This was part of our recent visit to London. We left at noon on Friday, arrived London at 3.30. From Victoria we went straight to the flat and relaxed and listened to some CDs I had taken with me until Aquiles got home from work. He then cooked for us and we watched a funny dvd which had him in fits of laughter that I had brought with me. Have you ever seen The Emperor's New Groove? It's absolutely hilarious and set in Peru.
Saturday morning I was up first at 4 am and managed to get the others up soon after. I had allowed half an hour to get to Waterloo but what with having to run for a bus and very little traffic we were there by ten past five and didn't need to check in until five to six. The time soon passed though and then we were on our way. Eurostar trains are really comfortable and fast and the experience was new for Aquiles. But he was fast asleep even before the train left the station so didn't know much about the journey. There were two stops on route at Ashford in Kent and then again in Lille, France. I slept the first part of the journey as well, only waking up after we had emerged from the tunnel, and the countryside scene was very different on the other side - snowy landscapes that were even more snow enhanced when we crossed from France into Belgium.
We arrived in Brussells at 9 am our time, 10 am theirs, and a very helpful security guard gave us all the info we needed to get ourselves into the centre of town. I had the opportunity to use my rusty French and managed just about to get myself understood. It's amazing that I understand French so perfectly but struggle so much with speaking it ever since learning Spanish. We bought all day travel cards for the underground trains or subway or metro as it is known by there. They ran out of tickets after I had bought mine so while Ann and Aquiles waited to get theirs from a ticket machine I ascertained which line we had to travel on and even helped some other people on their way who were unsure of directions.
We didn't have to wait long for a train and 9 stations later we got off at Plaza Rogier which was right in the heart of the commerical district. Although no snow was evident in the streets it was incredibly cold and I sure was glad I had worn my fleece overcoat and had brought along scarf and gloves. Aquiles’ first priority was to look for a nice place to eat, not having had any breakfast, and it took quite a while as the food outlets in the shopping areas mainly offered burgers, pizzas, doner kebab or other fast foods and we wanted something nicer than that. We eventually decided to have cous cous which was a mistake as it was one of the worst cous cous I have ever had and Aquiles wasn't too impressed. I chose Tagine for Ann knowing she would prefer that but somehow they missed her dish when cooking our order, which meant by the time she finally got it we had nearly finished ours, so all in all our first eating experience in Belgium was a bit of a disappointment.
We then spent the rest of the day walking and exploring, seeing some of the sights and shopping. For me the best shopping experience was the supermarkets - with so much delicious food on offer, wide variety of interesting beers etc, I could not resist buying lots of things - assorted beers, goose, venison and duck pate, two types of spicy sausages, jamon serrano, chorizo, cream cheese flavoured with peperoni and paprika, three different types of cheese, chilli flavoured anchovies, a mountain produced sauccison for Colin plus other things for him as well. We came across a Christmas market where I bought some fantastic perfume destined for someone as a Christmas present (and wished I could afford more than one it was so nice!), plus further presents for Mum and Colin. We also enjoyed hot spicy gluewein there. In one huge square there were spheres like giant bubbles with Christmas scenes inside which were really impressive, surrounded as they were by ancient buildings. In another was the largest nativity scene I have ever seen - we took a couple of photos in front of it. The weather was the worst part as at times it rained and other times it snowed, and one's face felt frozen with the cold. It is definitely several degrees colder in Belgium than it is in England.
Later in the afternoon we came across a street full of sea food restaurants with fantastic set menus on offer and the patrons outside persuading people to enter (something very reminiscent of Cusco, Peru). We didn't need much persuading, even though we were not terribly hungry. The dancing flames of a gas log effect fire on top of a pedestal and under a canopy in the centre of each restaurant was also inducive to persuading us to enter. It was heaven to sit down after walking so many hours, only a couple of feet away from the flames and by the window so we could watch the passing scene outside. We lingered there for a couple of hours enjoying the warmth. The fish soup was out of this world, and our main courses and desserts were equally as delicious. The patron had given each of us a complimentary drink, a kind of sweet rose wine which was delicious too. Definitely on a future visit to Brussells I will make my way there as I got them to write down the name of restaurant and street for future reference. (Restaurant “Le Petit Bruxelles”, Rue des Bouchers 4, 1000 Bruxelles).
