Avebury

Our final day in London was reserved for Avebury. A counterpart to Stonehenge, this smaller henge of standing stones is much less touristy, and the stones stand in lands that are quintessentially English countryside. It was a kind of pilgrimage for me, so to be able to touch these massive, ancient stones on these lands was very important to me. It was difficult to get too relaxed as there were tourists, and many families picniking with their children next to certain stones, and because we were on a tight schedule, but we were able to hike almost the entire circle. There were loads of sheep grazing all over the place and I got very close to some of them for some cute photos (which we will load later at home.)  

There was a special grove of trees at one end of the circle that was obviously both ancient and still venerated by locals. The roots of the trees were a massive, thick tangle of growth and seemed to join each tree to the next. There were prayer ribbons and offerings tied to its branches, so many that the ribbons and strands of beads, velvet bags and bits of long grasses tied in bunches all looked like a rainbow of leaves. I left my own offering to the tree, and we kept on the sheep-pooped path. I wish I would have had more time to linger there, especially, as it was as heavenly a spot I've seen. I was a bit agitated all day, being on such a tight schedule does not allow for relaxation and we had just an hour and a half to eat and then hike the whole thing. I will have to figure out when to come back to this place, allowing more time for a proper visit. John and I discussed later how we might try to learn how to manage our differing traveling needs and styles. For the health of his body and mind, he needs continual movement. For me, I need slow, unstructured time in which to allow experience to flow through me. I enjoy walking and hiking, but I loathe to be hurried. John loves to get caught up in the hustle. I prefer the smaller cities, meandering towns, expansive natural areas and parks, purposeful and leisurely meal breaks, time for daydreaming. He thrives when pouring over maps, exploring the tube system to new and interesting places with tons of people all busily going about their days, finding the next cool site to see. And the crowds are what we realized this trip are what are very disturbing to me, so this is something we will need to figure out. 

After exploring the circle, we headed to the little gift shop to pick up a nice canvas bag with some lovely artwork of the stones on it, and I quickly grabbed a tiny bag of sparkly stones, the ones you often see at science museums, just as a tiny keepsake and a reminder that should I come back again one day, to leave a better offering to the grove of trees. I was so concerned about getting the bus on time so that we would get back for our connecting train that it was kind of a bummer way to end the visit, but the area was getting quite packed with people anyway. We got back to the surprisingly charming town of Swindon, and had a full hour before our train! Argh, we could have stayed longer and not been so rushed :( But we bought some coffee drinks at Costa Coffee, sat in the shade of a little tree, and I finally had my leisurely break and was able to relax. 

Making it back to Paddingon station, we took a selfie in front of the station and decided to go visit the hotel where we stayed in 1995 (another selfie.) The Norfolk Plaza is indeed still in operation, and we were impressed at how the area had grown and many more businesses were overtaking some of the overtly tourist-trappy shops. John had found a funky pub for dinner called The Queen's Head, so we made our way there (after a few wrong turns) and enjoyed some delicious food and a couple of brews. We strolled around casually after dinner, taking in the cool night air and saner pace of the evening. This city, much like NYC, doesn't really sleep, but it slows down a little. King's Cross station, when we reached it, was all a-buzz with activity as if it were high noon! We made our fourth (yes, fourth) trip into Platform 9 3/4 to buy yet more stuff! I decided I needed to get Fiona another gift, get myself a messenger bag and the new Cursed Child book (English edition) to read on the flight home. I texted my sister to see if Fiona had read it (I was going to buy it for her, but figured she had already read it; she had) and if she thought it was worthy enough to carry its considerable bulk across three continents. She deemed it, "Definitely worth the weight to carry!" 

So now we are loafing in the hotel until it's time to depart for the tube to Heathrow. We enjoyed our last English breakfast, me detailing the characters of the house elf's in Harry Potter to John as I dork it up in my very loud & proud Platform 9 3/4 tee shirt. I have noticed loads of people here wearing all things Harry Potter, mostly the Deathly Hallows tee-shirts and jewelry, but I think I can get those back at home. I really wanted a Deathly Hallows charm and journal, but we've already dropped considerable jing on this trip, and we still would like it if we didn't have to check our bags. I was originally going to wear my Howard Jones 1985 concert tee shirt, but realized it's got USA stamped like a glaring target on the back, so I thought it better that I wear something less specifically American. So, just one more tube ride to Heathrow, a plane to Iceland, a place to Minneapolis. I will be so glad to be stationary for awhile because ever since Norway, I've had the unbalanced sense of sea legs. We've either been on boats, trains, tubes, planes...all movement! I have this constant sense that the floor is moving beneath me! Well, time to split! Next post will be from home with kitties piled on my lap :) 

