bloggers come to life!

On 3rd March 2006, at 01:00, I posted a quiz I'd made, about me (selfishly!). There were a few comments, and one was from a new blog friend / bluddy / blogling -

At 19:05, kimananda said...

Hey, considering I don't actually know you, I'm pretty pleased with myself! Now, I'm off to look around your clearly very hyggelig blog a bit more... :-)

We visited each other's blogs from then on, Kim and I, and at some point figured we should get together! After all, she lives in Copenhagen and it's not _that_ far away.

Well, it took us more than three years, but last weekend Kim and her daughter got on the boat, travelled right here, and we got to spend a day together! Here we are in all our splendid togetherness... It was wonderful meeting live (though we blog less, these days, and hang out more on facebook) - and it surely won't take us another 3 or 4 years to meet again!

Last post from Scotland

I promise - it's the last for a while... (With facts from our excellent guide.)
The cows, now also in Edinburgh!



The thistle, as you may know, is Scotland's national flower. But did you know it's the Norwegians' fault? This happened a long time ago, and the Scots and vikings were at war. (Well, the vikings were at war with everybody, so why discriminate the Scots?) The Scots had made camp and had gone to sleep, ready for battle the next day. But those sleezy vikings ... they planned to attack at night! Such ungentlemanly behaviour!! The Scots were in luck, though, for two reasons: 1) The vikings didn't wear proper shoes, and 2) The Scottish camp was surrounded by thistles.


You do the maths...



This, though it may look like one, is no window. In the 1690's William III issued a Window Tax, and so people started bricklaying the former window openings - but were made to keep them look like windows for architectural purposes. Many places these have survived!



Leaving Edinburgh - heading north! If you've found your spectacles by now, you may see the Firth of Forth waaaaay over there...



The railway bridge. Quite a few workmen were trapped in one (or more?) "leg" of the bridge during construction. Due to structural defects, perhaps, and possibly the fact that water was so polluted, the workmen would only drink whisky and beer... There was no way of bringing them back to the surface, and in the end, the queen ordered that there be poured poison down the "legs" so the men could die peacefully, rather than starve to death. (Apparently there was enough to drink.) Think of that the next time you pass the bridge - there be bones underneath...


Stirling Castle. Which you may know from Braveheart. (Apparently, there is some historical correctness in the film...)

Up there - and beyond! - that's where The Highlands begin...

Ewan McGregor's home town Crieff. Or the main street, at least.

- And thus ends my Scottish tale!

The sound of winter

The day before Christmas (over here that means 23rd) there was still no snow, but frost had settled everywhere, making for a beautiful landscape. And trudging around in our garden the characteristic (to me) sound of winter appeared. You'll hear it too ... shhhh...

Norway really isn't that bad either...

Today - apparently - it's the warmest June 8th since forever around here. That is, since they started writing it down back in 1811 or something. It's been 31º C (87.8 F) in the shade. And in case you're wondering - that's not normal for this place... Even midsummer. The kids are outside, running through the neighbour's sprinkler and having a blast. Ice creams are consumed by the dozen. (Well, there are 7 kids here, mine and two friends...)

A couple of days ago I took a walk down to the sea, a little early for a proper sunset, but still a gorgeous night for a walk! Unlike southern Europe et al, the sun takes a long time to set here, and it doesn't get properly dark again until September-October (I've already forgotten, see?). In Lofoten, of course, the sun doesn't set at all between late May and late July. Can't wait to go back there :)

Walking back up from the sea (pretty steep path for an old woman like me...) I hooked up with another walker, a young man in his twenties, pretty cute... He started talking, and as the climb more or less took my breath away, he kept up the talk. And when we reached the road, we both talked... He was just really nice, told me about his daughter, about how long he'd lived here and how much he liked it here. It's just very un-Norwegian to start talking to someone like that, but it made the walk even more pleasant.