By the time we left there it was time to make our way back to Le gare du Midi. Luckily I remembered the destinations at each end of the line we had to take (Simonez towards town, Clemenceau towards the station) and we got back without difficulty and found where to check in. There was another supermarket below the station so we ended up buying more goodies, in my case more beer. In the end it was a struggle to carry everything - Aquiles had taken a rucksack which converted to a mini case on wheels. Definitely on a future visit to Belgium I will take something similar as I would have bought even more things had I not been limited by the amount I could comfortably carry. Luckily there was room for a bottle of wine and beer in his rucksack and Ann also helped me carry some of my things on this occasion.
All in all it was a great day out, made even better by having Aquiles with us who is such a fun person and we were having a good laugh all day long. We are going to do the Paris Eurostar trip again in the summer and take him with us. On the train journey home we mostly slept as we were absolutely exhausted. Back on English soil we were phoned by a friend saying that an andean band were playing in North London, but even that failed to revive me enough to want to venture out again once we got home! We arrived back at Waterloo at 10 pm, and were back at the flat by 10.30 where all we wanted to do was relax. Toti had cooked a delicious supper for us and we shared some of the lush Leffe beer that I'd brought back, and then we rounded off the evening by watching another dvd I had brought with us, The Secret of the Andes, an intriguing adventure story set in Peru with andean music soundtrack. I was sound asleep long before it ended though!
Next day it was another early start and we caught the 9 am bus from Victoria which got us back to Bristol at 11.15 where Colin picked us up and we got home again just in time for picking up Mary and going to our usual pub for lunch. All in all a great weekend!
Monday, December 19, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
Andean music in Bath
Twice in the past two weeks we have had the unexpected treat of andean music in Bath. On Saturday 29 October Dante, Diomedes, Paco and his sister Paloma came to Bath and we were able to enjoy their music and dancing all day. I put the band up overnight as well so had the pleasure of their company in the evening as well as the following morning. Unfortunately it rained heavily that Sunday which resulted in them returning to London - otherwise I would have spent a good part of the day over in Bristol listening to them play there. You will find 9 photos taken that day below this note.
And only two weeks later we enjoyed yet more live andean music in Bath shopping centre. This time it was Chano with Diomedes and a Peruvian from Apurimac. Chano lives in Cusco but pays flying visits to England several times a year. It was so lovely to see him again and both Ann and I had big smiles on our faces when we were given the latest Feeling CD which is just out. Their music is a mix of south and north American music and they dress in the appropriate costumes and dance as well. They are a real treat to listen to and watch. Photos from this second visit will appear here in a week or so.
Chano is a musical director as well as an excellent musician in his own right. He appears regularly on Peruvian television and handles many other musicians, many of them famous ones such as William Luna and others. He was musical director on both Feeling CDs as well as Amaru III's 'Inkapaches' and Juan Herrara's Pachamerika 'The Invisible Seed'.
And only two weeks later we enjoyed yet more live andean music in Bath shopping centre. This time it was Chano with Diomedes and a Peruvian from Apurimac. Chano lives in Cusco but pays flying visits to England several times a year. It was so lovely to see him again and both Ann and I had big smiles on our faces when we were given the latest Feeling CD which is just out. Their music is a mix of south and north American music and they dress in the appropriate costumes and dance as well. They are a real treat to listen to and watch. Photos from this second visit will appear here in a week or so.
Chano is a musical director as well as an excellent musician in his own right. He appears regularly on Peruvian television and handles many other musicians, many of them famous ones such as William Luna and others. He was musical director on both Feeling CDs as well as Amaru III's 'Inkapaches' and Juan Herrara's Pachamerika 'The Invisible Seed'.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Wilbert1
Wilbert and his Norwegian wife when they came to dinner during my visit. Wilbert is from Arequipa, Peru and is a musician in his spare time.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Norway in October with Linda, Reidun, Jon and Libo
On October 12th I flew to Norway to spend a week in the home of my Norwegian penfriend Linda and I had a really wonderful time. After an uneventful flight with Ryan Air which arrived on time, I could see Linda, Reidun and John awaiting me as I reached Arrivals and waved to them as I approached and right from that first moment where I received such a lovely welcome I knew it was going to be a super week with really lovely people.
