My first relaxing day. Or it was until the evening...
I woke up around 9 or so I reckon. Went and had my usual Norweigan breakfast of fish mackerel tomato sauce spread on toast with pickled mackerel on top and cheese to go with it underneath. A quick qulp of fish oil to ensure my daily vitamin D requirements are up to scratch and another of some yellow goo for my vitamin Q to J requirements and I was set for anything. Only we had nothing to do (o:
A good thing considering that outside is frostier than snowman and the air resembles the worst horror movie you've ever seen. Fog thicker than vegemite on a good piece of Kiwi vogels had me doubting if the outer world truly existed.
But I braved the outdoors for a quick walk around the property and met the nearby horses (sheshire ponies the size of large rats) and the bees (all happily snuggled up in their wodden holiday lodges). Also played on the frozen rivers, sliding and jumping around and generally acting like a 5 year old the first time they see snow or a puddle.
Then my sister offered to take me for a tour and so we walked down to the coast (bout 5mins) and wandered around here for a bit looking at an old wreck, more frozen puddles and the general cold sea shore. Even had a beach!
Then of course, whilst claiming I wouldn't fall through, i jumped one too many times on a 'frozen' puddle and soon found my socks feeling a little wetter than a moment before.
We then joined R in delivering some presents and pamphlets around the town (by car), went shopping (in the store called 'KIWI') and by now the sun is gone and so we head home to feed the horses (the real ones; aka big ones) and ourselves (nachos for the first time in 7 months!).
And now I am trying (once more) to update my blog...
Oh and the reason it has not been so relaxing just now is that I am trying to organise my trip from Norway to France for New Years to go boarding with my sister and making cheap actually takes effort! Right now I am going Oslo to Torp to Bergamo to Milan to Geneva to Avoriaz. Four countries, one day, 200 dollars.
Dec 20, 2007
Dec 19, 2007
The unofficial Oslo tour
Last night at the church service we were invited for a tour of Oslo the following day by one of the Rotary couples; Kari and Terje.
They picked us up at 10am in their mercedes (is it just me or are there a lot of nice cars over on this side of the world?) and we headed back to Oslo (I sure have been travelling a lot these past few days!). Our first stop on the tour was the famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump which is this tower that extends 60 meters above the ground that guys in sexy licra suits jump off (if i was wearing their suits, I'd jump off too!) to reach distances of over 135m! We did a simulator version of the thing and I have to say, they've got balls! (No really, you can see them when they're wearing their suits...).
We even got to climb up the tower and see where they set off from and on the way were privileged enough to meet Roger Ruud who won the championships here in 1981. He's something of a local legend I think and must be famous cause he's even mentioned in Wikipedia! Plus they filmed us and we might even end up on some doco about him, haha.
From here it was off to lunch at a nearby historical building ____ whose food was thankfully not quite so historical. In fact it was a beautifully fresh slice of marinated salmon that was served up to me along with some delishious cream of lobster soup. Brilliant spot for lunch!
Then it was time to see some real Norweigan ancestory. Now if I ask who sailed around in big ships with dragon shaped figure heads, raping and pillaging whole viallges and in general making mahem, all while looking cool in big horny helmuts, long braided hair and shields and swords to match; would you have any idea who i was on about?
Yep. Thought so. The aboriginis.
So we went to a museum where three of their ships were shown which had been excavated from around 1000 years ago. We also discovered they actually did more than just run around looking like cows and killing people. They were brilliant wood and metal workers and could run a pretty nifty farm if asked to do so too. They even discovered North America first!
Then, with darkness approaching we headed back to the islands passing by the frozen sea on the way (way cooler than it sounds) and also their house - they have an awesome house situated atop a little hill (Norweigans call them mountains) and because Terje is a carpenter by hobby, he also has an awesome little work shop where he makes hand crafted knives.
Then when we got back to Knut's, I learnt they hadn't even known Erin (I'd assumed they'd met the last time she was here) and so they'd offered to take two almost complete strangers for a tour of the city where they grew up! Now that's a nice couple of people!
They picked us up at 10am in their mercedes (is it just me or are there a lot of nice cars over on this side of the world?) and we headed back to Oslo (I sure have been travelling a lot these past few days!). Our first stop on the tour was the famous Holmenkollen Ski Jump which is this tower that extends 60 meters above the ground that guys in sexy licra suits jump off (if i was wearing their suits, I'd jump off too!) to reach distances of over 135m! We did a simulator version of the thing and I have to say, they've got balls! (No really, you can see them when they're wearing their suits...).
