Cool things to do in Oslo

That's us home from Norway and havng a cup of tea before bedtime. As I look back on our weekend I must mention the cool places that Ally took us in the evenings.

On Friday we were too tired to go out because of our early start that morning, but on Saturday after dinner Alasdair took us to Andy's Sports Bar on Karl Johann gate. There were big screens where a football match was being shown (Juventus v Atalanta I think) The three of us chatted and watched the football and it was all very pleasant. However when the football finished the resident pianist started playing his repertoire and all the punters started singing along and dancing, it was great fun. The music was mainly 1980s and 90s favourites - Van Morrison, Dire Straits etc so we knew all the words and joined in too. It was a great atmosphere and we could see that the Norwegians know how to enjoy themselves! 

On Sunday evening Ally decided to take us to a jazz club called Blå (pronounced blow) which is beside the river not far from the city centre. I had my doubts about this because I was quite tired and he said that it was standing only. However we went along to give it a try and it turned out to be absolutely amazing. It's just one dark room with an outside bar area and when we arrived the music was in full swing. The band was called Frank Znort and there were about a dozen of them crowded onto the small stage. The music was great and we were all dancing; I don't know anything about jazz but I think it was a mix of styles because lots of the band members took turns singing, and their voices were all really good but different, and I recognised some songs and not others. There was a guy called The Chef who I thought was very good and jazzy in a Cab Calloway sort of way, but they were all brilliant. It was definitely the coolest evening ever! 

Views from Akerhus

James says that my blog posts for the last two days have consisted mainly of lists of the places we have visited, and I see what he means. However it's hard not to fall into that format when I am visiting lots of exciting new places! 

Today Ally slept in and was a bit late meeting us at our hotel. We told him that he just can't keep up with us oldies!

We didn't try to do too much on our last morning, and instead spent our time strolling around the ramparts of Oslo's castle, Akerhus, which overlooks the town and provided beautiful views on this warm, sunny autumn morning. There was a wee visitor centre which related tales of some of the most notorious prisoners during the castle's many years as a prison. My favourite was a fellow who escaped lots of times to commit more crimes. Finally he was imprisoned in chains in a tiny cell with several guards outside. The next morning, imagine the guards' surprise when they opened the door of the cell to find ...... The information board stops there but I presume that the slippery customer had escaped again! Up at the top of the castle was the Norwegian Resistance Museum which was excellent. The unprepared Norwegians had managed to fight off the German troops for 62 days in 1940, before they were defeated, and they bravely continued resisting the Nazis for the rest if the war. The "Shetland Bus" was mentioned - we have of course visited the other end of that wartime route! 

A short walk took us back to our hotel to collect our suitcases, and thence to the station. Alasdair shepherded us safely to the airport express train and we said our farewells. I was so sad to say goodbye to him, it has been such a great weekend and he has shown us a really good time. 

A bit of drama awaited us at the airport. Some sort of mix up with our tickets that I still don't fully understand meant that we couldn't drop off our cases. Even though we had already checked in online the lady at the luggage drop off insisted that we were not properly checked in! After various phone calls we finally got approved and had to RUN for our plane - we were the last on board! We have just had dinner in the BA lounge at Heathrow (fancy!) and we are about to board our flight to Glasgow. 

A day in Oslo with Ally

Today Ally took us out and about in Oslo. First we went to the Bygdøy peninsula which is a short bus ride from the centre of Oslo. It's very pretty and peaceful with beautiful white painted wooden houses and sandy beaches. First we went to the Vikinghus museum which houses three Viking funeral ships which were found buried on nearby farms. I was surprised at this because I had thought that the Vikings used to set fire to their funeral ships as they drifted out to sea. It was really interesting; although any gold and jewellery had been plundered long ago, there were great and well preserved artefacts like intricately carved animal heads, and even a pair of soft leather ankle boots which looked both comfy and stylish! Then it was a short walk to the Kon Tiki museum. James and I knew a bit about Thor Heyerdal from our youth but the exhibition told us so much more. Alasdair on the other hand knew nothing about him - he does now! We watched part of the 1949 documentary (introduced by Richard Dimbleby puffing away on his pipe!) and then looked at the Kon Tiki itself - amazing! 

We then went to the beach further along the peninsula and looked across at Oslo and the islands. It was warm and sunny and there were lots of families having picnics and barbecues. 

Back in the city we had a look at the Royal Palace and its gardens then walked down Karl Johann gate before turning off to the town hall. This controversial modernist building (the people of Oslo at first didn't like its red brick design) hosts the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. It's rather lovely inside with lots of murals, a painting by Munch (the tree of life) and views out to sea. 

From there we walked to the harbour and hopped onto the inter island ferry (which was included in our seven day travel pass) and thus had a tour around the fjord. The islands have brightly painted houses on them and are popular for sailing and day trips. Our boat trip also gave us a rest after all our walking!