It was almost 10 pm and it was almost an hour’s drive down the motorway to their home in Drammen but the time passed quickly as we had so much to talk about. On arrival at Drammen Jon offered to do a quick tour of the town so that I could see it, pointing out the key places of interest, and this was most enjoyable. Afterwards we were wending up the hill to their home and soon at home where Reidun got busy putting a meal on the table for us and Linda showed me my room and I quickly sorted out the gifts I had brought - 4 bottles of wine and various Peruvian items, handbags for Linda and Reidun, purses etc for the menfolk. I knew they would be pleased with the Peruvian items as they are all really fond of andean music like me - that was how we got to know each other in the first place, because of our mutual love of andean music. We enjoyed the meal, all of us chattering nineteen to the dozen. I was delighted that they all spoke such good English as I did not know even one word of Norwegian!!! Finally we all went to bed pretty late, having planned to spend time in Drammen next day.
Next morning after a nice breakfast Linda, Jon and I set off by car to see something of their town. One of the most memorable things we did that day was to enter a spiral tunnel which was cut into the mountain, spiralling up and up until eventually we came out on top of the mountain where we parked the car. This was the gateway to various walks in the forest but our plan that day was to see the views over Drammen from such a great vantage point. We took some photos even though it was a hazy day and these are included on the photos which follow this story.
Then we made our way back down and Jon drove us to show me some ancient drawings that date back to the third millennium before Christ, protected by iron railings and yet more of these ancient drawings at another location nearer home. These were of moose, fishes etc and it is said that the ancient magic invoked in these drawings still lingers today. Then Jon dropped us in the town saying he would collect us again later, and Linda and I headed for the church where Linda sings in the choir. As we walked in the organist was practising and the atmosphere was lovely. We took a couple of photos and had a good look around the church whilst listening to the music.
Once outside again we spent some time in the town, looking at the shops and the centre, etc. I was quite shocked at the high prices of everything generally - for example I was thinking of buying a rubber gadget which one puts on ones shoes when there is snow on the ground to prevent one slipping down, until I realized they were £20!!!! I was sure I had seen something similar back home for a quarter of that price. We came across an icecream parlour in the shopping centre so enjoyed some icecream. It was really nice too - I was well impressed with Norwegian icecream. Although the day started hazy, the mist gradually lifted throughout the day and the sun was shining. It was much better weather than I had anticipated, especially after Linda’s snow joke where she sent a photo of her house half buried in snow - a December rather than an October photo!!! I bought some postcards to write and send the next day and eventually we met Jon again and went home for a late lunch which was a Norwegian dish Reidun had prepared especially for me - made with lamb, potatoes and cabbage and was really delicious. The name of this dish is Farikal. We spent the rest of the day indoors and later I met Libo, Linda’s husband, when he came home from work, and he downloaded the digital photos we had taken that day so that I could send some to my family. Libo is from Shanghai and we have a plan that in a couple of years time when they go to Shanghai again I will be accompanying them. That will be really exciting because I have never been to the Far East. Later in the day Reidun produced a delicious chocolate cake that she had made and we all thoroughly enjoyed this with coffee - see the recipe at the end of this story.
The following day we were up early and got the bus outside the house and got off in the town by the railway station. As we approached some young men were selling hot waffles and coffee and we decided to partake, this being a typical Norwegian snack that is very popular. We quickly bought the train tickets and then enjoyed the waffles with loganberry jam, and just had time to buy some sandwiches for the journey and then we were on our way. I enjoyed the trip through the Norwegian countryside which seemed quite similar to England with the green fields and animals peacefully grazing apart from all the fir trees and the alpine style of the houses (which is incredibly pretty).
An hour later we arrived in Oslo where we would be spending two days. Libo works for a hotel chain which is owned by an 80 year old man who still works 12 hour days and is hard at work each day from 6 am. The hotel chain is Thor Hotels which have just been renamed - they were formerly Royal Hotels. As part of the name change, free hotel accommodation was offered to all hotel employees and Libo was able to transfer this to his wife and me, and we were looking forward to our overnight stay in such a nice hotel. We couldn’t check in until noon so didn’t head for the hotel until then. We began our sightseeing with a walk up through the middle of the town to visit the royal palace. It was a bright sunny day with blue skies and we took some nice photos of the palace and of the guards outside and the children who were so thoroughly fascinated with the guards, asking them hundreds of questions. The view down over the town was really good from here. We then went walking and visited a few shopping areas, and found a nice icecream parlour where we enjoyed huge dishes of icrecream and icy cold drinks. Linda showed me a favourite restaurant of hers where Eastern and Western food is available and we decided we would have dinner there in the evening. Later we went to the town hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year. Normally this is open to visitors every day but unfortunately not that day as something else was going on. Later we came across an Indian restaurant and decided to have lunch there as Linda had never prevously tasted Indian food and we both enjoyed the buffet lunch that was on offer.