London: Day 2

We started our day with a huge English breakfast (I finally dared to have some coffee) then, fat and happy, we went straight to Greenwich. I must say, I was excited for Greenwich for all the cool historical stuff, yes, but mostly because Thor kicked some serious ass against Malekith in the Marvel movie Thor: The Dark World. I'm a huge Thor fan, both the Norse deity and the fictional Marvel comic character. We had our picnic lunch right where all the action happened near the huge pillars of the Old Royal Naval College that is right on the River Thames, and it was a lovely, cool day. We toured the Painted Walls gallery, which is another feature of the movie but has also loads of incredible paintings over each wall and the entire ceiling. They had guides of all the details and mirrors in which you could examine the ceilings without straining your neck. It was beautiful in there, and I have a softness for art history. The Chapel gallery was also quite stunning, and had fewer tourists so we got better photos in there. 

I kept having to sit down or find a loo every ten minutes, and I cannot deny that this day began the first of my really just horribly whiny days. My feet were really killing me, and when every step is pain, it is just a sad, sad thing to look up at the enormously steep walk up the Greenwich observatory and planetarium. We found a seat and watched the throngs of people climbing the arduous path to the Prime Merdian. After about 20 minutes of resting my stupid feet, we too began the climb. It was like walking up the steps to Mordor, but with no steps and a thousand flying monkeys every which way, criminey I get annoyed at people! They pay zero attention to anything but themselves, kids are dodging in and out and throwing my old, wobbly ass off kilter. I am becoming an old, grumpy curmudgeon. When we finally reached the peak, up in the clouds somewhere I think, we were graced with an absolutely stunning, sprawling view of London. I wish I had had been able to have more grace in the journey up, because once there, it was worth every step. 

We bought tickets to the planetarium show "Asteroids: Mission Extreme" which was the earliest show we could get, and since had tickets to the Globe later, we didn't want to be fussing around there all day. The show was a little cheesy, and both us took short naps once the lights went out, but it was pretty cool and narrated by Sigourney Weaver. We tried like hell to make our way to the Prime Meridian line, but they were charging separate admissions for every bloody floor and every bloody exhibit, so we finally just went to the front gate, snapped a photo and then made the long trek back down the scary, steep hill, back to the hotel for a little rest and to snarf down some Burger King before we hustled off to the Globe.  

The Globe Theatre. 

This theatre is so amazing to visit. We came in 1998 for our honeymoon, and we bought a brick to help support the renovation costs, and that certificate is framed on our little wedding shrine. But in '98, the season had not begun yet, so we were unable to see a play. Last night, we were finally able to see a Shakespeare play in the country of his origin, in the reconstructed theatre that celebrates his beautiful poetic theatre. And of all plays, we got to see my favorite: Macbeth. Words will not do it justice. It was so perfectly presented, interpreted, and acted. They did a phenomenal job with the music, which was some of the eeriest, bone-chillingly evocative music I have ever heard (and one of my favorite things is tracking down bone-chillingly evocative music.) There was cello, bells, piano/keyboard, percussion, violin, guitar, oboe, shawm, garlla (two instruments neither of us have heard of, but they were easy to hear in the performance for their unique sounds), and all four musicians sang. The main vocalist had an incredible, powerful voice and range, and in certain parts her voice was run through this really cool demonic kind of effect. (I totally want that vocal effect so I can sound like Zoul whenever I want :)) The actors were all stellar, and the subtle and not-so-subtle humor they brought to the show was perfectly delivered. Lady Macbeth was played by Tara Fitzgerald, whom we just realized is Stanus Baratheon's wife in Game of Thrones, and Macbeth was played by Ray Fearon, who was the voice of Firenze in Harry Potter, and Nadia Albina was also an excellent and versatile player who had a comepletely hilarious bit in the play, played numerous characters, including one of the witches. The depiction of the Wyrd/Weird/Wayward Sisters was absolutely, unequivocally out of this world. I had chills and goosebumps every time they were featured; the lighting, music, costuming and props made these four (yes, four witches in this one) some of the most convincingly creepy characters I've seen on stage. The show ended with the whole cast doing what I assume was some kind of Scottish country dance, and it was just joyous and everyone clapped along. This was a major highlight of this trip, as we knew it would be. We had a very romantic walk along the River Walk and over the Millineum Bridge, then hopped the tube back to the hotel to rave more about the show. Fan-feckin-tastic!

