www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
I går torsdag 19. mai åpnet Icelandair ny rute fra Keflavik til Montréal i Canada, med fire ukentlige avganger, skriver Travelnews.no
Ruten vil være i drift frem til 8. november. Montreal, som ligger i provinsen Quebec, blir den femte kanadiske destinasjonen for det islandske flyselskapet.
Turen fra Reykjavik til Pierre Trudeau International Airport tar vel fem timer, mens hele reisen fra Skandinavia, inkludert et flybytte på Keflavik, tar rundt ti timer, skriver nettstedet.
Flyplassen i Montreal er den travleste i Quebec, og den fjerde travleste i Canada målt i passasjertrafikk. Flyplassen er oppkalt etter Canadas legendariske og mangeårige statsminister Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000), statsminister 1968-1979 og 1980-1984. Han var født i Montreal, og er far til dagens statsminister, Justin Trudeau (44), regjeringssjef siden november 2015.
Montreal er landets nest største by, etter Toronto, og har 1,7 millioner innbyggere.
I forbindelse med Icelandairs transatlantiske ruter kan man stoppe på Island i opptil syv døgn på ut- eller hjemreisen, uten tillegg i flybilletten.
Icelandair fly nå til 16 destinasjoner i Nord-America:
USA: Boston i Massachusets, Washington DC, New York City (JFK og Newark), Orlando i Florida, Minneapolis / St.Paul i Minnesota, Denver i Colorado, Seattle i Washington, Anchorage i Alaska, Portland i Oregon, og Chicgao i Illinois.
Canada: Toronto i Ontario, Halifax på Nova Scotia, Vancouver, i British Columbia, Edmonton i Alberta, og Montreal i Quebec.
Les hele saken på Travelnews her: http://travelnews.no/nyheter/fly/icelandair-til-montreal/
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Embassy of Turkmenistan in Minsk.
Turkmenistan opened an embassy in the Belarus capital Minsk on 12 May.
Presidents Alexander Lukashenko (left) and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the opening ceremony of the Turkmenistan embassy in Minsk.
Photo credit: belarus.by
“The Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belarus should be the center of Belarus-Turkmenistan cooperation”, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the opening ceremony of the embassy, according to the BelTA news agency.
According to Mr Lukashenko, it’s deeply symbolic that the embassy opens in the center of Minsk shortly after a remarkable anniversary for all member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is Victory Day.
The President stressed that a year and a half ago the president of Turkmenistan and he laid a time capsule in the foundation of the building. The building is described as a architectural landmark.
President Lukashenko emphasized that Belarus was paying much attention to the construction process at all stages. For example, tax preferences were provided, the infrastructure was created, and the nearby territory was beautified.
“I’m convinced that the embassy will be a hub of the Belarusian-Turkmen cooperation. The diplomats who will be working here will make a big contribution to the enhancement of sincere friendship between our nations and business partnership between our states,” Alexander Lukashenko assured.
He also stressed that there are many Turkmen students in Belarus.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Pariserhjulet i Helsingfors. Foto: visithelsinki.fi
I Finlands hovedstad Helsingfors kan man snart ta badstu, i et pariserhjul, skriver VG. Pariserhjulet på Skatudden blir verdens første med egen badstu, opplyser eierne selv, ifølge NTB.
– Hvor ellers ville det vært naturlig at det skjer enn i Finland, skriver selskapet Sky Wheel Helsinki i en pressemelding.
Saunaen, som får plass til fem personer og åpner i sommer, skal være åpen året rundt.
Burger King i Helsingfors. Illustrasjonssfoto: yle.fi
Som om ikke dette var nok, får beboere og turister i Helsingsfors enda en måte å nyte badstue på. Burger King åpner nemlig et spa i en av sine Helsinki-restauranter skriver Time og VG.
Her blir det både damp-rom og saunaer med plass til opptil femten mennesker i. Hamburgere kan serveres både i restauranten og i spa-delen.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Karl Johans gate, Oslo’s main street, with the Royal Palace on top of the hill, known as Bellevuehøyden (Bellevue Hill) on 17 May.
