Maja’s European photo journal

We stumbled on this tree house installation in the heart of Oslo. It looked like it was made out of discarded IKEA furniture. I thought the position of the tree house next to the apartment blocks was a nice contrast. Discarded domestic material and furniture had been turned into a living space. It was nice imagining one day you could build your own house out of a box with an allen key.

One Sunday Freya and I went roaming around Oslo. We hadn't realized that all shops stay firmly closed on Sundays. We spotted some equally lost looking tourists with desperation in their eyes at their inability to shop. So we walked around singing “Oslo in the Summer Time."  I took this photo because the ceramic dogs looked like they were guarding the shop. 


Memories of Norway always include the beautiful late evening light over Olso Fjord. Sometimes you feel like your looking at an Edvard Munch painting. We went swimming in the fjord at nine in the evening while a beautiful dusky light still hung around.

Freyja and I had a Barbie just like this when we were young. It was very special to our Mum because she was the first of her friends to have one. Freya looks guilty because we lost her at a birthday party. But here in the Prague Toy Museum, Freya and Barbie were reunited. 

This is my Polish Babcia (grandmother) Zofia. She was an amazing cook. During communist times she turned her tiny flat into a restaurant and fed up to 80 workers per day from her 2m x2m square kitchen. I don’t know how she did it. My Dziadek (grandfather) passed on to me her delicious tomato soup recipe. 

A woman who was crammed into the viewing area with me said "I wish I could remember every detail of this view forever." These tumbling hills of Portugal held many secret passageways, exotic plants, green houses and tree swings. I felt like I was walking around a real secret garden.  

I found Fredy at the pet cemetery in Lisbon. The grave reads "Thanks for your company with lots of love from the owners" You couldn't help but feel like you knew the animals buried there. If you look closely at the little picture of Fredy you will see he has a baby’s dummy (pacifier) in his mouth. 

In Lisbon there is a weekly market called the "Thief's Market." There are many ways to look at the name.  Firstly there was a high possibility of pick pocketing. In this picture you can see how some stallholders had their goods neatly laid out on sheets to make a quick getaway from Police if they found them holding a stall without paying for it. I always feel a bit like a thief at a market especially when I get down on hands and knees and dig for gold.