Next time I'll take hubby down for the same walk, if only someone would babysit. Maybe my new friend and his daughter?

I need to travel more...

create your own visited country map

- I also need a LITTLE more time before I can relate any San Francisco details...

Corner office view

Oslo cathedral down the road City Hall --- where my boat comes in, so not that long a walk...
Don't look down

Ok, it's slightly better than mine, but still... Besides, as we've got glass walls to the main "mingling room", it's everyone's view!

Beautiful spring morning in Oslo

Brought the camera to town Friday morning, and took a few photos on my way to work. It's not Porto, it's not Lisbon, but it's not all that bad when the sun is shining...
Nobel Peace Prize Centre
Fishing boat just come in

Aker brygge area
Oslo City Hall
Akershus fortress
Soldiers going to work at Akershus
Spring cleaning
Tordenskiold, naval hero and somehow related to me :)
No, it's not your eyes, it's the 300 year-old gate!
Oslo Stock Exchange

No prizes for guessing...

... And family are completely ruled out of this...

But does anyone else know where this is?

All is well with the world - and I know where it is!

The weekend has brought:

Snow. Which makes the kids happy and which makes me hope maybe global warming hasn't gone as far as they say. Yet.

Liverpool FC beat "Chelski"! 2-0, no less. And there was a lot of screaming around the place... Jakob had gone to watch the match at a friend's place (we haven't got the channel that shows English football live), and the rest of us were listening on the radio. Bliss...

Ronnie O'Sullivan is playing really well! The final still isn't finished while I'm typing this, but he's 8-3 up, and first to 10 wins it. The way he's playing I feel pretty confident he'll win the Masters!

*** And about knowing the whereabouts of the world -

I stayed up till 01 some nights ago (yes, it's sort of silly, as I'm up at 06 and really need 7 hours of sleep...) after discovering this geography quiz link... I hadn't even heard of Prince Edward Island before (my apologies to anyone living there..), now I can do all of Canada blindfold... Also, it turned out I'm pretty good at Africa, and amazingly accurate at placing Central American countries, but that my knowledge of US states had decreased substantially since my heydays..

- Back in this world, Ronnie's on his way to 9-3... So, how was your weekend?

HAHA - that's positively hilarious!!

So the photo below will be changing as the days go by -- this one above will - hopefully - stay the same... It's from today at 11:30 AM. Now - satisfied, y'all? It ISN'T that dark...

UPDATE!! (was: "the polar night?")

Really, Rarity - as a Norwegian you should have known there was something wrong...

My below post was written exactly to show you how dark it ISN'T in daytime "polar night" -- but then, apparently, I must have linked to the actual webcam, and not to the photo from 11:18 --- thus giving you exactly the impression of dark as I wanted to rid you of...

I think that's precious...

Well, when daylight hits again, provided there's no rain etc. etc. I'll try to give you a static photo next time, to show you what I mean.. (Yes, if you double click the photo below you may be able to detect the time on top of it - saying, e.g. 23:20 - an hour in which darkness will reign in most hemispheres...)

****
This is right now (11:18 AM) in Henningsvær, Lofoten


So - the sun disappeared December 5th, to come back January 6th. But it's not that dark, is it? People (including Norwegians from further south...) tend to think it'll be pitch black all day. I just thought I'd show you that it isn't. Or - it doesn't have to be. (Whether it's there or here it will be dark and gloomy in bad winter weather...)

The nations of the world...

This is a Norwenglish* song you might actually enjoy - at least if you can endure the 1 minute monologue by the "girlfriend" of the "Latin American"... (Or just whiff past to 1:01) The performers are brothers, go by the name of Ylvis and can play all musical instruments you can think of - they can sing, dance, do comedy - and I've never laughed as much and for so long as when we saw them live a few years ago.

