A December sunset in Øresund

Just before sunset (at about 3.35 P.M) the Belgian registered cargo ship Agate passed Helsingør/Helsingborg on its way to Vyborg (formerly Finland´s second largest city).

This is the darkest time of the year here in the north. This picture shows the view over to the Danish side of Øresund a few minutes before Agate passed by.

The Sound of Music shines on blu-ray

Today I received my copy of the blu-ray version of one of my absolute favourite musical movies, The Sound of Music. What a visual and musical delight the new blu-ray disc is! If you enjoy the movie, it is well worth investing a few dollars in this wonderful disc. One never gets tired of watching and listening to Julie Andrews! And Cristopher Plummer and all the others are excellent, too.

The reefer Stina and the Danish patrol boat Freja in Øresund

The Danish Navy´s Diana class patrol boat Freja P521 this afternoon passed Helsingør. The 43 x 8,2m Freja was launched in August 2006 and is one of the six boats in its class.

The Barbados registered reefer Stina (151,5 x 22,8m) also passed Helsingør/Helsingborg on its way to Flushing. The 1983 built Stina is owned by Stina Shipping Ltd operated by Holy House Shipping in Stockholm. Reefers like Stina belong to my personal favourites with their appealing classical "retro" style.

Looking forward to the Vienna New Year´s Concert

The Grosser Saal has been the venue of the New Year´s Concerts since 1939

It is now less than three weeks to one of the great televised musical highlights of each year, the Vienna New Year´s Concert on 1 January 2012. The Vienna Philharmonic will be conducted by the Latvian Maestro Mariss Jansons, whom some of you may remember already from the concert 2006.

The Grosser Saal (Large hall) of the Musikverein is the ideal setting for the concert. It is - at least in my opinion - the world´s most beautiful concert hall, and probably also has the best accoustics.

If you are not one of those lucky ticket holders (tickets are nowadays drawn by lot over this website at the beginning of each year) be sure to mark the day for a musical feast in front of the telly on
January 1.

 

Since 1980 the flowers that decorate the hall have been a gift from the Italian city of Sanremo

Snow is finally falling on Europe´s ski slopes

The 1898 ski season in Finland was also excellent. Here you can check the situation today.

 

Snow is finally falling on Europe´s ski slopes. We read that Swiss ski enthusiasts are breathing a sigh of relief after heavy snow finally hits the slopes. By the weekend mountains could see up to 70 cm, a forecaster said.

And over in the US, it´s already looking like another great season for ski centres on the west coast. Last year saw a record snowfall, with more than 18 m in total (!) in some areas.

Cross country was the favoured style of skiing in Finland in 1898

The late 1890´s were good in Finland for other winter sports as well

The Crown of Scandinavia late

It is always nice to watch the DFDS ferries pass by on their way to either Oslo or Copenhagen. This morning, though, the Crown of Scandinavia, heading for Copenhagen, was a couple of hours late. The delay must have had some other reason than heavy seas.