London: Day 1

Before heading to London, Julie had tipped us off about the "Quiet Train". It is a beautiful thing, that. It costs the same as the regular coach tickets, but there are no screaming children allowed or yappy peeps on their phones talking about nothing really, really loudly. I might ride public transportation in Minneapolis again if that were an option! The ride was only 2 hours, and soon we were strolling along the platforms at King's Cross station. This famous station is huge and also another Harry Potter thing. There is a little shop there called Platform 9 3/4 where you can buy all sorts of cool Harry Potter stuff, and there's even a trolley with an owl cage on top smashing into the wall that kids (or adults obsessed with Harry Potter, ahem) can pose with and have their photo taken! It was super cool! We picked up a couple of birthday gifties for my niece, a fan of the series, and whose birthday is this week! WOOT! Kid is turning 13, I can barely believe it. 

Our little hotel here in London is really cool. Like Ellingsen's Pensjonet, this hotel is very tiny, but really nice. It's only a couple blocks away from King's Cross off on a little quiet street and very secure. The British Library is also two blocks away, so we went there right away and found a whole exhibit on punk rock of the 1970s which was absolutely awesome. Then we checked out the Treasures of the British Library room which had original works from many authors and musicians, including Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Beethoven, Mozart, Oscar Wilde and the Beatles, among many others. They were closing at 5 and made no bones about the fact, stern security guards pointing to the exit, so we then wandered around looking for a place for an early dinner since we skipped lunch. We ended up at a little cafe that was quiet and a bit fancy and ordered a couple of beers and a Ploughman's Platter, which was olives, pickled caperberries, field greens, ham, turkey, liver pate, breads, butter, and an incredible apricot chutney that I might try to find a similar recipe to make at home. We took a detour on the way back to the hotel to check out the hotel where we stayed on our honeymoon, sure enough, it is still there! 

A bit of a rest at the hotel, then we were off to see Star Trek: Beyond in Leicester Square. We saw Star Trek: First Contact in London back in 1995! The movie was great, but very intense in 3D. Leicester Square was INSANE. Monday is a Bank Holiday here, so the whole city was out partying, musicians busking everywhere (here, buskers are auditioned and given time slots to play in tube stations and on the streets so it's less of a panhandle and more of a regular gig kind of thing), and neon lights on full throttle. Upon leaving the movie, my senses heightened a bit too much from the intensity and the crowd so thick it made my world view into a sort of shrinking bubble, my window of tolerance collapsed when an aggressive dude in the tube station shoved an umbrella between my legs below my knees and was almost on top of my back in order to sneak into the train station without paying. That was it for me. I made it back to the hotel without breaking, but once inside, I broke into sobs as John held me. I have become more open about the fact that I was treated for PTSD (post-traumatic-stress-disorder) back in the mid-80s, after years of keeping quiet about it. It is an incredibly difficult condition to learn to manage, and there are certain things that trigger the heightened fear response with such sudden ferocity that it feels near impossible to reign in the runaway panic train inside. While I couldn't help the visceral responses that accompany this condition (shaking, chills, sweating, hyperventilation, etc.) I have learned how to manage them more quickly and breathe myself into a calmer state. It's been a long time since I've had to employ them. John kept me close and talked to me calmly as we boarded the train, navigated more thick swells of people in the station and on the way back to the hotel. I felt I could breathe again when we turned onto our street, and into the safety of the hotel. I shake now to recount the story, but I feel a sort of responsibility to speak more openly about psychological conditions that receive so much stigma, like PTSD and depression (which I have dealt with all of my life.) I believe that no one should have to suffer through pain alone, that it is extremely important for someone to "bear witness" to the suffering of others. When I was going through the worst of it, no one had ever heard of PTSD, and nor did they want to hear about it. Now with so much violence in our country, you're likely to know many people struggling with it these days. 

(Again, I'll post photos later. There are MANY photos! More later!)

York

We woke fairly early on Saturday so that we could have breakfast, say a proper goodbye to Dave, Julie and the cats, and head to York with Sam and AJ. Dave cooked us eggs, bacon and toast again, such a lovely treat since he has worked as a cook for many years. We had a brief cuppa with our hosts, then Patricia showed up so that we could all take a family photo that I'd forgotten to do the previous evening. We all piled out onto their balcony once Sam & AJ arrived to pose, then started our goodbye hugging. I almost got all verklempt hugging Julie goodbye, it just felt like too short a time to spend. But it's difficult to host people, and they were so generous that we didn't want to overstay our welcome, either. Next time, though, we might plan for additional time because it was not long enough. Three or four days would have been great. 

