Wednesday 13 June 2012

Trondheim, Norway

Trondheim is Norway's third largest city and was in fact the capital back when the Vikings ran the place.  Today there is a university and a bustling tourist scene and with a few more than 170,000 people living there, it's big enough to seem lively but nowhere near big enough be overwhelming.

On the day I arrived the weather was a bit grim 



but the view from my hotel room looked promising
 

Next day, the weather didn't improve so I spent a number of hours walking around, taking photos and generally trying to keep warm


While I walked past a few, I didn't visit a single church, museum or art gallery 




I did, however, see a lot of the town.  This is the old bridge


with the view south


and north from the bridge



Here are some pretty nineteenth century streetscapes 





and another view of the waterfront with the old warehouses left intact 


There is an almost uniform colour scheme right across the old parts of the city although not everyone is keeping up

Fortunately, I visited Trondheim for a second time a few days later when the sun was out so I saw it with a blue sky overhead.  This part reminded me of Kensington, Melbourne albeit with bigger silos


And here are some early twentieth century apartment buildings that I liked the look of.  First the elaborate




now the not so elaborate



and finally, the downright austere





Trondheim is, of course, not all olde world charm.  There is lots of new building work underway


and a number of modern offices, hotels, shops and apartments built along the river





As well as the building colour scheme, there are lots of street plantings, both public and private, to brighten the place up






 One of the most original was this bed of pansies planted into the handrail of the brand new pedestrian bridge


and at least one house has a meadow roof (just like I had seen in Ostersund)



Also in Trondheim, I came across the smallest car I have ever seen


possibly the last one of these still in existence





and a cute little pooch that reminded me of the Z dog




I wonder if I missed anything by not visiting the churches, museums and art galleries?





  

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