Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Friday, July 4th, 2008
577A quiet week on this blog generally means a busy week in real life and that was certainly the case over the past seven days. My brother was over visiting last weekend. We left him to do most of the tourist attractions on his own (indeed, he did a few that we haven’t yet) but we joined him for a couple of trips out as Christine has already reported.
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Friday, June 27th, 2008
571With many Norwegians about to disappear on vacation for the next month it was time for Sommerfest at work. This involved a boat trip out on the fjord with a shrimp dinner. We stopped off on one of the islands for a few teams games. I think it’s fair to say that I did my part in ensuring that our team didn’t even make it in to the top half of the leader board! As we were heading back for shore there was a rumble of thunder overhead and the skies opened for what became a torrential downpour. Thankfully there was room for all undercover on the boat and as we pulled alongside the jetty the rain eased.
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Monday, June 23rd, 2008
568We were taking Emma out for a post-dinner trip down to see the ducks at Holmendamen when we realised that we’d had a flyer about the Lions Club putting on an event there this evening for Sankthansaften (St. Hans Eve or Midsummer’s Eve to you and I). It was just getting started when we arrived but there was already a good crowd of families and children for the horse rides, fishing for presents (involves a rod with a large bulldog clip and some men hidden behind a screen with boxes of toys), raffles, and of course the ice cream, waffles and pølser compulsory at any Norwegian gathering. We didn’t stay to see the lighting of the bonfire as Emma was overdue some sleep.
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Friday, June 20th, 2008
556It was a pleasant change when the trip I had anticipated to Stavanger this week was changed to Trondheim. I only had one night there and didn’t make it out the office until after eight but with almost round-the-clock sunlight there was no excuse not to have a nose around the city.
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Monday, May 26th, 2008
535Christine’s parents arrived at the end of the last week and this weekend we all decamped to a hytte that we hired on the coast not far from Fredrikstad. The accommodation was basic (no running water and a compost toilet) but still very comfortable. From what we could understand from the (Danish) owner in his broken English, it is probably hired out for less than a month each year and is used by himself for the rest of the time.
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Posted in Family, Travel | Comments Off on Cabin fever
Monday, May 19th, 2008
It was a shame to have to get up early this morning to catch a flight to Stavanger as it must be the first night in a week where we haven’t been woken by a passing russebusser. For the uninitiated, the russ are the Norwegian students about to leave school who for the three weeks or so leading up to National Day are given free reign to rampage across the city. Some of there are activities are benign (for example, the younger kids enjoy collecting the imaginative "calling cards" that the russ hand out) but, fuelled by their first real exposure to large amounts of alcohol, other aspects are less pleasant.
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Saturday, May 17th, 2008
532The 17th May is yet another public holiday in Norway although sadly, this year, a Saturday. This time it is the National Constitution Day, celebrating Norway’s declaration as an independent state in 1814 (although still under Swedish rule). The day is very much targeted at the young and as we ate our breakfast we could see the local children gathering at the school for the raising of the flag. Unfortunately, it was to prove to be the coldest National Day for fifty years and at this point was actually snowing!
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Posted in Family, Food, Friends, Travel | Comments Off on Norwegian Constitution Day
Friday, May 16th, 2008
I’ve been in Stavanger the past two days for a meeting and, despite the city’s reputation for rain, mostly we’ve just had gorgeous sunshine. Both the meeting and our accommodation has been at the Hummeren Hotel. Hummeren translates as lobster which probably gives you a clue that it is located on the waterfront and, during breaks, we have enjoyed sitting outside on the sun soaked decking looking out over the bay, sheltered from both the wind and views of the local oil industry.
Posted in Travel, Work | Comments Off on Sunny Stavanger
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