After hugging all the people and petting all the kitties goodbye, we piled into Sam's little car and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to York. It is still very strange getting used to the left-sided roadways, and the narrow, windy roads, and holy cats, the roundabouts! It feels like being on the Knight Bus! (Harry Potter fans will know what I'm talking about) The drive was pleasant with chit-chatter and the trance-like state that long rides are prone to lull a person into, the English countryside presenting an idyllic backdrop. They dropped us off at our hotel, the Premier Inn, and then we met them down the street and walked around the city of York, stepping into the enormous Minster to check out the incredible stained glass windows, and walking the "Shambles" which is a unique and very narrow, cobble-y road with buildings that are built so that their upper levels and roofs sort of bend inwards towards the lane, and it creates a funky, fun-house sort of effect. The whole city was jammed and rocking with street musicians and even a street DJ! We checked out some little shops in the street market, got to sample some delicious fudge. Eventually made our way over to The Wall, the original city walls of York which are high, stone walls that you can walk along, and were used back in the day for protection, equipped with slits in the stone for archers. As it started to rain, we went to dinner at a place called The Cellar that was a favorite eatery when Sam was in University in York ten years ago. I had lasagne with salad and John had bangers and mash, both very good. They used some incredible cheese in the lasagne, and the more I eat fancy cheeses, the more I understand the whole rave about fancy cheese. We wrongly assumed that the rain would be done by the time we left, but it was coming down steadily, and though we all had rain coats, none of us had umbrellas. We were drenched by the time we got back to the hotel, and I had to use the hair dryer to dry my purse. I enjoyed a few cups of tea while blogging, got ahold of Mum and was pleased to hear her voice and her chipper mood :)

Next day was really feckin' great! Sam and AJ picked us up about 8am, and they drove us out right away to see Stamford Bridge and the quaint town that surrounds it. John knows all the history behind the site, and it was on his wish list to see it, so it was awesome that we were able to find it because it seemed like Google was giving us goofy information. We took photos of the landmark that was in both English and Norwegian, and then walked around the town a bit and found lots of references to the Viking influence. There was an absolutely gorgeous park with willow trees that looked like they must be a thousand years old. We then decided we had better eat breakfast, and went to the chain restaurant Weatherspoons which is where Dave works in Dereham. We had yummy traditional English breakfast with toast, fried tomato, beans, bangers, ham and hash browns (that were just like Arby's hash browns, my favorite!) I thought I'd never be able to finish it, but I gobbled most of it down. Apparently in England, restaurants don't typically do "doggie bags" like we do in America, so we have been trying to order only what we know we can eat in one sitting. 

Then it was off to walk a little more of the wall and see the rest of the city from above. This town, while it has a seemingly unusual number of pumped up, muscle-y jock types and women dressed as if they are going to the Grammy's in the middle of the afternoon (which Sam told us were all "hen parties", or in American parlance, bachelorette parties), it had the charm and variety and what seemed to be a wonderful balance of college town, big city and small town all rolled into one strange and wonderful place. That was exemplified by the next surprise that we stumbled upon: the town's soapbox derby races! This was such absolute fun that I don't think we could have planned a better topper to our trip to York than seeing loads of hilarious soapbox derby cars flying down the ramp and speedway, some crashing headlong into bales of hay or losing steam straight away. The pictures will speak for themselves!

(For some reason, I was only able to upload these few photos and no more. I've been having a lot of trouble getting the photos in so I'll add more photos from home, which is now only two days away!) 

The Cats of Dereham!

Introducing.....the cats of Dereham! 

Pippa

Pippa is a gorgeous little kitty with special needs morning and evening due to diabetes, she is super sweet and seemed to be always around, but not as attention-seeking as the others. 

Tia

The Princess. This sweet noodle seems to loved to be up on things in order to be the center of attention. Soft and slightly plump, she looks very similar to little Pippa. 

Reba

Reba is a huge Maine Coon, a sweet, gentle giant. He would always be sprawled out on the hallway landing, his head propped on the top stair, whenever I would come out in the night to wee (as they say here.) 

Khan

Khan is just like a tiny black panther. His tail was as fat a tail as I've ever seen on a kitty! If I could sneak away with any of these little babes, I would sneak away with this sleek and sturdy beauty.

And Kolo!

Kolo insisted on laying on the bed with us for awhile, but knowing he was locked into the room, he would abruptly jump over my head and launch for the door, just after everyone got comfortable, of course. He purrs like a freight train, and reminds me so much of Walter in both purr intensity and general disposition. If I remember correctly, this big boy weighs in at 26 pounds! Such a giant love! 

