Some cool Christmas trees images:
Trafalgar Square – Tree and Natl Gallery
Image by ktylerconk
I had to go see this the first night that we were here. The year that I lived here was the only year that the tree wasn’t lit, due to a power crunch. Many years later I finally saw it, but forgot my tripod!
The 61st Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square was lit on Thursday 6 December by Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in the annual ceremony that attracts thousands of spectators.
The ceremony is normally watched by nearly 10,000 spectators and includes carols sung by the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The first tree was brought over in 1947 as a token of Norwegian appreciation of British friendship during the Second World War. When Norway was invaded by German forces in 1940, King Haakon VII escaped to Britain and a Norwegian exile government was set up in London. To most Norwegians, London came to represent the spirit of freedom during those difficult years. From London, the latest war news was broadcast in Norwegian, along with a message and information network which became vital to the resistance movement and which gave the people in Norway inspiration and hope of liberation.
The tree has become a symbol of the close and warm relationship between the people of Britain and Norway. Norwegians are happy and proud that this token of their friendship – probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world – seems to have become so much a part of Christmas for Londoners.
The tree itself, a Norwegian spruce (Picea abies), is chosen with great care. Selected from the forests surrounding Oslo, it is normally earmarked for its pride of place in London’s Trafalgar Square several months, even years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as ‘the queen of the forest’.
The tree is cut down one day in November during a ceremony in which the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo take active part. Most years, the first snow will have just fallen to brighten the otherwise dark forest. Local and international schoolchildren sing Christmas carols and the city authorities serve ‘forest coffee’ and sandwiches.
my christmas tree, in condensed form
Image by the queen of subtle
my grandparents got this aluminum tree in the 1950s. i remember their house in milwaukee, where they had a real tree upstairs, and this one downstairs in the swingin’ basement. it has the original four-color rotating light and everything; i don’t use it because i’m worried it’ll burn the building down.
until last year, the branches were packaged in brown paper tubes, and meticulously labeled by my grandpa. the tubes were in such rough shape that i decided to go with this method instead. it’ll make the assembly a lot quicker. i kept the paper tubes, though.
that’s the original felt tree skirt as well.
Christmas Tree 2006 #2
Image by rfduck
Here’s another picture of our Christmas tree, all lit up.
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