Author: Manny Kagan

When Was The Last Time
You Visited Kirkenes?

Our trip to the Norwegian Fijord started in Kirkenes, where we flew in from Oslo. It is located in the Northern part of Norway, only fifteen miles from the Russian Border. What most surprised us when we got there were the signs written in Russian. Kirkenes is located close to Murmansk and there is a visa-free zone between Russia and Norway where people can visit each other. When we lived in Riga, Latvia was part of the former Soviet Union. We were taught in the Russian language in school and learned that Murmansk was a place where political prisoners were sent to camps. If we had more time in Kirkenes, we would take a bus ride to see Murmansk. But we came here just for a day.

The next morning, we boarded the ship belonging to the Hurtigruten Cruise Line, to begin our journey from Kirkenes to Bergen along the Norwegian Fjords. The same company can take you on Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions. In Wikipedia I found out that “Geologically, a fjord or fiord in English is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created by glacial erosion.” (I also learned that as a first name, Fjord translates to a very idealistic and generous person, with a strong desire to uplift humanity leading to the expression to serve others). Until 1926, Kirkenes was jointly occupied by Norway and Russia when the borders among Russia, Finland and Norway were set. It was the place that was most bombed by the Russians during World War Two. One of the local tourist attractions is a visit to the vast underground bunker built during World War Two, which provided shelters to the town’s residents.

Today the town is a tourist destination all year round, for those who want to take a cruise, see The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), or take a dog led sled drive in the winter, when you can visit the Kirkenes Snowhotel, the coolest hotel in the world. We stayed at the Thon Hotel Kirkenes, located on the bank of the river with very calming water and the view of the entrance into the Fjord. The food in town was very good. In our hotel’s restaurant there were two specials: jumbo crab, which is five times bigger than the one you can get in San Francisco (one of the local attractions is the “Jumbo Crab Safari” where you can catch your own crab monster) and reindeer meat. Reindeer are owned and herded by the local Sami people. Since I did not eat either of those local specialties, my choice was the Norwegian salmon, which for obvious reasons was much fresher and tastier than the ones we buy at Costco. In the next few weeks you will be able to read more stories about our journeys through Norway.

P.S. We were in Kirkenes during the “white nights”. The sunset started at about 8pm, and after 10pm it was still light out, as you can see from the gorgeous sunset I photographed through our hotel window. When I woke up at about 3am, the sky was already lit and covered with clouds. In the morning, the drizzling rain made the scenery look even more dramatic. Soon we bordered our ship, which you can see approaching Kirkenes. Five beautiful panoramic images, which I am sharing with you, were a good start for our journey.

Enjoy and Share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Can We Live Without Our Smartphones?

My story began three days before our trip to Berlin, which I wrote about last week. My wife’s cell phone was giving her problems, and she was procrastinating replacing it. I decided to get her one, as one of her presents for our 50^th wedding anniversary. There was a new model of the Samsung 8 at the Verizon store that, according to the sales person, has a good camera. I also found out that I had only two more payments before I can replace my mobile phone, for the new iPhone 8, which is due to come out in September anyway. But my G4LG has everything I need, so why to replace it?

After we arrived in Berlin and I received a phone call in the middle of the night from San Francisco (there is a nine hour time difference), I decided to turn my phone off. Since my phone also served as my watch, I had no idea what time it was. I recalled the good old days before cell phones and emails. We would go away for three weeks and the only communication with the office was with landline phones. To get somewhere we had old-fashioned paper maps. At that time, I also wore a wristwatch. The thought crossed my mind – would it be possible to function like this now? The next day I suddenly felt that my phone, which I was carrying in my pocket, was unusually warm, and I could not turn it on or off. In the middle of the night, I thought to remove and return the battery, and the phone came to life, and I went back to sleep feeling relieved and proud of my accomplishment. The next morning however, it was dead again. My brother-in-law who lives in Berlin, was able to find a local repair shop for all types of mobile phones in the center of the city. After keeping my phone there for testing for the whole day, I was told that the problem is in the software. It can be reloaded but all the stored data would be lost. I decided to wait until we return to the States to find out how for the next three weeks I would do, phone free. Fortunately, I had my mini-iPad with me, where I could check and send emails, and my wife had her new phone.