The crew demanding breakfast!

And look, their house has a little cupboard under the stairs just like in Harry Potter!

Beach Day

Friday was an absolutely wonderful day with the fam. Dave cooked us a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast with delicious, proper English tea. We decided to not push things too early since we were pooped and they don't have a particular fondness for mornings, we decided 11am was a decent leisurely morning together before setting out. Dave & Julie took us to a bustling beach town called Cromer, and Sam and his girlfriend AJ joined us for the journey. After several bus and train rides, we disembarked into the glorious sunshine, deciding lunch was in order before we made our way through the tangley town of Brits with their babes. We had traditional pies and mash in a little Mum & Pop kind of place called Shelley's Pie & Mash, and it was fantastic. I had the chicken and spring onion pie with plain mash & gravy while John tried the steak and mushroom pie, plain mash with liquor sauce (which is a really yummy sauce made with eel stock, parsley, spices and onions) and minty mashed peas. It was really nice to have a comforting meal with family away from home. I can be a bit of a traditionalist, believing that meals with family are one of the most important and bonding of all human rituals. After a friendly goodbye to the shop keepers, we meandered along the cobblestones (which are everywhere here) to the beaches where the North Sea kisses the sands. We all took off our shoes and let ourselves just enjoy the water's mild temperature and the sand between our toes. I asked the beach to reveal some rocks that I might take home as a link to this land, a place of other roots in my lineage, and several seemed to catch my eye. AJ had brought her bathing suit so she went for nice summer swim, even taking a waterproof camera to get some selfies among the waves! The big thing on this beach is crabbing. People get nets and buckets and chase tiny crabs to fetch from the waters and delight in the chase. It sounded like people just catch & release them since they are too tiny to eat, but the kids like to scoop them into the clear crabbing buckets and watch them. They even had those cool buckets shaped like castles for filling with sand, tipping over and making sand castles. I might need to buy one of those and do that at home! We strolled up and down the pier, watching the waves and seagulls and loads of people with their kids and dogs, stopping of course to shower the dogs with attention. Sam & AJ then bought us all ice cream cones (whippy's as they were called) and it was a lovely topper to the experience. 

We boarded the train home, then the bus, then Julie took us for a stroll in a park that was so thick and lush and far from the roadside noises and even hid a burbling stream. The park leads to her mum's house, Patricia is her name (same as my mum!), and she was so sweet and funny, fixing us a light supper of sandwiches, coleslaw, beets, cheeses, salad and loads of little cakes, and AJ had made delicious lemon cake, and we had tea and gabbed and listened to Dave and Patricia tease each other. Patricia takes care of people's dogs, so the dogs come to stay at her place while the people are away. She is caring for a darling white labrodoodle called Bella who was clearly relishing all the attention we lavished upon her. We hung out looking at photos and talking until Bella let us know it was her bedtime by laying her head on Patricia's lap and her sweet, tired eyes telling us she wanted to stretch out on her little blankie. Sam gave us a ride home, where we stayed up chatting over tea until we finally decided we had better turn in. Sam and AJ were to pick us up early next morning to make the 3 1/2 hour drive to York. 

Coming together for a simple day of family, fun, food, putting our feet in the North Sea, watching kids catch and release crabs, having ice cream cones and listening to the waves crash the shore and the seagulls squealing to rival the noise, and sharing meals with wonderfully kind and generous people...that did my soul so much good. It was the kind of day I have craved for a long time. 

Sam & AJ

Seagulls chilling at the North Sea

There is something about salty sea air!

Absolutely perfect weather

My dinner of chicken & sping onion, mash, gravy & elderflower soda

John's steak & mushroom pie, mash, liquor sauce & minty peas

A view above the pier

The little town

Clearly, we had too much fun with this thing!

Just the ladies...

The guys...

Trying out other bodies...

Such silly fun :) 

Bella!

All of us!