Today, 17 May, Norway celebrates it’s National Day / Constitution Day, with the traditional school children’s parades, marching bands, entertainment, parties and cultural events all over the country of five million people.
The celebration of the National Day is a major annual tourist attraction in Oslo.
Norwegians all over the world marks the National Day – one of the biggest events took place in London, where some 7000 Norwegian expats joined in the celebrations.
The Norwegian Royal Family greets the people from the balcony of the Royal Palace in Oslo on 17 May 2016. From right to left: HM King Harald, 79, HM Queen Sonja, 78, HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 41, HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 12, and HRH Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, 41. HH Prince Sverre Magnus, 10, was also present. The Queen and the Crown Princess is wearing traditional Norwegian national costume, a bunad, while the King and the Crown Prince, as always on such occasions, dons a morning jacket and a top hat. Royal Court official photo by Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix / The Royal Court.
This year, a record number of 119 schools from within the City of Oslo, and more than 60,000 children took part in the parade.
The Crown Prince, Crown Princess two of their three children, Princes Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus, outside their home, Skaugum Estate, in Asker, west of Oslo, on the morning of 17 May 2016, greeting the children’s parade from their local community. The family dog, Milly Kakao, was also present. Official Royal Court photo by Audun Braastad / NTB scanpix / The Royal Court.
The following was published on the Royal Court’s website – www.kongehuset.no, today:
For more than 100 years, the Royal Family has greeted the Constitution Day children’s parade in Oslo from the balcony of the Royal Palace.
The very first celebration of May 17th is thought to have taken place in Trondheim in 1815, one year after the Constitution was drafted and adopted by the National Assembly at Eidsvoll. In 1836 the Storting celebrated May 17th for the first time and this is considered to be the date on which 17 May officially became Constitution Day in Norway.
King Carl Johan, who ruled over Norway and Sweden from 1818 to 1844, regarded the May 17th celebrations – and Norway’s independent Constitution – as revolutionary acts and a provocation against Sweden. In 1828 he prohibited the celebration of Constitution Day. However, following the death of King Carl Johan in 1844, there was a change of strategy. In 1845, his successor, King Oscar I attended the May 17th celebrations, and greeted the banner parade from the palatial estate, where the Royal Family stayed during visits to Christiania.
King Oscar I was also the first king to wave from the Palace balcony, albeit not on 17 May, but on 26 July 1849, when the Royal Palace in Christiania was finally completed.
Marking special days or festivals with celebrations involving parades with banners, music and singing was common in the past. A school headmaster, Peter Qvam, is thought to have come up with the idea of holding the first children’s parade in Norway in 1869. Qvam was a friend of the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Both argued keenly in favour of organising a children’s parade to celebrate Constitution Day.
The following year, in 1870, the first children’s parade marched to the Palace, stopping to sing the royal anthem beneath the Palace balcony.
Only boys, some 1,200 in all and most of them from Qvam’s school in Christiania, took part in the first children’s parade. It was not until 1889 that girls, pupils from Mrs Ragna Nielsen’s school, were allowed to join the parade. Møllergata school was the first school to have its own band in 1902. The current celebration of the graduates-to-be from upper secondary school dates back to 1905, when the graduating class took part in the May 17th parade for the first time.
It was King Haakon and Queen Maud who introduced the custom of greeting the children’s parade from the Palace balcony in 1906. The custom has been upheld ever since. The only exceptions were in 1910, when the Royal Family was in England for the funeral of Queen Maud’s father, King Edward VII, and during World War II from 1940 to1944.
By 17 May 1945 Crown Prince Olav had returned from London, where he had lived in exile during the war years. That year he was in position on the Palace balcony to greet the 202,000 schoolchildren, who were once again allowed to celebrate 17 May after five years of occupation.
Each year the Royal Family gathers to greet the children’s parade from the Palace balcony. Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra is the fifth generation to honour this tradition.