Having gone three weeks without my smartphone, I came to a conclusion and have a recommendation. When you go on a trip, copy and duplicate everything. In the future, I plan to carry an extra phone or iPad or tablet with duplicate information; after all, phones can be lost, stolen, get damaged or drowned. And what if someone does not have those options? It means that you will not be able to make a call, text, use your calendar, GPS, access your contacts, know when are people’s birthdays and anniversaries, have a watch, alarm clock, search online, take photos and shoot videos, make photocopies, scan, access a dictionary, take or access your notes, look up books and other things on Amazon, access information about your credit cards and finances, have a copy of your driver’s license, order Uber/Lyft or car-sharing, play games, access entertainment, newspapers, social media, use a calculator, a flashlight, a step measure, make a parking meter payment (in Berlin this is the only way), use a medication reminder and a hotel door opener. I am sure you will come with other needs.

Please let me know.

P.S. Through the years I’ve encountered people with different phone situations. Do you remember flip phones? In Newport, Oregon I photographed a diver retrieving fallen phones from sea lions spectators. On a recent trip to Oslo, I noticed five Italians looking at five cell phones to find the entrance into the Fort which had two entrances/exits. On Market Street, a music lover was recording a street performer.

Enjoy and Share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Where We Celebrated Our 50th Wedding Anniversary

When my wife and I were considering how to celebrate our special date, it was not how big a party to throw, but rather where to travel. Our original idea was to visit Riga, Latvia, where we were both born and married. Another consideration was a trip to Israel, where we lived in the 1970s. But for a long time, Elfa has talked about wanting to take a cruise along Norwegian Fjords. Of course we could combine Riga with Oslo, but what kind of celebration is without our family? Elfa’s brother and his wife, who were at our wedding fifty years ago, live in Berlin. It was a great opportunity to celebrate with them and their family. Coincidently (or not) our daughter Tamar and her husband David had planned to visit Berlin at the same time. We had a celebratory dinner at a restaurant located on the bank of the River Spree, in the area that borders with former East Berlin. Our first visit to Berlin was in 1986. At that time it was an island, separated from the rest of the world by a concrete wall. After World War II, Germany was divided among American, British and French controlled territory, which became West Germany and the part controlled by the former Soviet Union, which became the DDR, Deutsche Demokratische Republik or East Germany. Then during the Cold War period on August 13, 1961, the DDR built the wall, completely isolating West Berlin. Finally on November 9, 1989, the Wall came down, and Germany was unified again, and became an industrial power with a population of over 80 million, out of which 3.5 million live in the unified Berlin.

During our many trips to Berlin to visit family, and to travel together throughout Germany and other parts of Europe, I used to get sick, imagining that I was killed by Germans during the war, and after reincarnating in 1947, I still carried those memory of past events in my subconscious.

However, one day I decided to leave past in the past and since then I’ve enjoyed my visits there. Today the city offers diversity and the subtle beauty of an old European city. People are polite and many, especially the younger generations, speak English.

At the same time, as an encounter/people photographer, I have found Berliners to be very reserved. To me, it seemed that they are afraid of something (perhaps their past memories) and are very protective of their privacy. Online I found out that it is OK to photograph people, for my personal pleasure, but to use the image for anything else requires their consent (in writing). Of course this did not stop me. If I will ever publish a photo-story book about Berlin (which I might in the future), their images would be photographed from the back, with the title “42 Encounters in the Invisible Berlin”.

P.S. Perhaps these four images, showing the invisible part of the Berliners, their backs, will be in the book. I photographed them at the Krummelanke, a lake which has curved shape. It is located in the south-western Berlin, and is a popular area for swimming and walking along the lake.

Enjoy and Share.

 

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

Make It a Good and Sweet New Year

On Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, we often greet one another with, “Shanah Tovah u Metukah” – “Happy Good And Sweet Year”. Today, Friday 22, 2017, is the second day of the celebration of the Jewish New Year. The literal translation of Rosh is “head”, as in head of the year, and it symbolizes the 5778 birthday (according to the Torah) of the creation of the first human being. “So God created Man and His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). This primordial man who was called Adam, was later (on the sixth day) divided into two separate beings. “This shall be called Woman, for from man was she taken. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:23-24). After all the work was done “And God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Since the described story, many things and events have happened in human history. But what went across the Torah narrative was the concept of choice. Toward the end of the fifth book, called Deuteronomy, Moses tells his people in his final words, “See, I have placed before you today the life and the good, death and the evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15). And then He reiterates, “I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse, and you shall choose life, so that you will live, you and your offsprings” (Deuteronomy 30:19). From the beginning of the creation till the fulfillment of their life’s journey, and before crossing the boundary and entrance into a promised land, the Israelites were presented with a choice. If we would follow God’s guidance, we would choose the life and the good.