Travel Day to Norwich/Dereham

Wow, well, yesterday (Thursday) was a travel day from Satan's arsehole. I barely slept, so I knew that was going to hit me hard later. The flight from Oslo to London wasn't bad, just a couple of hours, and very pleasant. British Airlines is a lovely, traditional kind of flight service with food included and polite service. The captain's updates were very Britishly funny. We actually took off early which is perhaps the first time in the history of all flights on the planet that that has happened. From London airport, we jumped on the Picadilly Line tube (The Underground) to Holborn and it was bloody hot and it was about an hour's ride to our stop. But that was nothing compared to the second tube, the Central Line which we took Liverpool Street station and was sweltering and more packed than the Picadilly! Thankfully, that ride wasn't terribly long and we were soon attempting to cool off a bit as we grabbed a sandwich and a couple of train tickets to Norwich. Other than me losing my ability to be pleasant with the heat making me glisteny & pink (and once I go red, that's the end of my tether), things were looking good: not too long of a wait for the train, enough time to pee, yada yada yada. Then we board the train. And oh how we were mistaken that things could get no hotter than the tube. Ooooooh, so mistaken. The (2 hour) train to Norwich had broken down a/c, and no openable windows. The more people and wiggly, heat-generating little monkey children boarded the train, the hotter it got. This wasn't just heat, this was like shoveling coal and stoking the fires of hell's inferno for two solid hours. Our only respite, which wasn't a secret for long, was taking trips to the train joints or whatever it's called where you find the loos (oh, and I think I failed to mention that at least one of their toilets was out of order) and where you can open the windows to the exit doors. Standing there at just the right spot we found a little slice of bliss as the wind gushed forth. I mentioned it to one poor business man who was wearing a suit, and he came back for his briefcase after about 10 minutes and said, "Thanks for the tip. I'm not coming back here!" And off he went to bask in the glory of train wind. 

Finally we met Dave at the train station where the whole train bled out sweaty occupants emerging for air. We walked to meet Julie at the restaurant where we had dinner, and a sandwich and chips (French fries) with a 16 ounce side of Guinness never tasted so good. Catching up with them made all the hell of the train ride slip away and we had a really lovely evening. We stayed up late gabbing over tea, and though I was running on little more than a few hours sleep, it was worth it to hang out and eek out every minute of this reunion. It is still hard for me to sleep, I think because when it's midnight here it's 6pm at home, there's only so much I can jimmy my internal clock. 

Dereham is just a charming little town. We got the first tour of the town late after dark as we walked to their flat. More about Beach Day, introductions to the cats, Sam, AJ (Sam's gal pal) and Patricia (Julie's mum) tomorrow. I'm a day behind posting, so York is on schedule for tomorrow with Sam and AJ. So excited! But it's after 1 am, and we've set the alarms for 7. Send me wishes for snoozes! John is already sound asleep.

Love & hugs, R&J

Island Day

We completely overslept and missed frokost this morning. After getting to bed so late last night, we must've needed the sleep, but what a bummer to miss the "typisk norsk" (typical Norwegian) start to the day! So we fed our groggy selves some yummy yogurt with trail mix, bananas and got going by 11am. We didn't have a whole lot on the agenda for today, so it didn't spoil any plans. We took the tram down to the pier and based on Finn's recommendation, we hopped on the island ferry's that are included in the cost of the 2-day Oslo pass that we had purchased. There are many little islands within a few minutes boat ride from Oslo that are beautiful, natural havens with lots of trails for hiking, beaches for swimming, restaurants for eating and little communities of tiny houses! This is a big thing in Norway. They have summer houses here which are sometimes just little houses with all the amenities and yards (and goats!) and sometimes no more than a tiny shack in which to change into a bathing suit that sits on the edge of a dock right at the water's edge. (This is actually a very interesting and complicated thing, housing/property in Norway, but too rambly to go into here.) We took a long hike in the beautiful woods of the first island, listened to tree song that knows no language barrier, the squeal of giant seagulls, and ate lunch in a very sweet, little restaurant that had delicious food. We then ferried over to another island where we were able to walk right among all the tiny homes and meet the local goats. We had an absolutely lovely day! 

My feet gave up on me by the time we hit the pavement back in Oslo, so John helped me hobble home, and he ran out for a few little food items for supper. I'm now resting my feet and having a cup of tea. Earl Grey. Hot. :) Here are some snippets from our day:

Frokost, Oslo Fjordtur, Jazz & Prawns!

I woke this morning about 4:00am local time and could not fall back to sleep, even with the help of audio Norske Eventyr (Norwegian Folktales/Adeventures). John woke shortly after me, and after some morning snuggles and tea, we decided to take a nice, quiet walk-about before frokost (breakfast). We wandered a nearby park, admired all the tiny bolig (dwellings), making it all the way to Oslo sentrum. We took a leisurely stroll through the King's Park, which has loads of morning joggers, gorgeous old growth willow trees, huge ducks sleeping near the ponds and lots of lovely flowers everywhere. We meandered back past Coch's Pensjonet, past these now-familiar gatene (streets), we came back to Ellingsen's to enjoy a huge spread of smorbrod (literally: butter-bread, but means any sort of spread and fixin's on top of a single slice of bread or long cracker), yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, jellies & jams, pickles, soft boiled eggs, caviar in tubes (it's a very Norwegian thing, meats in tubes), leverpostei (liver pate), meat & cheeses, vegetables, home baked breads, coffee, teas, milks, juices and a charming back yard with flowers, bees, and a sweet little old lady who farted as she sat down next to us. 