Learn more at www.kongehuset.no
The constitution of Norway was signed on 17 May 1814 at The Eidvoll House, north of Oslo, by the Constitutional Assembly. This famous 285 x 400 centimeter oil painting by artist Oscar Arnold Wergeland (1844-1910) from 1885, called “Eidsvold 1814”, today hangs behind the Speaker’s chair in the Assembly chamber Norway’s parliament, The Storting.
The painting shows Christian Magnus Falsen, the Constitutional Assembly’s president – and known as “Father of the Constitution” – reading out the document, while the assembly’s secretary, Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie, sits next to him on the right. Only 70 of the 112 assemblymen are shown on the painting.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
The capital city of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, will host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017, the Insidethegames.biz website can report.
Action will take place from September 15 to 24 next year.
The Olympic Complex, located on the historical Silk Road, represents the coming together of the new and the old in Turkmenistan and is one of the most “state-of-the-art facilities in the world”.
The Athletes’ Village, which will host 5,000 athletes from 62 countries across Asia and Oceania, is also finished and the new airport is said to be three months away from completion.
All 45 Asian National Olympic Committees as well 17 from Oceania are due to take part in the games.
Read the full story here: http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1037436/oca-president-praises-ashgabat-2017-preparations-ahead-of-asian-indoor-and-martial-arts-games
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
En Trabant 601 S, med soltak. Foto: wikipedia.org
Det ikoniske bilmerket Trabant, produsert i DDR (Øst-Tyskland), var for mange selve symbolet på det kommunistiske Øst-Europa, og de bitte små bilene med totaktsmotor er fortsatt en stor turistattraksjon i Berlin, skriver Se og Hør.
Trabi-Safari – www.trabi-safari.de – tar deg med på en rundtur i den tyske hovedstaden, der du selv faktisk sitter bak rattet og kjører selv, på kryss og tvers av byen, for eksempel i det gamle øst-Berlin, som var hovedstad i Den tyske demokratiske republikk under kommunistregimet 1949-1989.
Prisene er fra kr.250 for et par timer.
Trabant (som betyr satelitt på tysk), eller Trabi / Trabbi, som bilen kaltes på folkemunne, ble produsert av bilfabrikken VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau, i byen Zwickau i dagens tyske delstat Sachsen, i perioden 1957 til 1991, og ble også eksportert til andre land i østblokken.
Bilen var det vanligste kjøretøyet i DDR, og ble også importert til Norge i perioden 1957 til 1967.
Det ble produsert til sammen nær 3,1 millioner Trabant-biler.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
De nordiske lederne samlet i State Dining Room i Det hvite hus, med president Barack Obama som vert. Fra venstre: Danmarks statsminister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Islands statsminister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Finlands president Sauli Niinistö, Sveriges statsminister Stefan Löfven, president Obama, og Norges statsminister Erna Solberg. Foto: The White House / Chuck Kennedy.
Fem nordiske ledere var i går samlet i Washington DC, på et felles statsbesøk, som det aller første noen gang. Fire statsministre og en president og deres ektefeller ble tatt imot med pomp og prakt og militært seremoniell i Det hvite hus, av president Barack Obama og fru Michelle Obama.
Møtet er historisk, da det aldri før har vært samlet ledere fra alle nordiske land i Det hvite hus. Etter politiske samtaler stod en storslagen gallamiddag, “bare” den 12. i rekken i løpet av Obamas åtte år som president; i hagen ved Det hvite hus på programmet, med 400 gjester til bords.
Til stede var nordiske og amerikanske politikere, næringslivsfolk og diplomater.
Statsminister Erna Solberg hadde president Obama til bords.
– Et minne for livet, sier statsministeren til TV2 om besøket og middagen i Det hvite hus, og skryter av nydelig mat, svært hyggelig selskap, og ikke minst nyttige politiske samtaler med den amerikanske presidenten.
