Yesterday we went to Drammen. Damae had a jazz workshop and I was on the look out for some seat belts for Damae’s Syncro and some cheap diesel. After I’d been to two shopping centres on the North side of the river I came back and ended up looking round Gulskogen shopping centre. Once again, Gulskogen was full and terribly busy. We thought it was the pre-Christmas rush last time we visited but it looks like Gulskogen is always busy. I’d forgotten just how many people there must be on the planet.

At three we went for a bit of a wander around the new theatre on the waterfront. This is an example of dockside redevelopment in a style to be found all over Northern Europe. Trendy blocks of flats mixed in with ground floor shops and buildings to facilitate the expressions of artistic endevour and some cool sculptures.

On opposing sides of the river are two large polished stainless steel balls. These play mood music, shifting tones reminiscent of of waves lapping on the shore, undefined yet in some way regular. The spherical surfaces distort the views and the buildings around them.

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Here’s Damae doing Damae-like things in front of one of the spheres.

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We crossed the new footbridge to the other side of the river and mooched around for a while.

I tried to capture the reflections in the first sphere from across the river. Full zoom, low light and it came out quite well.

The new theatre looks imposing although not especially harmonious or pleasing. I suspect there is plenty of interior space encapsulated in all that concrete and glass.

Behind the theatre there is a little surprise, with some older buildings preserved and given new leases of life as part of the new development.

Drammen is expanding by the looks of it, still a long way from being finished and it still feels a bit down at heel. Gulskogen in particular shows the challenges that the town faces: a nicely laid out shopping centre but serviced by tiny residential roads which clog up when it gets busy. It’s OK for a day out shopping, but not a place I’m drawn to.

Damae drove home so I got the chance to look out of the window. As we passed Norefjell I noticed some very impressive looking downhill pistes carved into the side of the hill. In the lay-by where we stopped to eat dinner, not long after Noresund, there was a tourist information sign which mentioned that Norefjell hosted part of the 1952 Winter Olympic Games, which would explain the impressive looking pistes. The events were downhill, and slalom both mens and ladies competitions. A Norwegian won the men’s slalom, that must have been a great moment in Norwegian sporting history.