There Were Five Volvos In A Row

I was driving down the street and had to stop to snap this scene. The Raffi song, "Eight Piggies," began to play in my head. . . "There were five Volvos in a row. . ." Lined up the sunset light, yet they refuse to die. Perhaps they are remembering the countless kids in the backseat, the ski trips, rainslick pavement, black ice, major Costco hauls, moving whole apartments full of furniture. The glory days before the odometer read 250,000 plus. So, what DO you call a gathering of Volvos? And what was the highest milage on YOURS? This is the last post for Nordic Week at SDP.

Signs of Nordic Pride in Seattle

Nordic Week at SDP brings you signs of Nordic pride from all over Seattle. From cheesy 1950s-60s apartment building names to commercial signs, they are everywhere. Today is a big bonus day: I'm posting 14 images. Enjoy!

You Don't Have to Be Swedish

. . .to get medical attention here. Swedish Medical Center has grown from it's founding by Nils Johanson and ten other Swedish-American physicians in 1910 to become the largest non-profit healthcare provider in the Pacific Northwest. They have three separate hospital campuses in Seattle, and many specialty clinics in local neighborhood locations. As other heathcare organizations have had economic difficulties, Swedish has successfully brought them under their own banner. More of Nordic Week at SDP tomorrow!

Seattle Daily Photo welcomes the newest City Daily Photo family members, Nelson NEWZELAND, and a second daily Seattle (and surrounding areas) blog by Susan called Not Strickly Seattle . Check them out, as well as the other DCP and City Photo sites listed below on the right. You can tour the world through the eyes of all these wonderful cities' inhabitants.

Nordic Colors and Commerce

. . .And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Continuing with our Nordic Week theme at SDP: look closely and you will see proudly displayed at this common grocery store and this bank the flags of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. And if you look even closer at the bank, you'll notice it is named the "Viking Bank"! It is common to see these flags on businesses and even in windows and yards of private homes, especially in the neighborhood called Ballard where these photos were taken. Besides seeing the colors of Nordic countries flying proudly an a big American city, it is also common to hear local people in coffee shops, bakeries and other gathering places conversing in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, or Danish. Click here for lots more photos.

Daily City Photo Bloggers Self Portraits

Today city daily photo bloggers from around the globe are posting self portraits of themselves in a favorite place in their city. I chose the Experience Music Project designed by architect Frank Gehry, a weird and wonderful building that you really must see. Reflected in the iridescent building tiles you can see the Space Needle and a wave overhang from another portion of the EMP. The hands-on music museum this fantastic free form building houses is so much fun and very interesting for fans of 1950s-current American popular music and music culture. Since I'd featured my feet in a previous self portrait, I thought I'd keep the tradition :-).

Click on these links to see my fellow photo bloggers around the globe today: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28

Bergen Place Honors Seattle's Sister City

This huge three panel mural depicts Seattle relationship with sister city Bergen, Norway (see the complete mural and other photos here). The king and queen of Norway came for the dedication in 1995. There are several carved stone benches around the perimiter of Bergen Place Park, each with a Nordic country's name etched in stone, as well as a dipiction of the Bergen waterfront in marble. The gentleman in the photo is seated on Denmark's bench. Tomorrow many of the City Daily Photo bloggers will be featuring self portraits taken in a favorite place in their city. I'll be posting one of these, as well as a photo for Nordic Week at SDP.

And lastly, thanks very much to Marie McC for including Fluid Motion in her "Best of Daily City Photos" from last week (see link at lower right). If you haven't checked her selections these past three weeks, do visit and enjoy her collection of highlights from daily city photo bloggers from around the world. 

Nordic Week at Seattle Daily Photo

Come back every day this week to see fun and interesting evidence of the deep, rich cultural ties many Seattle residents have with the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

SDP salutes Daily City Photo family members: Copenhagen DENMARK, Kongsberg NORWAY, Oulu FINLAND, Stavenger NORWAY, Stockholm SWEDEN, Trondheim NORWAY, and Tungelsta SWEDEN. When you click on their photo links you may notice natural and geographic similarities that helped immigrants from these areas feel at home here in the Pacific Northwest.

This bust of Leif Erikson sits at the entrance of the Leif Erikson Lodge of the Sons of Norway hall in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. It is fashioned after a full statue (which you can see here) made for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair by August Werner. It now overlooks the Puget Sound at Shilshoal Marina. The Leif Erikson International Foundation is currently raising funds to remount the statue as part of the Port of Seattle's marina renovations at Shilshoal. In 1997, Seattle's Leif Erikson Society gave a replica of Werner's statue to Trondhiem, Norway, in honor of that city's 1000th anniversary. Trondheim Daily Photo shows that statue here.