WELCOMELet me officially welcome everyone to my first Mayor Diary...the nation of Osturland. From this location, I will present images and story related to the region. I've been working on this for some time and I've been wanting to share it with you all. In addition to presenting some pictures and stories from around the cities and region of Osturland, I will also display some of my BAT projects that are being prepared for release on LEX. When I create a building, I have a purpose for it in mind in one of these cities. So you can see how I planned to use some of my creation when I was making them. With the help of the BSC team, and particularly the expertise of Barby, I am able to pass them on to you to use in your cities.
I'm not sure exactly how often I will update this Mayor Diary as I have never had one before, but my intention is to have an update ready every couple of weeks.....more if I become inspired. I've been paying close attention to Mayor Diaries here and City Journals on Simtropolis for quite awhile and have "barrowed" many of the things I've liked from those creations for my cities. Thus, any similarities you notice been this Mayor Diary and other diaries you've read are entirely intentional

. Additionally, my presentation and organization of information in this diary will be similar to that of others which I thought was useful and aesthetically pleasing

. My hope is that you will enjoy the content of my posts and reply with your comments, praises, and criticisms. Onward to the first update

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TABLE OF CONTENTSThe History of OsturlandA Government is BornThe Payens CitadelMinisterial Cabinet Part 1Ministerial Cabinet Part 2Views Around Payens' 1st WardJubilee Celebration Part 1Jubilee Celebration Part 2OBN and Mistress-Gate / Views Around Payens Government CenterOsturland Airlines / Payens International AirportBaudinard CircusOsturland National UniversityPAYENS SIMLYMPICS Payens Simlympic Bid September Simlympics Opening Ceremony Day 1: Middle Distance and Polo Day 2: Shot Put and Judo Day 3: Pole Vault and Tug-of-War Day 4: Discus Throw and Volleyball Day 5: Triple Jump, Golf, and Shooting Day 6: High Jump, Handball, and Weight Lifting Day 7: Hammer Throw, Kickboxing, and Syncronised Swimming Day 8: Cricket, Karate, Gymnastics, and Badminton Day 9: Marathon, Rugby, the Modern Pentathlon, and Wrestling Day 10: Javelin, Hockey, Mountain Biking, and Sailing Day 11: Long Distance, Table Tennis, Diving, Lacrosse, and Archery________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEWS EDITIONSCapitol DevelopmentTIME Commemorative IssuePayens Closer To Bid________________________________________________________________________________________________________
OSTURLAND - PAYENSOsturland is a small island nation off the coast of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean. In the map below you can see its relative geography with the rest of Europe. Its closest neighboring country is Spain. There are essentially eight major cities in Osturland. Chief among these cities is the capitol, Payens. Payens is situated on the banks of the Molay River, which runs through the heart of much of Osturland, and the Payens Bay.

Payens is the center of political life in Osturland and is divided into several different districts. The central of these districts is the Government Center. This is were we will begin our introduction to Osturland and Payens. The first building that we come to when entering the Government Center is the Osturland Parliament. The country has been a democratic nation since almost its inception. Although it is a constitutional monarchy, the monarch only provides oversight for the business of Osturland as well as entertaining foreign dignitaries and engaging in ceremonial duties (as well as getting into trouble from time to time

). The Osturland Parliament building is the single most important building in the nation. It is where the legislature of Osturland meet in order to govern the country and develop new laws. Located on the Payens Canal, which connects the Molay river with the Peyans Bay. The building was built in the gothic style around the beginning of the 1400s. It has survived two past fires and was most recently restored to its present state at the turn of the 20th century. Below are several different pictures exploring various exposures of the building as well as a picture showing members of the Osturland Parliament meeting outside the building before going to session.




The next picture is of another government building in the Government Center district of Payens. This building complex is known as Sanford Palace. It was once used as the official residence for the monarch of Osturland. Today the palace is used to house the foreign embassies of Osturland's friends and allies.

Finally, we come to one of the several bridges that connects the Government Center with other districts in Payens. As you can see, there is a sign with the official crest of the government of Osturland alerting motorists that they are entering the Government Center district.

That is all for today, hopefully I'll have another update ready sometime in the near future. The subject of the next update will be another building in the Payens Government Center district where the history of Osturland is kept...the Osturland National Archives. I will begin to present some of the history and the government strucutre of Osturland with some pics of the Archives building. Till then......