After this late lunch we made our way to the hotel. All morning we had been travelling around on the brilliant tram system, which is something really different for me as there are no trams in England. Soon we were checked into our room which was very comfortable with a nice bathroom, television, fridge bar etc. We then set off sightseeing again and got the tram to a famous park which contains nearly 200 nude statues all carved by one man, the most famous of which is the angry boy. The weather was glorious and we spent a great couple of hours in the park and took photos. Everything looked so beautiful with the autumn colours of the trees, the bright blue sky, rose bushes still flowering etc. Later we looked at more shops and I bought some spices needed for the Peruvian meal I would be cooking on Sunday, and a bottle of Argentinian wine for us to share back at the hotel later. We ended up in a nice bar in the shopping centre for a drink before making our way to the restaurant for dinner. The bar prices were alot higher than in England at £8 for a small diet coke and a glass of wine half the size I am used to back home!!! At the restaurant Linda chose an Eastern dish and I chose Western and then we headed back to the hotel about 8.30 pm. We spent the evening playing Scrabble, a game I had brought with me from England to teach her, and we had a glass of wine each.
Next morning we went down to breakfast just before 10 am, and enjoyed the lovely buffet food on offer - delicious smoked ham, cheeses, muesli, cherry yoghurt drink, hot bread rolls, scrambled eggs and delicious coffee. We had until noon to vacate the room and were not meeting Jon and Reidun until about then so managed to squeeze in two more games of Scrabble before checking out and taking the tram to the harbour where we were meeting them. The harbour looked lovely, with restaurants lining the waterfront and people enjoying the warm sunshine and taking drinks in the open air. When Jon and Reidun arrived we went straight to the car as the next items on our agenda were visiting two museums that they knew would be of great interest to me.
The first was the Viking ships museum where there are three Viking ships on display, dug up after being buried 1000 years, complete with the burial tomb of a Viking king from one of them. One of them was in amazing condition, having been buried in blue clay which had preserved it beautifully. I was very impressed with the intricate carvings on the prow and the amazing workmanship of the shipbuilders 1000 years ago. We took some great photos of all three ships and read all the history attached to their retrieval from the ground back in 1905. Before leaving the museum Reidun bought me a book about the viking ships which I will look forward to reading very soon.
Afterwards we went to the Kontiki museum - the museum founded by the Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, who in 1947 built a balsa raft and sailed 5000 miles (8000 km) from Lima, Peru, to Polynesia, just to prove the indians so long ago had been able to do this. The raft followed the Humboldt current and the trip took them around 60 days. Looking at the actual raft they sailed on it was amazing to realise that such a tremendous adventure had a satisfactory conclusion. We could watch a film of the expedition on dvd - which was televised back in 1947 - and we read about the trip and several other trips Thor undertook on balsa and tortura (reed) boats from various other locations around the globe. One was able to realise what an amazingly exciting life he must have led. The museum is being kept going by his two sons and a similar trip is being planned by his grandson, leaving on the same date 28 April 2006 (his grandad departed Lima on 28 April 1947) - and this proposed trip will include the satellite technology on board so that the whole adventure can be followed online until its conclusion. I will definitely look forward to following that adventure with relish! This balsa raft will be built with Ecuadorian balsa wood from the Galapagos islands.
In the late afternoon we drove back from Oslo to Drammen, stopping at a supermarket before home as I would be cooking for seven of us the following day and wanted to get thenecessary ingredients for it. I brought the Peruvian spices from home to cook Adobe de Chancho because Libo’s friend at the hotel where he works is a Peruvian guy from Arequipa named Wilbert and he would be coming on Sunday with his Norwegian wife Marta, and I thought it would be fun to serve up a Peruvian dish for them as a surprise. For tea Reidun cooked a delicious norwegian soup called Lapskaus made from Pork and vegetables and we enjoyed two bowls each of this with Norwegian flatbread. During the evening we watched the DVD of a film called ‘The Emperor’s Groove’ which was about an Inca who was turned into a llama and was an incredibly funny film. We were all in fits of laughter. And for supper when he arrived home from work, Libo cooked us a delicious spicy noodle dish, Shanghai style.