Today was a lovely day of sun and fun in the city! We first went to City Hall, a very rich, ornate marble-y place with loads to see. I was first sucked in by the wooden carved art panels along the outside of the building that depict the Norse myths, so I snapped pics of each and every one, including the information panels which listed some interesting differences in the names and details of the myths that I had not heard before. I might have to make a special photo book for myself with those! The interior is really quite incredible, with painted walls, ceilings, massive weavings, and embroidered chairs with certain motifs of historical significance. We spent a long time there, taking some cool snapshots of everything, including the cool views of the fjord right out back. 

We then jumped on a ferry to the city of Bygdoy where many of the museums are located. We saw the Kon-Tiki museum and the Maritime museum where the ginormous Fram (a big, honkin' historical ship) is housed. It is astonishing to me that people choose to navigate the deep seas (and I'm a water-lover) but especially considering doing it in a raft or a boat made from reeds! I was so impressed to see a snippet of footage from the trip when a whale shark, about 60 feet long, was shown hovering around the tiny raft that stuck around for over an hour before one of the crew couldn't take it anymore and threw a spear at its head! I was impressed by something that Thor Heyerdahl said in one of the recorded interviews about the Kon-Tiki voyage; he commented on the feeling shared by the whole crew that being out at sea for 101 days, they felt as a part of the universe, a small and insignificant part of the world and simply identified with being human rather than any nationality. Imagine.

Our feet were fried after all the concrete walking, so we jumped on the tram back to Ellingsen's for a nice nap, snacks and freshened ourselves up for the evening's three-hour sailboat jazz cruise! What a flippin' amazing time! The boat was packed like sardines, and our social anxiety peaked when we realized we would actually have to talk to people, but we ended up having such a lovely conversation with the four other people we sat with, it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the night. We learned a lot more about Norwegian culture, thanks to the native Norwegian fellow, Finn, who clued us into a lot of interesting facts about real estate here in this expensive city, different kinds of brown cheese (yes, brown cheese is a thing here) and gave use some great tips on which little islands we should ferry to tomorrow. Two gals from Belgium and Finn's wife kept the evening jovial with their discussions, as well as the cutest 70 year dude who was celebrating his bursdag (birthday) and flirting with the ladies. There was boat load of prawns for supper, though I trust nothing with its eyes and disgestive system still intact, so I just had a piece of buttered bread. The jazz musicians made the tour an absolutely joyous and fun occasion, playing jazz favorites that kept the vessel rocking into the darkness. John, of course, knows and could probably play them all, and the whole group got very excited to learn John is a musician. The views of Oslo as the sun went down were very reminiscent of San Francisco, but there is something more to Norwegian land for us....our roots, part of them, stem from this place. This is one of the places where we are indigenous. That is why Norway sings to my soul, and also why England does. The weave of these lands lives inside my bones. 

Here are some fun pix from the day! 

Ha det! (See ya!)

Love & hugs, 

R&J 

Hei, Hei fra Oslo!

We navigated our way successfully through the Icelandic and Norwegian airline systems and have made it to our absolutely charming, friendly and comfortable B&B, Ellingsen's Pensjonet! Iceland Air was a very civilized airline to fly with, and there was zero drama with both flights today. I watched Beetlejuice on the flight to Reykjavik, and John made it about halfway through 2001 Space Odyssey. Neither of us were able to sleep very well, catching only a smattering of snoozes, making the rest of the journey quite tiring. Often at home, I have to listen to books on audio to get my mind to turn off "monkey mind mode", so I tried listening to Harry Potter to try to fall asleep. Though not much sleep was had, the view of incredible, fiery red sunsets and sunrises was our reward. The gal next to me, who (aggravatingly) slept soundly the entire flight, woke to see the sunrise and was in total awe. She exclaimed, "What IS that? Is that a volcano????" I couldn't help but smile. It can be so disorienting to see the world from above the clouds that so resemble the waves of the sea, and the backdrop of an explosion of intense orange, I can see why she was confused. Some sun shows are so otherworldly, they are barely believed even when seen! (See our posts from Orr & Ely, MN for more of that!) Iceland's landscape was so reminiscent of the Jotenheim area of Norway that we saw via train on our last trip. Vast, overcast skies complimented the lonely, mossy, desolate landscape that unfolded for miles and miles beneath it. We tried to snap a selfie with the gorgeous backdrop, but I think we just got a bunch of airplane machinery in the background! D'oh!

