn’t it be great to see someone like, say, A.Y. Jackson or Emily Carr, on the tail of an Air Canada jet?
Alesund’s city centre was destroyed by fire in 1904, and rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. This is the wonderful Rica Hotel Scandinavie, built in 1905. Beautiful light filled rooms, generous space in the guest rooms, and, a terrific bar!
A memorable welcome from a large bird and enthusiastic staff at the hotel.
Another of the large tapestries in the lobby by the Dutch artist Corneille, one of the founders of the avante-guard movement, COBRA. He recently died at the age of 88 in Paris, France.
I was thrilled to see his work in the hotel, where it works perfectly.
The aforementioned bar in the early morning light. In mid July it was light until midnight in Alesund, and then just got kind of dim until the sun rose.
The downtown core was entirely rebuilt after the fire, between 1904 – 1907. As a result, it is amazingly consistent in style.
The most important fishing harbour in Norway. And of course, Alesund has some wonderful sea food restaurants.