En besøkende fra Orknøyene!

June's been a month of to-ing and fro-ing for various reasons…some happy and some sad. One of the happier ones was a visit from Big Sister from Orkney. The weather was kind to us and a great weekend was had by all. Even the Mulder cat was unfazed by the presence of someone 'new' in the house…mainly because she and I look and sound pretty alike i.e. no threat of anything untoward!

We had a boat trip up the Lysefjord to see the Pulpit Rock, a walk up to Ullandhaug Tower to get some amazing views over Stavanger, a photo stop at the Three Swords and a stroll along Sola Strand beach. All interspersed with some nice food, drinks, coffee and kake (no prizes). The kake in question was/is called 'Success Cake' and so far I've been unable to ascertain why! My tutor is on the case as we speak. Anyway, it has a macaroon chewy kind of base and a custardy topping and, bizarrely enough, isn't really that sweet. Very yummy!

During my shopping trips over the past few days, I notice the emergence of 'hvalkjøtt' in the supermarkets…whale meat to the rest of us. I would have taken a picture but thought I'd better not in case a member of staff thought I was from Greenpeace and evicted me from the store! It must be the season as this is the first time I've seen it. It's very dark in colour and apparently tastes very much of cod liver oil…hmmm…maybe I'll take their word for it on that.

So here we are almost at midsummer…hard to believe. On June 21, the sun rises at 03:54 in the morning and sets at 22:44! In Norway, Summer Solstice is celebrated on June 23, and is called Sankthansaften. Sankthansaften is also called Jonsok, which means “John’s wake”, important in Roman Catholic times with pilgrimages to churches and holy springs. For instance, up until 1840 there was a pilgrimage to the stave church in Røldal (southwest Norway) whose crucifix was said to have healing powers. Today, Sankthansaften is largely regarded as a secular or even pre- Christian event. In most places the main event is the burning of a large bonfire. In parts of Norway a custom of arranging mock marriages, both between adults and between children, is still kept alive. The wedding was meant to symbolize the blossoming of new life. Such weddings are known to have taken place in the 1800s, but the custom is believed to be older. It is also said that if a girl puts flowers under her pillow that night, she will dream of her future husband. Around this time of the year, it is common to eat Rømmegrøt (creamy porridge) and Spekemat (cured and dried meat).

I'll sign off with some pictures from a road/ferry trip we took just last week. This was from home to Sirdal and eventually on to a place called Lysebotn which is right at the far end of the Lysefjord. It was a 3hr drive there, then a 2.5hr trip home on the ferry to a place called Lauvik. You can see some impressive snow walls beside the road at the top of Sirdal (it's the middle of June remember…), also the famous Kjerag rock on the way home. And yes, those are real people on the top…fearless Norwegians!

Almost forgot…word of the day…'bryllup' (brewl-lewp) or 'wedding'. Topical for us since we've just been to one and are getting ready for another. More of that neste gang (next time)!

God helg!

Snarky Puppy

Slightly after the event but that's the name of a jazz funk band we went to see during the annual Mai Jazz festival in Stavanger. The city was positively teaming with world class musicians and a great time was had by all. The venue was a place called Folken which is run by the Student Society and, unfortunately for those of us of a certain age, was 'standing only'. Do I sound old? I certainly felt it by the time the gig finished! Anyway, if you like jazz and get the chance to see Snarky Puppy, definitely go. They're from Brooklyn, New York and are absolutely excellent. Bit like Earth, Wind & Fire in that there seems to be about twenty of them on the stage at any one time!

The other notable event in May was Norway's National Day on 17th, which was extra special this year on account of it being the 200th anniversary of the country's independence. The flags were up everywhere and people wore their national dress or 'bunad' with obvious pride. Lots of parades through the town including several 'floats' depicting different periods in history, as well as some local clubs like the Oil City Rollers…no tartan breeks in sight and who knew I was a skater girl??!!

As I type, we've had weeks (and weeks) of beautiful spring weather with only the odd thunderplump thrown in. Temperatures anything up to 20 odd degrees and a nice antidote to the longest winter in history. Stands have appeared by the sides of the roads, selling strawberries, raspberries and cherries (jordbær, bringebær og moreller)…tempting and delicious.

That's not the only thing that's going on by the side of the road mind you…on my way home from a Norwegian lesson at GDF's office yesterday morning, rounded a corner to find a member of the POLITI directing me into a layby whereupon I was breathalysed!! A first for me and it fairly focuses the attention I can tell you. They can stop you at random without any cause whatsoever i.e. to check your licence, insurance, tyres, lights and obviously the presence of alcohol in your system. Can't say I have any problem with any of it, especially if the officer in question is as good-looking as yesterday's one. That said, I was mightily relieved to hear the words "just drive on"…!! Even if you know if you haven't done anything wrong, it's still a sobering experience (pardon the pun).