Having honored the needs of my teensy-ass bladder all the way by avoiding almost all liquids and making automatic pit stops whether needed or not (they were ALWAYS needed) it made our walks and waiting times much easier. Incidentally, coffee and liquor is off-limits for me during the entirety of this trip. I will be having Earl Grey or Mint tea with cream instead. Nobody's coffee is as good as what John fixes at home, anyway, so it is really no loss for me! We made sure to order food on the planes, even though it was extra, and that was fortunate because by the time we made our way through all the planes, trains and trams, we stumbled into our Pensjonet and utterly crashed with exhaustion. We woke around 5pm Norge time, we went for a walk about, then stopped at the grocery store to feed our intense hunger from so long a while between feedings! We ended up at the grocery store where we shopped the last time we were here, and went right by Coch's Pensjonet sans all the horrible ripped up road construction we endured last visit. We realized with a pang, however, that Kafe Kaffe is no longer in existence :( I was SOOOO looking forward to their spread of smorbrod!! (FYI-I don't have Norwegian characters on this keyboard.) Ah well, we decided on simplicity: sub sandwiches with cheese, salami, pesto spread with potato salad, potato chips and chocolate chip cookies. And we picked up some of the incredible Norwegian yogurt that puts anything dairy in our country to utter shame. It is like eating a creamy, sweet cloud of delicious heaven. You come here, you try the whole milk, PLAIN yogurt. It needs no sweetener, it needs nothing, but it really is fantastic with trail mix stirred into it. I even ordered the cultures to make this yogurt strain at home, but my first try didn't work out too well, and the second packet of cultures is still in the freezer and probably too old, but I think I would need to invest in a yogurt heater to do it properly. (If you're into that sort of thing, you can order specific cultures from Cultures for Health's website.)

Anyway, I am going to sign off and let John upload our photos and call my Mummy. And tonight, we will sleep in this glorious bed with these super-soft pillows that I must have at home! Will post more tomorrow! 

Love to all, 

R&J 

We miss the furbabies!!! 

Flying to Reykjavik

On the Tarmac at Reykjavik

Ellingsen's Pensjonet

Oslo, Dereham, York & London

Another trip is on the horizon! Sunday we leave for the gloriously cooler temps of Oslo, Norway, home of John's ancestors! (My peeps hailed from the Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim areas, supposedly.) It seems to have been a really agonizing wait for this trip, so we are very excited to be finally setting off to the sleek, cosmopolitan city of Oslo to see some things we missed last time, and visit some favorite spots like Kafe Kaffe and Frognerparken. I am hoping to be brave enough to use my newly acquired Norwegian language skills to at least order a hot dog or say "Hello, how much do two train tickets to Oslo cost?" As a matter of interest, that would be: "Hei, Hei! Hvor mye koster to toget billeter til Oslo?" After stuffing ourselves with as much pølse and smørbrød as we can in Norway, we will head to Dereham, England to visit John's eldest brother, Dave, his wife Julie, and her son Sam. We are super excited to be able to visit family abroad, and even though Dave has warned us that showing us their little town will be quite brief, it's more about hanging out with them and meeting their numerous cats! Sam has offered to drive us around York, and as it was a big Viking settlement, I can nerd out on all the things named for Thor in the city. From there, we hit London and will be checking out the Royal Observatory at Greenwich (AND where the movie Thor: The Dark World was filmed (ahem!)), visit Platform 9-3/4 at the King's Cross tube station (heck yeah, Harry Potter fans), check out the standing stones at Avebury for a chill daytrip, and we have tickets to see Macbeth at the freaking GLOBE THEATRE!!!! On our honeymoon, we bought a Globe brick to help fund the new Globe Theatre, and it was the first document we had with our names as a married couple (me having taken his name but not having time to change my passport or I.D.'s before our trip.) I am so excited to see a live production at the Globe, and especially Macbeth. I've only seen it once live, in an incredible Shakespeare in the Park performance on a full moon night, and just as the Wyrd Sisters were chanting their famous incantations, I'm not even shitting you, on this perfectly clear night, a swirl of creepy ass dark clouds materialized right above the stage as they were dancing around in goat's skulls. That is some serious conjure! I snapped a photo, though it does the epic scene no justice. 

Stay tuned as we embark on another exciting Hobbity adventure! Woot!

We'll miss these sweet nutters!




See you next post :)
Love & hugs (kjærlighet og klemmer),
R&J