We even got to climb up the tower and see where they set off from and on the way were privileged enough to meet Roger Ruud who won the championships here in 1981. He's something of a local legend I think and must be famous cause he's even mentioned in Wikipedia! Plus they filmed us and we might even end up on some doco about him, haha.
From here it was off to lunch at a nearby historical building ____ whose food was thankfully not quite so historical. In fact it was a beautifully fresh slice of marinated salmon that was served up to me along with some delishious cream of lobster soup. Brilliant spot for lunch!
Then it was time to see some real Norweigan ancestory. Now if I ask who sailed around in big ships with dragon shaped figure heads, raping and pillaging whole viallges and in general making mahem, all while looking cool in big horny helmuts, long braided hair and shields and swords to match; would you have any idea who i was on about?
Yep. Thought so. The aboriginis.
So we went to a museum where three of their ships were shown which had been excavated from around 1000 years ago. We also discovered they actually did more than just run around looking like cows and killing people. They were brilliant wood and metal workers and could run a pretty nifty farm if asked to do so too. They even discovered North America first!
Then, with darkness approaching we headed back to the islands passing by the frozen sea on the way (way cooler than it sounds) and also their house - they have an awesome house situated atop a little hill (Norweigans call them mountains) and because Terje is a carpenter by hobby, he also has an awesome little work shop where he makes hand crafted knives.
Then when we got back to Knut's, I learnt they hadn't even known Erin (I'd assumed they'd met the last time she was here) and so they'd offered to take two almost complete strangers for a tour of the city where they grew up! Now that's a nice couple of people!
Island life
Woken by a cute little four year old who climbed into bed with us, I found myself smiling at the thought of my first day in Norway.
When I eventually got up a couple of lazy hours later, it was to a world of white. Not snow but some pretty intense frost that was cm thick in places. Just like a picture postcard, the conifers were nicely frosted and the ponds happily frozen.
After a lazy morning, my sister Erin and I headed to the islands down south where we were to stay with her first host family, father Knut and wife R. We walked to the bus station (I was carrying 3 bags and so had to keep one hand out of my pockets at all times supporting one of them. So i was stuck constantly switching the bag between each hand as the fingers on the one clasping it were reaching temperatures not heard of since my Ice Age 2 DVD was left in the freezer for 2 weeks next to the leaky mince meat. Ahh, those were cold, dark days indeed).
We arrived safely in time for the usual light show common to these parts. Only nobody told the Norweigans and some idiot hit the main switch and killed the lights when it was only around 3pm! And they've been doing it ever since too! I plan on missioning it tomorrow to see if I can find who's behind this fiasco!
So cause there were no lights, we decided to go out instead. And luckily for us there was a private church service on which we were lucky enough to be invited along to. Watching my sister get dressed for it I was left noticing how the best dressed I could get was to make sure the odour emitted from my underarms wasn't life threatening and that my pant zipper was up! Then boots on and scratching the remains of lunches spilt milk off my jeans and we were set to go.
The church ceremony was held at what is arguably the oldest church in Norway (over 1000 years). Came with an old guy in a suit who could bring tears to the eyes with his singing and another guy at a piano who rivaled mozart. I even caught myself humming along to a few of the songs a couple of times (quickly put an end to this however before I emptied the whole place!) The church was also beautifully made. Simple but elegant. It was a true, authentic feeling church with little in the way of gold and statues etc. Lutheran or something I think.
We were led through a song or two, a fairy tale (little matchstick girl) and then taught a little of the history of the church and then it was time for gingerbread biscuits, doughnuts and coffee. Erin and I also posed for a snap to go in the local paper here. Ahhh, India all over again.
I left feeling happily content but also wondering if they purposely make church seats uncomfortable so that you don't fall asleep mid session..?
First taste of Norway
I was picked up from the bus station by the daughter of Erin's first host family she lived with here in Norway. They packed me off to their house (lovely family) and here I ran into the first of my family I have seen in almost seven months now!
Following the tradition all families seem to have when a new person arrives at a house, we first settled down for something to eat accompanied by my first Norweigan beer. Meat, bread and cheese were laid out first and had me thinking, "Here comes Germany all over again", when all of a sudden, my senses were affronted by something green being placed under my nose.
Crispy and succulent, with some weird red balls in its centre, some green and white spheres mixed in with and some yellow concave pieces of what could ony be described as resembling plastic off cuts, I was left wondering why this stuff looked so strangely familiar? Slowly, it dawned on me that this stuff was edible. In fact it was rather nice in small doses. Vegemite? No that wasn't it. Timetables? No, that wasn't quite right either. Oh, of course! Vege-tables! That's the one.