Word of the day and this one will appeal to those from Orkney…'brukket' (brew-ket) meaning broken or fractured in relation to an arm or leg for example. We have a similar thing where we say someone has 'brukk'ed' themselves. Another one stolen from the Vikings!

Last weekend saw the Tour des Fjords cycle race hit Stavanger and a very exciting finish it was too, with a local chap winning the stage with a last-gasp push. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them as they passed by Sola Strand beach.

Stay tuned for the next post on the subject of our first Orcadian visitor…veldig spennende!

Ha det!

Velkommen tilbake til 'bloggen'!

Easter has come and gone, bringing with it some beautiful Norwegian spring weather and (more importantly) the end of Lent. You'll have figured out by now what I gave up…yep, the blog! Decided the most charitable thing I could do was spare you from my inane ramblings albeit it was helped along by a prolonged period without broadband.

So winter is finally over…takk Gud! The flowers are out and everything is growing, probably much earlier than it should thanks to the mild weather. The clocks have changed and the days already feel very long. What's not to like in other words?

The Norwegian lessons are still in full swing and my long-suffering tutor (Trond) must have the patience of a saint is all I can say. We meet twice a week at GDF's office and I never fail to surprise myself at how much I can't remember since the last session. I wouldn't mind but languages were my 'thing' at school but the knack seems to have deserted me. I'm putting it (and everything else) down to age!

Speaking of which, a very significant birthday has just occurred in the Robertson household…in a bid to catch up with me, Mr R turned 50 at the end of March. True to form he was at work on the day and was met with the following scene in his office…

The folks at GDF made a huge fuss…he got a custom-made card, presents and no less than 3 birthday cakes (bursdagkaker) one of which was a home-made ice cream one! All in all, it looks like the experience was relatively painless.

To celebrate, we went away on a skiing trip…sadly not within Norway (thanks again to the mild winter) but to Breckenridge in Colorado. A great time was had amongst some of the best powder conditions we've ever seen. Despite the fact it was the middle of April, Mother Nature kindly provided a fall of 15 inches while we were there! They were in the throes of 'springfest' at the time, which meant a live band called the Gin Blossoms were playing at the foot of one of the peaks. At times you could hardly see the stage but the music was fantastic! Some of the views below…

So when Norwegians ski, they 'gå på ski' (gaw-paw-she) or if they're cross-country skiing, they 'gå langrenn' (gaw-lahngng-rayn). It's fair to say that, such is their love of nature, that a trip to the winter 'hytte' invariably involves a spot of 'langrenn' between parking the car and getting to the hytte itself. Not like some of us folks from Storbritannia (UK) who need to drive everywhere…i.e. 'me'! That said, I've been doing a fair bit of walking and hiking lately, mainly in a bid to minimise the shock to my body when it hit the ski slopes…it seemed to work.

The final word goes to 'katten'…he's just back from a long Easter break at his hytte and has slept pretty much all the time since he got home. Clearly a lot of 'zzzzz' to catch up on! He's getting wiser (and wiser) to the situation though and it was a bit of a job to catch him this time. So much so that he's left me with (another) scar as a reminder…

And on that note…god helg!

Fastelavn

According to one Christopher Evans, tomorrow (Feb 28th) is 'officially' the last day of winter. Looking out the window at the moment, I'm not sure I agree with him! Nevertheless it's true to say that March is almost here, which in Norway means that the celebration of Fastelavn is also upon us. It falls on the Sunday, seven weeks prior to Easter Sunday, and is intended to serve as a reminder that a period of fasting is approaching (Lent).

Fastelavn is marked with the eating of Fastelavnsboller, decorating with Fastelavnsris, and celebrating Karneval. The 'boller' are made out of a sweet bread dough and baked as rolls prior to being served with either raspberry/strawberry jam, whipped cream and icing suger. Fastelavnsris (pictured) are birch branches decorated with colourful feathers. In olden times women, animals, trees and even the plough were often adorned to ensure good crops and healthy offspring. Karneval (carnival) is celebrated 40 days prior to Easter and in the nurseries children dress up much like they do on Hallowe'en in the US.

Meanwhile, in the Robertson household, the imminent onset of Lent has prompted the annual discussion of 'what to give up'. Given that the whole point of Lent is to do without something you really like and eat (or drink) a lot of…my pledge to give up chocolate and crisps fell on stony ground on account of the fact I don't really eat any! We're united in our opinion that giving up alcohol isn't really a viable option so that leaves us with either cheese or bread. Either way, it's going to be grumpy and it remains to be seen how much 'hardship' we can tolerate!