When Wilbert and Marta arrived late afternoon on Sunday we had a lovely evening with them. Wilbert really enjoyed the Adobe de Chancho and had three helpings and everyone else enjoyed it too. To accompany the adobe I did rice, roast potatoes and broccoli - the latter being the English element of the meal! Afterwards we enjoyed Reidun’s delicious apple cake with icecream - see this cake recipe too at the end of this story. It was fun to meet Wilbert and chat to him about andean music generally and he was curious to know about andean musicians living in England. His wife Marta was lovely and spoke excellent English and we all enjoyed each other’s company immensely – she went to Peru just like me, because of her intense love of Andean music and met Wilbert there and they have been married and living in Norway the past 4 years. Jon had lit the wood burning stove and it was so cosy and warm. I could imagine how cosy it would be there in the winter when there is deep snow outside. The house is made of wood and heavily insulated, so that even with minimal heating it is cosy and warm. In the winter with their under floor heating and the wood stove burning too it must be cosier than ever. Nearly all the houses are made of wood for this very reason. In deep winter the temperatures can go as low as 30 below centigrade which is unimaginably cold. When they left at the end of the evening I exchanged email addresses with them in order to keep in touch. Then Linda and I had three games of scrabble whilst the others watched the progress of the Chinese space shuttle on the internet.
Our day in the mountains on Monday was absolutely fantastic. We woke up to sunshine yet again, even though the temperature was only 1 centigrade first thing - this improved throughout the day to around 11. After a nice breakfast we dressed up warmly because the weather can change quite rapidly in the mountains. Jon was telling me that tourists have even died because they ignored the many warning signs, going mountain climbing in shorts and T-shirts - in the mountains warm sunny weather can turn into storms and even snow in an instant. Jon had planned a route which would take us up the mountain with us returning in another direction. He made slight adjustments to that plan tht morning when we realised there was frost outdoors, choosing a route which would have more sunshine than shadow.
I really loved the beautiful countryside we drove through all day, winding our way up through valleys into first hills and then the mountains, passing rustic farms, animals peacefully grazing, all under a bright blue sky and the sun bathing everywhere in a lovely golden glow. We made one stop in a last village where there were shop, supermarket and garage and bought chocolate. From there the scenery became ever more spectacular as we wound our way up the mountain. No words can describe the incredible beauty - mountain lakes and the hills above them covered in trees in a multitude of autumn colours, the tall pines in the background, all reflected in the deep waters below.
Later we stopped and parked beside the lake and enjoyed the picnic food that Reidun had prepared for us along with coffee. We then walked across a little bridge, Jon telling me that the lake was full of rainbow trout and me imagining how delicious they must taste if caught and then cooked and eaten in the open air! On the other side was a little church where a service is held about once a month and the area beyond it was a battleground where 7 Norwegians resistance fighters and 26 Germans lost their lives two weeks before the end of the war. Jon's father was a resistance worker training in ammunitions in that place, the British planes coming over the nearby mountain and dropping the necessary ammunitions and supplies. The Germans heard about it and tried to come stealthily to the camp, setting a log cabin alight thinking it was full of Norwegians but luckily it was not! There was a memorial to the lost Norwegians and Jon said the surviving resistance workers come every year in honour of their dead comrades It was such a peaceful spot, complete with a big pond which was already covered in ice. We were throwing small stones onto it to see how strong the ice was and it took quite a heavy one to go through the ice.
After this we continued higher and higher into the mountains until finally we crossed the top, like a mini altiplano, with stunted bushes and bent trees. At each side of the narrow winding road, at intervals, are red sticks - this is all that keeps drivers on the road when there is deep snow as otherwise they would not know where the road was. Going down the winding mountain roads the other side, Jon said this was the coldest place in the whole of Norway in the winter, and could be the warmest in the height of summer. We passed many a mountain cabin where people retreat to for their summer holidays, travelling through moose country as well. Last year a couple of German tourists were attacked by moose, probably because they got too close to them when they had their young. There are even bears in these mountains but they usually keep well away from people. During the day we covered alot of miles and glorious countryside and the warm sunny weather lasted all day. I was so grateful to Jon for driving all those hours so that I could see the Norwegian countryside and mountains. Back home we went to the supermarket and Reidun bought the ingredients to make a delicious pasta dish for tea and I bought two kinds of fish and mixed seafood to make a Malaysian curry and Thai spicy chicken soup the next day. The route we took that day included the first stop at Prestfoss, and the village where we bought chocolate was called Eggedal. The battlefield was at Grantangen and the view down over the valley was at Hallingdal. We made a final stop at the bear centre situated at Flaa.
