Jason and I took another adventure this past weekend as we entered into the world of Scandinavia. We spent Friday night and Saturday in Oslo, Norway - went to a great Scottish pub where a Norweigan man was covering american 80's music (ironic), ate lunch on the boats that were all tied together in the main port downtown taking in the sunshine and experienced the first of many sticker stocks on the prices here. Each beer was £8 or $16 US Dollars - wow - for one pint of beer - very expensive.
Saturday night we traveled to Bergen on the west coast of Norway, much smaller town than Oslo, very scenic and comfortable. Went for a great run in the evening exploring a park and university campus where students were laying in the grass grilling and enjoying the early "heat wave." More good live music Sat night - the Norwegians love to dance - no matter how old they are (or how good they are) - quite amusing
Sunday we took a lovely train ride in the morning to Voss (hometown of Knute Rockne for all you ND fans) and then began our kayaking adventure in the fjords (did you know a fjord is a body of salt water that is nestled between steep cliffs which has been carved away from the melting of glaciers millions of years ago?) We rowed for about 4 hours and covered approximately 10 miles of incredible scenery. We past a town of 15 people with their own 15 million dollar tunnel (subsidized by the government so they can have the same quality of life as everyone else when the water freezes), a viking burial/memorial ground, a stranded baby goat that we saved and returned to its pasture, amazing impromptu waterfalls that form as the snow melts off the top, and a picturesque green where we stopped for lunch. The rowing on the way back was tough, into the wind, and our arms and backs were quite sore by the end of it - not an activity for the weak! Amazing way to spend a Sunday though.
Sunday night we found as we stumbled onto even more live music (this time at an Irish bar); the best band of all three nights - and stayed out late listening to good old American rock and roll till late. Monday we caught every bus, train, plane and tube ride in perfect sequence and made it back to London in time for a few hours back in the office in the afternoon to catch up on emails and phone calls. A quick dinner at canary wharf and back to the flat. it goes by so fast!!
Things to remember about Norway: it stays light till 11pm so the days are long and full of things to do; Norwegians are LARGE people- tall and broad - and they dress funny; the food and drink is very expensive - everything is either imported or its "organic" and made in Norway with no preservatives/additives, etc; the government helps to subsidize everything - even the best colleges are free; the scenery in the western country is incredible - snowy and warm at the same time - water and mountains and green everywhere; people love to be outside - well at least in spring and summer. Amazing!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Weekend of Relaxing In Mallorca
Helen and I flew down to Majorca, an island off the coast of Spain for a relaxing weekend of laying out and sunshine, unfortunately for us, although it was sunny on Saturday, it was too cold to lay out and it rained on Sunday. Instead of sitting by the beach, we toured the island, visited the incredible cathedral perched on the hill, dreamed about owning the yachts in the magnificent harbours, tried to make our way into the Yacht Club post-regatta party (no luck) and drank beers at Wellies, a semi-famous pub often frequented by the likes of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. I would like to take another trip back to this island to explore the more mountainous region, and hopefully get more time sleeping in the sun!
Trip to Oxford
My parents came over to London for a quick weekend visit at the beginning of April. We had a wonderful day on Friday walking around London exploring - Marylebone, the Thames Embankment, Carolyn's flat, Canary Wharf, Hyde Park, Oxford Street, Leicester Square. Ate dinner with Cameron Hanson (a good family friend) and went into the West End to see Chicago - brilliant performance
Saturday we took the train to Oxford and spent a beautiful afternoon enjoying the sunshine and exploring the campus. With the folk festival on, the schools were alive with people and the campus was in great shape. Similar to Cambridge, this university is a conglomerate of colleges (over 40 different schools) with separate housing, dining, classrooms and enrollments in each. We were able to walk through some of the more popular campuses and take photographs
Sunday was my marathon ...not a great race but wonderful to have my parents and a few of my new London friends along the course to cheer me on. The atmosphere is similar to Chicago and DC with thousands of people cheering - great feeling of accomplishment - i am considering running Paris, Stockholm or Berlin next year - once i feel like running again :)
Saturday we took the train to Oxford and spent a beautiful afternoon enjoying the sunshine and exploring the campus. With the folk festival on, the schools were alive with people and the campus was in great shape. Similar to Cambridge, this university is a conglomerate of colleges (over 40 different schools) with separate housing, dining, classrooms and enrollments in each. We were able to walk through some of the more popular campuses and take photographs
Sunday was my marathon ...not a great race but wonderful to have my parents and a few of my new London friends along the course to cheer me on. The atmosphere is similar to Chicago and DC with thousands of people cheering - great feeling of accomplishment - i am considering running Paris, Stockholm or Berlin next year - once i feel like running again :)
Amsterdam
Jason and I spent 2.5 days exploring Amsterdam and a few small towns in the Holland countryside. I must say that i was expecting Amsterdam to be very seedy and shady given all you hear about the Red Light District and the marijuana usage, and although there is that section of the city (which by the way has become very touristy), the rest of the city is quite lovely. There are over 1200 bridges cutting across skinny canals that are lined with houseboats and bicycles. I loved walking through the town in our hunt for the Original Dutch Pancake House, Anne Frank's house and the Van Gough museum
One of the days we took a tour bus (yes, a tour bus) to a few of the darling little villages on the outskirts of Amsterdam. We visited a windmill village, a fishing village, a cheese mill, a wooden shoe factory (did you know they are completely water proof??!!) and loved every minute of it. We laughed at ourselves as we climbed on and off the double decker bus, but we saw a part of Holland we never would have seen otherwise.
One of the days we took a tour bus (yes, a tour bus) to a few of the darling little villages on the outskirts of Amsterdam. We visited a windmill village, a fishing village, a cheese mill, a wooden shoe factory (did you know they are completely water proof??!!) and loved every minute of it. We laughed at ourselves as we climbed on and off the double decker bus, but we saw a part of Holland we never would have seen otherwise.
Lisbon, Portugal
A quick weekend trip with some girls from work...we traveled to Lisbon, Portugal in mid - March. Lisbon was a blend of Spanish, Portuguese and Mediterranean cultures - music, food, architecture, etc. The weekend itself was relatively low key. Spent the 2 days shopping, visiting the neighborhoods, watching a teachers protest, trying delicious Portuguese food and large beers and taking a hop on/hop off tour bus of the downtown area. The old city with its lovely port and mini Christ the Redeemer statue is quite different from the new section that was built up for the world expo a few years back. Not my favorite city so far, but a nice hilly town with friendly people.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)