So eating was had and then some chatter and then some sleeping for one tired little kiwi who had had a hard day doing nothing but sitting on moving machinary - I now have much more respect and understanding for the road works people back home in NZ who always seem to be doing nothing when you pass them. It's tiring doing nothing else for ages!
Following the tradition all families seem to have when a new person arrives at a house, we first settled down for something to eat accompanied by my first Norweigan beer. Meat, bread and cheese were laid out first and had me thinking, "Here comes Germany all over again", when all of a sudden, my senses were affronted by something green being placed under my nose.
Crispy and succulent, with some weird red balls in its centre, some green and white spheres mixed in with and some yellow concave pieces of what could ony be described as resembling plastic off cuts, I was left wondering why this stuff looked so strangely familiar? Slowly, it dawned on me that this stuff was edible. In fact it was rather nice in small doses. Vegemite? No that wasn't it. Timetables? No, that wasn't quite right either. Oh, of course! Vege-tables! That's the one.
So eating was had and then some chatter and then some sleeping for one tired little kiwi who had had a hard day doing nothing but sitting on moving machinary - I now have much more respect and understanding for the road works people back home in NZ who always seem to be doing nothing when you pass them. It's tiring doing nothing else for ages!
Norway
I was pre-warned...
Now, you know when you're in Norway when
the walk-in fridge feels warm (no kidding after being outside)
your wrist watch says it is 3.30pm... but it's dark
the warmest room in the house is the bathroom (think heated floors!)
the sun is shining, but the icicles hanging on the bushes aren't melting!!!
the walk-in fridge feels warm (no kidding after being outside)
your wrist watch says it is 3.30pm... but it's dark
the warmest room in the house is the bathroom (think heated floors!)
the sun is shining, but the icicles hanging on the bushes aren't melting!!!
And all was true.
What my sister forgot to tell me was that Norway is possibly the most expensive country ever! Seriously, it costs like $5 for a coke and $10 for a hotdog! This place is crazy expensive to me.
Otherwise it is as said. When my plane landed I stepped out onto an ice rink. Slipping and sliding my way into the terminal I mistakenly grabbed a sleeping seal thinking it was my backpack and then ran into Knut the polar bear (thought he was living in Germany?) when I tried to escape from the afore mentioned, now pissed off, seal by jumping onto a 'luggage truck'. In hindsight I should posibly have noticed the lack of lights.
So now running from both one pissed off seal and one love struck bear, I mowed my way through the sea of penguins littering the flight deck, feathers and little birds in tuxedos flying every which direction, in attempt to reach the safety of inside. By now I am also questioning whether I have landed in Norway or accidentaly ended up in Antarctica because my nose is bluer than a smurfs behind and though clean shaven when I arrived, I now sport a full beard; albiet white. Thankfully this matches my frozen eyebrows, hair, face, arms, legs, torso, groin and pretty much entire body. Even with my newly bought North Fake jacket!
But I made it inside eventually and after battling my way through some intensive security (I walked through a door) I grabbed my bag (after checking it didn't breathe), jumped on the nearest bus and headed off to find my sister.
What my sister forgot to tell me was that Norway is possibly the most expensive country ever! Seriously, it costs like $5 for a coke and $10 for a hotdog! This place is crazy expensive to me.
Otherwise it is as said. When my plane landed I stepped out onto an ice rink. Slipping and sliding my way into the terminal I mistakenly grabbed a sleeping seal thinking it was my backpack and then ran into Knut the polar bear (thought he was living in Germany?) when I tried to escape from the afore mentioned, now pissed off, seal by jumping onto a 'luggage truck'. In hindsight I should posibly have noticed the lack of lights.
So now running from both one pissed off seal and one love struck bear, I mowed my way through the sea of penguins littering the flight deck, feathers and little birds in tuxedos flying every which direction, in attempt to reach the safety of inside. By now I am also questioning whether I have landed in Norway or accidentaly ended up in Antarctica because my nose is bluer than a smurfs behind and though clean shaven when I arrived, I now sport a full beard; albiet white. Thankfully this matches my frozen eyebrows, hair, face, arms, legs, torso, groin and pretty much entire body. Even with my newly bought North Fake jacket!
But I made it inside eventually and after battling my way through some intensive security (I walked through a door) I grabbed my bag (after checking it didn't breathe), jumped on the nearest bus and headed off to find my sister.