Despite the poor winter weather here, Mr R was recently able to go on a weekend ski trip with the sports and social club from GdF. They drove to a place called Roldal about 3 hours north of here and a great time was had by all. Some of them took time out from the pistes to pose for a picture...second from the right! We've had less success in getting to Sirdal, which is only about an hour's drive away, either because of high winds or because the access road is blocked. Looks like the cross country ski lessons may have to wait until 2015.

A couple of new words for you…barnehage (baa-ner-haa-ger) meaning nursery or day care. For some  inexplicable reason, when I hear this word it makes me want to fall about laughing. Even funnier is to hear a French person pronounce it. It's just a funny word…et morsomt ord…! Staying on the same subject and given that pretty much everyone I know is having a baby (yay!), barn (baan) is the word for child…not too far away from our own 'bairn'.

Right, I'm off to track down some Fastelavnsboller and I'll sign off with a picture of next-door's Viking moggie. Don't be fooled by the cute tilt of the head and those lovely yellow eyes…he's a monster!

Vi sees!

Blogger's block

Who knew such a thing existed but it's alive and well and currently slothing around in Hestnes. I'm blaming (a) the time of year, (b) the weather, (c) middle aged hormones, or more likely (d) all of the above. Either way, inspiration has been in short supply since the festive season and I was recently reminded that…if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all!

So here we are in 2014 with another raft of New Year's resolutions made and just waiting to be broken. I've taken to making loads of them, with the notion that I might at least have a 50% success rate and therefore some sense of achievement. There's logic there somewhere!

So far this year I've discovered that January can be a very tedious month no matter which country you live in. It seems to have gone on for ever and still isn't done. That said, there's more and more daylight each day and we're currently basking in glorious sunshine albeit accompanied by sub-zero temperatures…..brrrr.

If I tell you that one of the highlights so far this year has been a 'grocery shopping orientation', you'll get a window into my world at the moment! Nevertheless it was a very worthwhile exercise and we got to taste numerous delicacies about which the locals are passionate…brown cheese (sweet…ARGH), fish balls (err…no…just 'wrong'), fresh shrimp (fab), cod roe (also fab), potato bread (yum) and knekkebrod (dried bread…crispbread to you and me) to name a few. It's fair to say the traditional Norwegian palate is fairly plain with the emphasis on tasty local food albeit with minimal spice/seasoning.

I've also recently enjoyed a guided tour of the magnificent 'Konserthus'…no prizes for guessing what that is. A relatively new addition to Stavanger, it's located right down by the harbour with the most amazing views. That is, until a cruise ship parks outside and all you can see is a wall of steel! In fact it's built on the site of what used to be the ferry terminal for ships going to Denmark and Newcastle. It boasts two state-of-the-art performance theatres, one designed for symphony orchestras and the other for rock concerts. It's a fantastic venue and if you come visit (hint hint) we'll go and have a coffee there and drool over the  view…below.

Needless to say the architecture is also quite stunning.

Grasp of 'norsk' is getting better. So much so that a trip into town last week involved a visit to the drycleaners, the farmer's market, a coffee house and the supermarket…without a single word of English being uttered! Progress. Most people are quite good at giving you the opportunity to try and speak the language unless you're clearly in difficulty, in which case they'll intervene and rescue you. When this happens, there is only one thing to say…'beklager' (beh-klaager), meaning 'sorry'! If I've made a really obvious mistake, I'm always tempted to follow beklager with…jeg er dum (I'm a numpty)!

The resident katten continues to be the focus of some close attention from next door's nemesis. It's winter coat is now clearly fully grown, rendering it even bigger than before (gulp). I took a picture of its footprints in the snow but foolishly didn't place anything beside it, to give it perspective. Trust me…it's big…and I think I can count almost 10 pads in that print…

That said, when you're languishing in your owner's warm bed, washing your tail, there's nothing coming over you…is this the face of concern??

And on that note…vi ses!

God Jul og Godt Nyttår!

Well it's definitely the festive season in Stavanger. How do I know this? One…because the Coca-Cola truck is in town and two...there are boatloads of Christmas trees in the harbour!

Other signs include multiple Lutefisk/Aquavit dinners for Mr Robertson who is pledging to go on a pre-Christmas diet as we speak. He hasn't got a chance…we're off to Orknøyene and Mother is already planning a mince/clapshot feast for our arrival. Add to that a 20lb turkey on Christmas Day at Largo and I think we all know how it's going to end up! Oh and not forgetting the world-famous 'Christmas Ciabatta' at Trenabies in Kirkwall…I literally cannot wait. And there's more…a weekend in Aberdeen at Chez Cheshire, catching up with friends and family, before we fly up to Kirkwall on 23rd. Which reminds me, can someone please have a word with whoever is in charge of the weather up there and make sure the forecast winds go down a bit? Please??!! One of us isn't a good traveller…

Before we go any further, I notice that a couple of logos/pics I had put in the previous post have disappeared. The first one was a rather menacing logo for the 'Politi'…I think they may be on to me. The other one was a much less menacing picture of 'Julenisse'…I sincerely hope he's not on to me or I'm in big trouble! I'm taking my stocking to Orkney with me just in case...