Our last visit of the day was the Opera House. It's a modern building made of white stone with lots of glass. We walked up the slope which leads onto the roof and walked around looking at the views of the harbour and the city as the sun started to get lower in the sky. What a great way to spend a Sunday! 

A walk in the woods

I love Oslo! Although we didn't spend much of today in the city. Instead we did what the Norwegians do on a sunny Saturday in September and went for a walk in the forest. We took the train to Sognsvann station which was two minutes walk from a lake. It was nice to see lots of families out cycling, walking, fishing and even swimming. We walked to Ullevålseter which was about 6 km along beautiful forest paths beside which passed several more lovely lakes. We heard and then saw a brightly coloured woodpecker pecking away high up on a pine tree. We arrived at an attractive wooden hostelry at Ullevålseter where we had a coffee sitting outside in the sunshine. It is used as a ski restaurant in the winter and there are photos inside it showing it surrounded by snow and skiers, which was hard to imagine today! Norway has lots of cross country skiing and as we continued our walk we passed lots of trails. Today however they were mainly being used by cyclists and walkers. We also saw several people on "roller skis" with cross country bindings toiling up the hill - the Norwegians are certainly keen on fitness. We walked another 6 km or so to Holmenkollen where we saw a couple of ski jumps; the biggest one was scarily huge and there were people zip-wiring down it. From here we saw gorgeous views across Oslo. We got a train back into town and then went to Viegelandsparken, an amazing park filled with really interesting statues of people some of which were quite disturbing but still somehow beautiful. It seemed to be all about the different stages of human life and experience. In the centre was a huge stone monolith made up of human bodies, it is stunning. The park also had fountains, elegant paths and a huge rose garden. I could have stayed there all day. We still haven't visited any of the city's plentiful museums yet but I feel we should make the most of the good weather because the next time we visit it will probably be winter.

Dining al fresco in Oslo

Alasdair met us on the platform at Oslo Sentral station and it was just lovely to see him! He has had his hair cut very short! After checking in to our hotel we took the train to his flat in Bjølsen so that he could put the haggis he requested in the fridge there. It's a really nice area with a river and views down to the sea. It was strange to sit in his room which is already familiar to us from Skype! 

We took the bus back into town and Ally took us on a walking tour of central Oslo. We saw the government building which was badly damaged in the bombing three years ago. The gunman then went on to massacre young people at a summer camp on the island of Utøya a couple of hours later. Outside the building is a newspaper display case from the day of the bombing, its glass still shattered and the news from the day of the bombing still pinned inside. It was very moving; the moment of violence preserved in the broken glass.

We walked along Karl Johanns Gate, which is the main shopping street, and then cut down to the sea front and walked along to Aker Brygge, the harbour area, which has lots of bars and restaurants. We arrived at the far end of the harbour in time to watched the sun setting as we looked down the fjord. By this time it was about 7 o'clock so we chose a restaurant where we had a very pleasant meal. It was a fine evening so we were able to sit outside; the chairs had sheepskins or thick woolly blankets draped over them to keep us warm. There were also some radiant heaters which made it quite cosy, but even so I think that the Norwegians must be nearing the end of the season for dining out of doors! On the way back to the hotel we heard shouting and then passed a demonstration (which was being closely monitored by the local constabulary) by some Kurdish people against the I.S. (Islamic State) which is of course very topical because today the U.K. Government has voted to join in air strikes against I.S. extremists in Iraq. Will we make things better or worse by our intervention though? I don't know. As it happens my current book is "Hard Choices" by Hillary Clinton which is an interesting tale of international relations from the American point of view.  

 

Three breakfasts

I'm sitting in the BA lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 where, if I wished, I could be consuming my fourth breakfast of the morning. My first breakfast was my usual porridge with blueberries at home, albeit at the unusually early hour of 5 a.m. My second breakfast was potentially in the BA lounge at Glasgow where many pastries were on offer, however I only had a coffee. Then my third breakfast was on the flight to London, and this I did consume "because it was there". And my fourth breakfast is laid out before me for my delectation here in the lounge - cooked breakfast, bacon rolls, pastries etc. However my tummy is already a bit twitchy after three cups of coffee and I'm not in the least bit hungry, so I am not partaking of it. It seems a waste though!

We are on our way to visit our boy Ally in Oslo and I can't wait to see him.

* Update ten minutes later. I have succumbed to a bowl of cereal, fruit and yoghurt with yet another coffee. I have no idea why.

Moving On Together

Well the referendum is over and the majority voted to stay in the Union. 2 million voted No and 1.6 million voted Yes. It was quite exciting waking up to the news on Friday morning, because it was a big deal; I have never felt so directly affected by politics. However I am now thoroughly bored of the endless analysis and arguments that have followed. Let's move on.
As soon as school finished on Friday I set off to the Pentlands for the last Duke of Edinburgh expedition of the season. It was a lovely weekend with my Dukey friends, and after some rain on Saturday morning the weather was warm and sunny. I had an unfortunate fall on my way back from the toilet block in the dark on Saturday evening; I was in the process of switching on my torch when I tripped up a step and found myself rolling along the ground. It was very scary but I escaped with a skinned knee and a grazed hand. The main excitement on Sunday was finding a crepe van at Harlaw Reservoir visitor centre. We have never seen one there before and I was soon enjoying a delicious coffee and a chocolate crepe - luxury!

Scotland Decides

Well the polls have now closed and the votes will be counted overnight. By breakfast time we will know whether to people of Scotland have voted Yes or No to Independence. This is such an important day for our country! I have butterflies in my tummy. I normally never disclose what I have voted, but this is such a unique occasion that I will state for the record that I have voted No. The general opinion seems to be that it will be a Yes to Independence, and there was a huge SNP rally in George Square last night which seemed to be more like a victory celebration.
In other news Grandma's 85th birthday was on Sunday and we went out for a family lunch with Grandma, Forrest, Marjory and family to the Piersland Lodge Hotel in Troon, scene of many Anderson family celebrations over the years. The meal was pleasant and we had birthday cake before going for a walk on the beach. I think that Grandma really enjoyed her birthday.

Intimidated

I have been quiet on this blog recently. Things are going sort of ok at work. My new management colleague is very pleasant and always has my back, he understands the issues of Autism and is very supportive; we work well as a team. The other side of this coin is that he has other responsibilities in the wider school, and is disinclined to doing the huge amount of departmental planning, timetabling and other admin, so my workload is still ridiculously large. 

Meanwhile Davie has started Freshers week at UWS and is loving it so far. Cat is in Oslo visiting Ally, and Jamie is working 70 hour weeks as a very junior doctor.
Yesterday would have been Jack's 17th birthday (and Jill's too of course) which made me a bit sad. But as James pointed out, he probably didn't enjoy being deaf and getting weaker even though he won't have understood why. He had a good life.
Last night Heather and Ewan came for dinner and we had a pleasant evening chatting about all sorts. Inevitably the referendum came up, things are really hotting up as the vote is next Thursday and it is on everyone's minds. As good and long-standing friends I felt comfortable chatting about it in their company.
But I was in town at lunchtime yesterday to meet friends and I found the atmosphere rather intimidating - the Yes voters were out in force and (in my opinion) very aggressive; there was shouting and swearing. I don't mean to sound prissy but I do find that quite scary. No wonder they seem in the majority, I think a lot of people who will vote No are frightened of saying anything in case they get shouted at and made to feel unpatriotic. But I think you can be a patriot without being a nationalist. And I think that the quiet, intimidated majority may vote No. We will soon find out!

An evening at the Museum and a night at the hospital

After the Ayrshire Air Show James and I had a quick turnaround because we were going out in the evening to a concert at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. We quickly got changed, collected Grandma, and arrived in good time for a pre-concert drinks reception in the French Gallery - very nice! The concert was great with a lively and varied programme; Rossini's William Tell overture, several arias by Puccini, and music from Bizet's Carmen. There was also Verdi's overture to The Force of Destiny, Tchaikovsky's fantasy overture to Romeo and Juliet and my personal favourite which was the intermezzo sinfonico from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. I enjoyed every minute of it; the hall at the Art Galleries was a beautiful setting.
Grandma seemed to be enjoying herself too, but we didn't realise until we were at the concert that she was wearing a scarf wrapped round one of her hands to disguise an injured finger which had blood leaking through the bandage. It turned out that earlier in the day she had shut her finger in the door of a taxi, it must have been very sore. When we got home Jamie took a look at it and advised an immediate visit to A & E because the was very discoloured and swollen with a gaping cut in the side. He didn't want to wait because of the possibility of infection. Jamie and I took her there and waited for ages but it was worth it because she got an x ray (no break luckily) and had it properly cleaned and dressed. Grandma was very brave even though I could tell it hurt her a lot. When we got back down the road it was the middle of the night and we were absolutely exhausted. We made sure that Grandma was tucked into bed before going home.

Ayrshire Air Show 2014

The newly revived Ayrshire Air Show was a triumph yesterday. There were at least 50,000 people there and the organisers must have been relieved and delighted by both the crowds and the beautiful weather. This was the first Prestwick Air Show for 22 years; James and I used to go every year and we were there in 1989 when a Hawker Sea Fury had to ditch into the sea when it's wheels wouldn't go down properly. The pilot parachuted out and was fine.
The air show was small in scale compared to Leuchars Air Show, which ended forever last year much to the lamenting of the Anderson boys! The flying display was only from 2 - 5 instead of all day, and there were no big military planes, it was mostly just wee acrobatic planes, with the finale provided by the Vulcan bomber. However the flying was very good, and the commentators and crowds were enthusiastic and appreciative. The Blades acrobatic formation team were excellent too. The setting of the display over the sea was absolutely beautiful and the planes seemed to come rather alarmingly close to the crowd - I'm sure that they were kept further away at Leuchars.
It was lovely that Jamie was able to be there as well as Davie; only Oslo boy Ally was missing. The whole day was great fun.