Also, this will prove really helpful if you (or your kids...) are trying to learn geography - so for your benefit the lyrics are right here :)

(*It's actually in English, but the introduction is in Norwegian)

Little known facts about Norway

And I use the term "facts" loosely.
Riannan showed me the way here, and you'll have to go see for yourself. Uncyclopedia is made totally out of nonsense. It's hilarious! Make sure you don't mix it up with Wikipedia...

It did however contain a very good and uptodate post on Norway, that I would like to share with you. (I removed their links, though, so the links beneath are mine, neat and proper, in case you wanted to actually learn something...)

The People's Republic of Norway
(pronounced nowhere by Asians), one of the last Soviet states, joining the one-man club of Belarus. The fabled Slartibartfast created it around tea-time; as legend has it, he was inspired by a particularly complicated wrinkle in his tablecloth.

A member of the United Federation of Planets since its independence from Stockholm in 1953, the colony has a reputation amongst outsiders for censorship and a strong, almost fetishistic love of socks, particularly white ones. The colony has, in recent years, been at war with whales and, more infrequently, Good Christian Decency. A little known fact about these so-called Norwegians is that they reproduce asexually.

Tourist Information
There are 2 supermarkets in Norway, on account of the trees growing too thickly for anyone to be able to get their shopping trolleys to the checkout register. If you somehow manage to find one despite the odds, you should be advised that the names of the foodstuffs may be confusing. This is because bork is the Swedish spelling; Norwegians will be mortally offended at its mere whispered mention. The closest Norwegian equivalent is "bjørk" - please note that for a full and balanced diet, you need both bjørk and other bjørk, or the ever-popular daily multibjørk.

If you decide to wisit Norway be sure to bring lots of money, if you're income is less than 1.000.000$ don't bother, go somewhere else. Every year Germans invade Norway in their mobile homes, Germans are the only people that can afford to go to Norway. This is only because they bring their own place to live and their own food and therefore don't spend any money in Norway. Food in Norway is expensive, a Big-Mac menu costs 11$ and it's not even supersized. A car costs the same as the national budget of a small African country, so most Norwegians drive old underpowered cars. The roads of Norway holds a standard equal to the dirt roads in the Amazon jungle. Combined with the old shitty cars driving i Norway is a nightmare.

Gays in Norway
Norway is ruled by the gay dynasty. This is a dynasty which passes from one gay person to another every month. The gays have set for a modest reformation, which includes the rule that if you have a boring gay club in your area, you will get punished if you try to start a new one. The annual gay-tax for new clubs in 2005 is 95%. These taxes are then used to fund the old gay clubs and stop the new generation from starting clubs which favour fun before money. The gay dynasty also favours the old-church christians, just so they have someone to fight with. This is the only political group which is
allowed besides GDP (Gay Dynasty Party).

Major Cities
Hellesylt - Fluffy little town in the end of a fjord, actually the last remaining feral fjord in the world and the only fjord in Norway that has not been tamed. In the summer Hellesylt is a tourist magnet, in the winter, it's white.
Geiranger - Another fluffy little town, near Hellesylt. Often seen as a forest with a with many treehouses from a cruiseship. Its fluffiness may in fact be slightly more fluffy than Hellesylt's. But they're both pretty fluffy.

Sverige is one of the biggest cities in Norway. This is where the norwegians send all the retarded people. This city is known in other countries as Sweden.

This very last bit at least is true. Everyone knows that Sweden is full of . . . Which neatly links directly to my next, Scandinavian post... Coming up!

A question and an answer (unrelated)

What, good readers, is this in English? It's a "wildlife sweater" or "wilderness sweater" in Norwegian, but I somehow don't think that's the correct translation...

And for the answer - my niece has now arrived safely in San Francisco and has even set up a blog to relate her life over there. It's in Norwegian, but for those of you who don't speak it, isn't it about time you made the effort..?

(And why is it you think I'm home alone again, simply because I'm blogging at this hour?!!? Oh, alright, you're right of course... I'll be rejoining the others at the cabin on Wednesday, just staying home to catch up with some work...)