Final word of the year and a very appropriate one…'hytte' (hewt-ter) meaning cabin/hut/chalet/lodge/cottage. This is where a lot of Norwegians go to spend the festive period with their families, most probably up in the mountains although some also have a hytte by the sea. The hytte is an integral part of Norwegian life, with most people electing to spend the summer and/or winter holidays there. It literally is a home from home.

But the Norwegians aren't the only ones who have hyttes…oh no…the Mulder cat has one too and this is where he will be spending Christmas this year. More commonly known as Randaberg Dyrpensjonat (the cattery to you and me!). We've tried to explain to him how lucky he is to have a hytte, especially one such as Randaberg which has an individual inside and outside space for each 'katt'.  They take such good of care of them, leave the radio on for company…ok so it's Radio Norge but still. Sadly he's not too impressed?! This will be the scene tomorrow morning…

While the weather isn't exactly festive as I write, we had the most amazing fall of snow a couple of weekends ago…woke up to a load of powder on Saturday morning. The landscape was transformed into a wonderland. Fifi le Fiat was almost out of sight!

And with that festive scene, all that remains is wish everyone a very (very) Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2014.

God Jul og Godt Nyttår!

p.s. For those following the lessons, note the different spellings of 'good'…in the same sentence…ARGH!!

POLITI...

Five months in and we've had our first brush with the long arm of the law. Who knew that an innocuous trip to 'the tip' on a Saturday morning would result in (a) a breathaliser test and (b) a car tax check? We pulled up in Forus to join a queue of cars/trailers (not unusual) but it quickly became apparent that something else was afoot…various people in hi-vis jackets talking to every driver.

Mr R was at the wheel and had the pleasure of blowing into the tube. Needless to say he was absolutely fine but it certainly polarises the amount of wine you had with dinner the previous night! Even though >12 hours had gone by since alcohol was consumed, it still makes you wonder.

The law on drinking and driving in Norway is crystal clear i.e. they don't tolerate it…at all. The legal limit is 20 milligrams of alcohol (-v- 80 in the UK) per 100 millilitre of blood, essentially enough to allow for any alcohol in food, as well as certain medications. The penalties are severe, ranging from a fine and 6-month suspension of licence to a very heavy fine, 2-year suspension of licence and imprisonment…depending on how much over the limit you are. In addition, fines are calculated according to your income.

Having had the cultural training before/after we arrived here (thanks to GdF), we were already acutely aware of the various laws around driving. It must be said, the Norwegian stance on drinking and driving makes it very easy for drivers, there's no dubiety whatsoever, no wondering 'will I be ok with one'….you just don't do it.

As Alexander the meerkat would say…seemples!!

Which brings me neatly on to a not-unrelated story. December is upon us and with it the usual festive gatherings. Tonight sees Mr Robertson head off out to his very first 'lutefisk dinner', which tradition demands will be washed down with Aquavit. Lutefisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries made from dried whitefish and lye. So far so good. It's gelatinous in texture and has a somewhat pungent odour. Uh oh. Aquavit is a very strong alcoholic spirit and is distilled from fermented potato or grain mash before being flavoured with savoury herbaceous ingredients. Hmmm. The reason for having it as an accompaniment to the lutefisk is becoming more apparent all the time…SKÅL!

Suffice to say Mrs Robertson will be assuming full taxi duties tomorrow morning lest we have another run-in with the Politi...

The festive season officially begins here on December 1st and folks houses are literally transformed with welcoming lights both outside and in, as is the town centre. It's very similar to the American traditions of New England although as you can see there's always one who goes slightly overboard…to be fair, this is a drinking establishment down by the harbour, so I guess he's trying to attract customers?!

A topical word of the day…'nisse' (nees-eh) or 'Julenisse' (yoo-le-nees-eh) meaning Father Christmas! It seems that the modern-day Julenisse is a combination of the fabled barn elf from Scandinavian folklore and the American Santa Claus. He's dressed much like the fjosnissen of old, with grey woollen clothes, knickerbockers and a red hat, and heralds his arrival on Christmas Eve with the words 'are there any good children here'? Here's hoping he doesn't get Aquavit left out for him at every house or he wont get far…!