randoms

Ireland's President is in town - Oslo is full of Irish flags, and flowers in Irish colours - I love it!

And Monday Martha Wainwright was in town! (Yes, she's Rufus' sister, but her music is her own!) Her concert was truly amazing - what a voice! You can see her perform on her own blog, if you want a sample... And afterwards, there was a meet & greet. See, we're practically sisters ! And yes, that's an R.E.M. T-shirt I'm wearing...

The Match

I suppose I must mention The Match.

It was a bright and sunny - and calm! - morning, and I had San Francisco at my feet. So what do I do? I walk a few blocks down from where we're staying, to the Irish the Kezar pub, to watch the Champions league final on television. Of course I do...

The pub could probably house at least a 100 people, and there were at least 200 there. Felt like more... A handful of Italians (and the referee!) and then all Brits and Irish. And 1 Norwegian. What can I say? I was home. So we played a great first half , a more untidy second half, and we lost. The Italians in the pub were ecstatic at the end, but weren't killed, so I guess you could say there was a friendly atmosphere...
Some scouser bought me a beer, must have noticed how the 50º C (122º F) in the room also got to me. As well as the singing and shouting. Yes, I sang and shouted, songs I hadn't known I knew -- and of course, our anthem. And I will get a tattoo like that one. Hubby says I can, if he can have one too. Our families will probably disallow us, but...


When I left the pub two Americans walked out just before me. "That was fun!" one said, as if he'd been to the circus. I guess he just had...


But we'll rise again, of course, both at home and in Europe. You'll never walk alone!

Happy St Patrick's day!

The Dubliner, my favourite pub in Oslo

Paddy Diarmuid, my friend from Dublin

Roots = Routes?

The first time I ever went to Greece I was 13 years old. I went there with my dad, who'd been longing to go ever since he studied Classical Greek at university.

This was a long time ago, and Hersonisos, Crete, was a simple fishing village with the odd tourist added. We were adding to that!

As soon as I set foot on Crete - literally - I felt so exhileratingly happy! As if I'd been homesick all my life and finally had made my way back to my roots. You can see from this photo comment how I felt about it all...

Needless to say, it wasn't mine - or our - last trip. The other photo is from the following summer, taken on the boat going to Chora Sfakion from Agia Roumeli, where we ended up having walked down the Samaria Gorge. Again. (Daddy's girl, me...?)

I've only experienced the same homecoming feeling one other place. Not at home. But the first - and so far only - time I went to Dublin, the exact same feeling set in when I stepped out of the plane. The fog, the rain, the customs manager waving me past as an EU citizen although I insisted I wasn't (I came on a plane from England) - it meant nothing, I was home.

Go rabh maith agat and ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ!

My kids sometimes ask where they were before I met their dad. I have settled for "in God's heart". But perhaps, more accurately, they were hopping between Greece and Ireland too?

Viking blood?

With the snow falling a few days ago, and Rarity's post on Norwegian hostile winter behaviour (and not least her commentators' reactions!), I started thinking why we're really like this. I mean - winter, who's it for?

Ok, give me a sunny, still winter's day, with around -5 C (I haven't got any idea what that'd be in F...), and bright, white snow all around, I can handle that. Sure, it's beautiful, picturesque and all that, and I know how to dress for it... But it's rarely like that, isn't it. There's Sleet, Slush, Ice and their cousin. And I loathe it. (Having to dress 5 kids to go out in it every morning has not, funnily enough, changed that attitude.)

Hey, I even grew up north of the Arctic Circle, you'd think I'd wallow in degrees below freezing point!

Admittedly, some people do. Like my cousin - she lives further north than were we grew up, and they may have snow from October to May! So where do they go for summer holidays? Their destinations vary. It's Canada (read: northernmost areas), Greenland (sic!), the Alps and other Norwegian mountains that are covered in snow all year round... But always, of course, skiing holidays. They must be "realler" Norwegians than me, who prefer a beach in Greece any day...

Can you imagine the vikings, on their way to some joyful pillaging and raping and what not, would stop because of a few snowflakes? And say, no, it's getting a tad chilly, let's go back to our cozy huts and wives and ...

There wouldn't be that many blond Irishmen around if they had, now, would it? ...