Leaving Germany
I am leaving Germany with mixed feelings. Happy to be going to see my sister in Norway but sad to be leaving people who were already treating me like family.
Johannes and Sophia left the night before while I spent a final night with Jo's familia. Then next morning I headed off with his Aunt to catch the first of my three trains to Bremen. After a relaxed breakfast and a quick goodbye to everyone - including his grandma who gave me a jersey and a pair of hand knitted socks! - we arrived at the local train station with time to spare. Or so we thought.
After glancing at my ticket, we quickly realised we were at the wrong station (Jo had booked it and we hadn't thought about it). Mist! So back in the car, and a bit of normal 100+km/hr german schumacher style driving later, and we made it to Horn and still had 2 minutes to spare (o:
Loaded with food enough to feed the entire train, I found myself suddenly hurtling along at some ungodlike pace towards some unpronouncable town surrounded by a unruly mob of school kids set to maximum on the volume control. As I struggled to hear the place names of each city we passed, I suddenly, mercifully, found myself thrown out at the right station; only to find myself just as quickly thrown into another train that was much the same as the first. My third and final train was a bit quieter, like church quiet with me being nearly the only passenger aboard, and when I finally arrived it was a relieved smile that adorned my already wearied face.
As each train had been late, leaving me mere moments to jump from one to another, I was happy to find a city tram quietly waiting for me at platform 6 as Jo's family had said it would.
This took me to the airport and after locating the Ryan Air (think 1c flight worth) spot, I settled down to wait for my flight. Being more than 3 hours away this was quite a wait but I had food enough to entertain me for many days and a few homeless people who made for good watching (I left some food in return).
Then it was off to Oslo. Land of Santa (??), reindeer and, of course, my sister.
- And on the way was the most beautiful sunset I have ever been privileged enough to bear witness to. A sea of white cloud stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. With whirpools of grey sky peeking through on occasion, it had a texture resembling the most untouched sands of the Sahara. Breathtaking. Yet, like a cherry added to an already perfect sundae, over top of this vista rode a sun of a red rivaling the best silks of India. It lit up the entire sky with a hue that ranged from a deep blood like saffron red at its core to the most subtle of violets out towards the heavens.
Truly amazing. This time it was an awe struck smile that adorned my still weary face when I arrived at my final destination.
Johannes and Sophia left the night before while I spent a final night with Jo's familia. Then next morning I headed off with his Aunt to catch the first of my three trains to Bremen. After a relaxed breakfast and a quick goodbye to everyone - including his grandma who gave me a jersey and a pair of hand knitted socks! - we arrived at the local train station with time to spare. Or so we thought.
After glancing at my ticket, we quickly realised we were at the wrong station (Jo had booked it and we hadn't thought about it). Mist! So back in the car, and a bit of normal 100+km/hr german schumacher style driving later, and we made it to Horn and still had 2 minutes to spare (o:
Loaded with food enough to feed the entire train, I found myself suddenly hurtling along at some ungodlike pace towards some unpronouncable town surrounded by a unruly mob of school kids set to maximum on the volume control. As I struggled to hear the place names of each city we passed, I suddenly, mercifully, found myself thrown out at the right station; only to find myself just as quickly thrown into another train that was much the same as the first. My third and final train was a bit quieter, like church quiet with me being nearly the only passenger aboard, and when I finally arrived it was a relieved smile that adorned my already wearied face.
As each train had been late, leaving me mere moments to jump from one to another, I was happy to find a city tram quietly waiting for me at platform 6 as Jo's family had said it would.
This took me to the airport and after locating the Ryan Air (think 1c flight worth) spot, I settled down to wait for my flight. Being more than 3 hours away this was quite a wait but I had food enough to entertain me for many days and a few homeless people who made for good watching (I left some food in return).
Then it was off to Oslo. Land of Santa (??), reindeer and, of course, my sister.
- And on the way was the most beautiful sunset I have ever been privileged enough to bear witness to. A sea of white cloud stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. With whirpools of grey sky peeking through on occasion, it had a texture resembling the most untouched sands of the Sahara. Breathtaking. Yet, like a cherry added to an already perfect sundae, over top of this vista rode a sun of a red rivaling the best silks of India. It lit up the entire sky with a hue that ranged from a deep blood like saffron red at its core to the most subtle of violets out towards the heavens.
Truly amazing. This time it was an awe struck smile that adorned my still weary face when I arrived at my final destination.
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