Kjøkkensjefen i Det hvite hus (White House Executive Chef) Cristeta Comerford, hadde komponert en meny med skandinaviske delikatesser og amerikanske favoritter, selvsagt med amerikanske viner til – og menyen så slik ut:
Canapes of Chicken and Waffles and Aquavit Seafood Cocktail
Tomato Tartare with Cardamom Yogurt, Micro Lettuce and a Citrus Vinaigrette
Salt-cured Ahi Tuna with Pickled Young Radish and Watermelon Juniper Granite
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs with Hot Kale salad and Thyme Dumplings
Caramel Almond Mille-feuille with Vanilla Bean Chantilly and Lingonberry Cream
Det nordiske storbesøket til Washington har vakt stor oppmerksomhet i den amerikanske hovedstaden, med nordiske flagg over hele byen.
I kveld er det stor mottakelse i hagen til den norske ambassadørresidensen.
Kilder: www.whitehouse.gov, Kgl.norske ambassade i Washington DC, TV2, norske og amerikanske medier.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Foto: European Broadcasting Union, EBU – www.ebu.ch
I kveld braker det løs i Globen (eg.Ericsson Globe) i Stockholm når den 61. internasjonale finalen i Eurovision Song Contest, eller Melodi Grand Prix (MGP) som den ennå kalles i Norge, går av stabelen.
26 land deltar i finalen, der både Danmark, Finland, Island og Norge ble slått ut i semifinalene, og Sverige blir dermed eneste nordiske land i finalen, siden de er direktekvalifisert, som vertsland.
Programledere er fjorårets vinner i Måns Zelmerlöw (29) og komikeren, skuespilleren, forfatteren og programverten Petra Mede (46).
Pauseinnslaget er det ingen ringere enn den amerikanske artisten og skuespilleren Justin Timberlake (35) som står for.
Finalen sendes direkte til alle europeiske land, til USA, Kina, Australia, flere land i Sentral-Asia, og New Zealand. Man regner med at rundt 200 millioner mennesker ser kveldens program.
Globen i Stockholm. Foto: wikipedia.org
Globen, som er en nasjonal arena for musikk og idrett, ligger i bydelen Johanneshov, og stod ferdig i 1989. Arenaen, som nyttes til store konserter og idrettsarrangement, er også hjemmebane for Djurgården Hockey.
Arenaen har en kapasitet på 16 000, og det er 11,000 tilskuere i Globen i kveld.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Midt under hotellstreiken åpnet Petter Stordalen (53) et nytt hotell, Comfort Hotel, uten fagorganiserte, på Karl Johan i Oslo, skriver VG.
Det var så trangt i bakgården, som leder inn til Stordalens nyeste hotell i hovedstaden, at servitørene hadde problemer med å balansere brettene med kanapeer i folkemengden, skriver nettstedet.
– Endelig har Nordic Choice landet i Norges paradegate nummer 1: Karl Johan, ropte Petter Stordalen da han inntok scenen.
Kommunikasjonsansvarlig i Fellesforbundet, Vidar Grønli, tar Stordalens hotellfest midt under streiken med stor ro.
– Jeg regner med at han har planlagt lanseringen av hotellet over lengre tid, sier han til VG.
Petter Stordal har brukt tre år og investert 300 millioner kroner på det nye hotellet, som har 184 rom.
Les hele saken her: www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/petter-stordalen/inviterte-til-hotellfest-under-streiken/a/23683271/
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs and politics, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
The tourism industry is worth more than £15bn to London’s economy, more than any other region in the United Kingdom, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown, City A.M. can report.
Foreign visitors in the British capital on holidays and business, along with day-trippers from the rest of the UK spent more than £36bn in London in 2013 out of a total of £130bn around the country during 2013.
The ONS said this spend created a total contribution to the UK economy, measured in gross value added of £59bn, and expects it to have been worth more than £60bn in 2015.
Read the full story here: http://www.cityam.com/240778/london-tops-the-uk-as-tourism-hotspot-with-tourists-spending-36bn-a-year-in-the-capital
