Postcards from Sandvika

I grew up in Bærum outside of Oslo. The closest town-like assemblage of buildings to where I lived, and where my parents still live, is Sandvika. (The words town and village don't really apply to Norwegian settlement structures. :-) It's not much of a place - without its giant mall, the biggest in Scandinavia by number of stores, there wouldn't be much left to speak of. ;-) But as it is there are a lot of people stopping by there every day ... so of course there are some postcards available. Not a lot to choose from, but still. On a recent visit I picked up a few of these.

Top left: Løkke bridge across the Sandvika river, famous for being painted by the French painter Claude Monet on his visit to Norway. Top right: an aerial shot, but not entirely up-to-date ... the mall has been expanded since then. Sheesh. Bottom: the local shoe repair shop. The owner, Ingolf Kristiansen, is something of a local celebrity, he does a lot for the community and is an all-around unusual fellow. :-)