In the Jewish tradition, at the end of the second day of the Rosh Hashanah there is another greeting “G’mar Hatimah Tovah”, which means “A good final sealing”. According to the Jewish calendar, that time is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, when all the decrees for each person for the next year are going to be sealed.

During those ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are called Yamim Noraim – the Days of Awe, one has an opportunity to ask God for the appeal of the judgement for our lives for the next year and, forgiveness for our transgressions. This is accomplished through prayer and good deeds. But how do we know what is expected from us, and which good choices to make?

In the book “Talks on the Parasha” Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinzaltz writes: “When the Torah says that we have before us “life and good”, sometimes a shell must be cracked to reveal the good. Sometimes one must chew quite a lot before the good can be tasted. Sometimes one must educate himself, and many years might pass until one can discern what is truly good. Things that are obviously good are easily perceived, but to perceive the things that are truly good, one must develop this skill over time.” As always, it is easier said than done.

Doing good is always about others, though we might get personal satisfaction from the act. One of the opportunities is to help those whom you do not know personally. Recently I met Jessica Hansen, the Global Engagement Manager for the international organization KIVA. This is a remarkable lending organization. If you would like to do something good, check their website www.kiva.org. and get involved. Your small loan might change a person’s life.

Another perhaps more unusual way of doing good is to get a puppy. You might be wondering what is good about that? Well, here I would like to quote Rabbi Steinzaltz again. “Things that are obviously good are easily perceived, but to perceive the things that are truly good, one must develop this skill over time.” Perhaps this is why for our fiftieth anniversary, I got us a gift – a ten week young labradoodle puppy. Stay tuned. Make it a Good Year!

P.S. One of the four images of our puppy Max show him on Elfa’s shoulder when we just met him 18 days ago. He is very handsome, as you can see from the other images. There is one more good thing which is happening this year. On the day when we got Max, I started working on my next book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers. Plus 42 Days in Max’s Life.” I intend to finish this photo story-book before the celebration of the other New Year 2018.

Enjoy an Share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

How Many Hats Does One Need?

To find the answer to this question, I had to visit an exhibit “Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade” at the Legion of Honor Museum. There I found out that the actual question was, “Which hat do you need?” According to the Journal des Demoiselles’ suggestion in 1867, “If your purse allows you two hats, you will have one of straw, which can go with everything, and the other will go with your best outfit.”

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings. He is well known for his depiction of Parisian Dancers. But he, together with other well-known impressionists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Mary Cassat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, depicted one aspect of modern life in the French capital – high fashion hats and the women who created them. The exhibition at the Legion Museum of Honor features more than 40 impressionist paintings and pastels, as well as a number of the hats from the period of around 1875 to 1914.

I was fascinated not only by incredible artistry of the painters, but also by the history of the millinery trade and by the hats.

In modern times, unless you are the Queen of England or British Aristocracy, women wear beautiful one-of-a-kind hats only on really special occasions. When I checked online for “Hat Stores in San Francisco”, I found quite a few of them. But the question remains, “On what special occasion could women in San Francisco wear a hat? And how about men?” When I was growing up in Riga, my father wore a Fedora hat. He had a few of them. It was common and fashionable for men at that time. A few years ago I bought one for myself. It is a crushable fedora Hat, which I keep in my coat pocket when I travel to New York in the winter.

The fedora hat first appeared in 1882 as a female hat. It was named after the production of the play, “Fedora” by the French author Victorien Sardou. Today, fedora hats are popular again with women, as well as men, who want to look different as well.

To answer my own question, I decided to count how many hats I have. Turns out that besides my crushable fedora, I have six baseball caps, which I wear regularly to protect my head from cold weather plus two hats named “Hooligan” Driving Caps. My wife has also quite a few, among them three made of straw. She also has a few nice ones, but rarely wears them. After all, fashion trends change rapidly. But if you want to experience the forgotten era and see some beautiful art, you still have time. The exhibit is open till September 24, 2017.

P.S. My daughter Alona went to the opening of the exhibit, where many women wore different hats. I was not so lucky, but I still was able to capture at least four images.

Enjoy and Share.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,