State visit from Lithuania

This morning we had to make a detour when walking down town. The Royal Castle was surrounded by barriers, police and military personnel.

After walking through the muddy grass in the royal garden we entered the front of the castle and discovered the reason for this safety precautions.

A welcoming ceremony for the President of Lithuania:
Dalia Grybauskaitė

The President and HM King Harald made an inspection of the Royal Guard as part of the formal procedures connected to state visits.

My wife was most concerned about the presidents´s spring shoes and the muddy gravel on the royal square, and hoped someone could help her with the cleaning before the luncheon with the royalties and the representatives from the official Norway.

Since the distance form the barrier to the celebs was too long for my iPhone camera, I have stolen a portrait of the lady from The President´s site. Here you can learn more of this 55 years old Dalia Grybauskaitė, who speaks four foreign languages: English, Russian, Polish, and French. She holds the academic qualification of Doctor of Social Sciences, and has in 20 years now hold a great number of international and domestic positions. May 17 2009 she was elected President of the Republic of Lithuania in a landslide victory.

I have already have had 308 visitors from Lithuania and the country rank as number 28 on my list of most visited countries.
The Lithuanian Flag has three horizontal lines;Yellow, Green and Red. Its yellow colour represents the sun, light and goodness; green symbolizes the beauty of nature, freedom and hope; red stands for the land, courage, and the blood which has been shed for the Homeland.

Tomorrow the president and our king will visit Ålesund: