Impressions from North Germany and Norway

Since moving to Lüneburg SH’s health declined and going on trips including longer walks have not been possible anymore.
I am now living just a few minutes away from my 82-year-old mother, and my lovely little granddaughter, who is going to be 3 soon. Many Sundays are spent with family and I enjoy being close to them.

I am turning 60 in November and maybe it is getting older and maybe it’s the the demands at work that have increased, but I have started feeling more tired after work and have a much bigger need for just relaxing and charging my batteries at the weekends. As a result of all of the above, I have lacked in time and inspiration for blogging. At the same time I missed it.

The purpose of my blog is to give you a glimpse into everyday life in (North) Germany. SH claims, the area around Lüneburg is boring compared to Schleswig – Holstein, where we lived before. In his eyes the North German landscape is boring compared to the exciting landscape of Norway, his home country. I agree that Norway’s nature is dramatic and breathtaking. North Germany is pretty flat, great for cycling and walking, but we have nice coasts and lot’s of forests.

Still, you can’t really compare the two countries. Norway has just around 5 Million inhabitants, Germany more than 80 millions, of which almost 8 million live in Lower Saxony. There are seven bigger cities in Lower Saxony alone. We live in a rather small town, Lüneburg, with a bit more than 70 000 inhabitants in the Northeast of Lower Saxony, close to the former border to East Germany and just 50 km Southeast of Hamburg.

In Norway a town with 70 000 inhabitants is considered big and will have the flair of a big citiy. In Germany you will find towns that size idyllic, but rather sleepy.

I love the combination of water and mountains and the clear colours of Norway, but I also love the mellow landscape here, the brickwork of the old houses and the farmland.

Now that autumn and winter are coming I will revive this blog and show you pictures of the area I live in. At the same time I will include I will include photos and texts about Norway, and the area SH grew up in and which I visit at least once a year and have grown to love, too.

Some photos of the area around Lüneburg and holiday photos made in Norway this year

Runde

Blogging from A – Z

As I have mentioned before my partner is Norwegian. He grew up on a small island called Runde. Runde is famous for its bird rocks. In winter there are about 100 people living on the island, in summer there is a steady stream of tourists. Some of them, especially Germans, stay for weeks or even months, others stay just long enough to have a trip up the mountain and make some photos of the birds. Most people take a boat trip around the island, which is a lot of fun. The skipper is able to take the boat very close to the rocks so you can look inside the caves.

There is only a small kiosk on the camping place; food shopping is done in the next town Fosnavaag, about 15 km away. There is a bridge connecting Runde to the next island, you will see it on one of the photos below.

Walking up on the mountain you will meet skuas, and they can be very aggressive when you walk to close to one of their nests. The most popular bird however is the puffin, and I have added a photo of one made by my partner.

Most years we spend a few weeks on Runde, and I have come to love that island and its people a lot. One of my favorite places are the old boathouses near the harbor, I feel they have a very special charm.

If you should ever visit Norway, I recommend a stop on Runde. I am only giving you a small glimpse, but if you should follow this blog you will see more of Runde and Norway.

Starting over with my blog

I have neglected this blog terribly. Well, not just this blog, but my German ones as well. Somehow, this year has been busy with family things: a wedding, a christening, a 80^th birthday, a confirmation and serious sickness. Many weekends were spent away at home, in Lüneburg and Heide, where most of my family lives. There were some trips with our new camper van, the one my partner built himself out of an old delivery van.

Yes, I have taken many photos, so during the winter I will show you, where we have been and give you some more impressions of North Germany. North Germany includes the three federal states Schleswig – Holstein, where I live, Norther Saxony, where I grew up and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which used to be in the German Democratic Republic.

When I started this blog I was very optimistic about getting involved in the community life in the small place I am living in today. I wanted to show you the places I visited and share my everyday life with you.

Since having this blog I have not found it so terrible difficult to show you places I visited, but sharing everyday life has been a challenge. Simply, because I am still not rooted in the community here. I am working in Hamburg, commuting, usually being away from home 12 – 13 hours. Coming home there are chores to do: walk the dog, fix dinner, read the mail. And being in a relationship it deserves a bit of attention too.

In the countryside life stops around 08:00 pm. The shutters on the houses around us go down. Sports courses at the local club start long before, the baker, the butcher and the pharmacist close at 06.00 and when I get home, only the supermarkets are open. Weekends are busy with cleaning up, shopping, doing the garden and the only time I meet the neighbors is when I walk the dog. Our friends are either living in Hamburg or further away.

If you want to be part of a community in the country side you have to either be born into the place or join the voluntary fire brigade (still a man’s thing) or the football /sports club or the church. All three don’t appeal to me and not to my partner either.

This is the reason why I haven’t been writing much about everyday life. It is a weak excuse, I know. I will try to better myself, which is one of the reasons I joined this Blogging 101 University.

I still want to show you North Germany. It has always irritated me a bit, that most non-Germans think of South Germany and its traditions when thinking about Germany. I love travelling and catching glimpses into other people’s lives, at the same time I have very strong roots here.

I will still write about everyday life, about things that are typical (North) German. And now and then I will write about things that are on my mind and that I would like to share with others. Maybe I will even let you catch a glimpse into my work life, and I would very much show you some of Norway, which I have come to like an awful lot.

You know, when sharing these things publicly they become something special for me. I am trying to find aspects that might be new or unusual to others, while they are commonplace to me. Last, not least, blogging in English helps me to keep my knowledge of the language active and meeting many people from around the world. And that, I feel, is a true enrichment.