On my last day we stayed around Drammen and spent some time in the town again. Linda and I got the bus back before Reidun and only realised when we got home that she had lent Libo her key, so we went for a walk in nearby forest whilst waiting for Reidun and Jon to return. Jon had gone to get the winter tyres put on the car, due to our early start the next morning. In Norway each car has two sets of wheels and the ones with winter tyres are put on in October as the snows arrive by early November and continue until the following April. There are two types of winter tyres - those with a much deeper tread which are softer, and others which have nails attached which have an even firmer grip in icy conditions but creates havoc with the roads. Drivers using these tyres have to pay higher road tax, which is already twice or three times what we pay in England. Although we had blue skies and sunny days every day during my visit, each day was steadily starting colder with frost in the mornings which only melted in sunshine, the shady areas remaining frosty. The winter snows were only about a week away, having already arrived in more Northerly parts of Norway.
Back indoors I cooked three dishes for our late lunch which we had timed for Libo’s arrival home from work. I made a Thai green curry soup followed by an even nicer Thai red curry soup and the main dish was a Malaysian fish and seafood curry. Libo, being the only oriental amongst us, thoroughly enjoyed everything which was a great relief and everyone else did too. Whilst in the kitchen Jon and Reidun produced a lovely gift they had bought for me - a beautiful cheese cutting knife in a giftbox with Viking carved design on the handle and I was quite overwhelmed with this lovely memento of my visit. Jon also produced a big box of Norwegian chocolates and a gift bag of assorted sweets. I could not get over their wonderful kindness towards me - the whole week was really magical and they looked after me beautifully. I was suffering a bit with a tickly cough and each time I coughed Reidun appeared with a delicious hot blackcurrant and berry drink which soothed my throat beautifully. In the evening a cruise ship was arriving in Drammen at 6.30 so we turned off the lights and watched from the balcony which had an amazing view over Drammen, and as the cruise ship approached its mooring spot in Drammen’s river there was an amazing display of fireworks to welcome it and the ship responded by sounding its foghorn. I thought what a lovely welcome to Norway this was! Drammen’s river leads into Drammen’s fjord which later leads into Oslo Fjord. Later we had a few more games of scrabble and watched an excellent travel programme about Tibet on television before retiring to bed about 11 pm as we had an early start next day.
I woke up at 4.30 next morning and did not dare go back to sleep as I had set the alarm for 5.15. By 6 am we were enjoying a last breakfast together and at 7 I said goodbye to Reidun and Libo and Jon drove Linda and me to the airport which took about an hour. It was another lovely day albeit a bit foggy. On the way I missed seeing a moose which came out of the forest and before Linda had time to say anything we had already whizzed past. Moose are an intrinsic part of the Norwegian wild life and on some parts of the motorway there are crossing points where one has to slow right down in case any appear from the forest each side of the road. There are even a few wolves in Norway but not many these days, only about 30 in the whole country. There are much much more in Finland and Sweden.
Soon we were at the airport and it was time to say goodbye, but I will be seeing Linda and Libo again next summer as we are going to plan a nice holiday for them here which will even include a trip by eurostar to Paris. Libo drank champagne and enjoyed the show at Le Moulin Rouge in Paris when he first arrived in Europe and is looking forward to repeat that experience! Jon and Reidun want me to see Norway in both summer and winter weathers so I hope to make a return trip to see them again one day. The flight home was uneventful and I arrived back at Stansted at 10.30 am, where I had allowed loads of time to get to Victoria - 4 and a half hours!!!! But just as well I do this because on the outward trip I had had no idea that the bus trip from Victoria to Stansted took two hours. Luckily there is an excellent tapas bar right by Victoria coach station so it was easy to pass the time with a nice tapas lunch and large glass of wine until time to get the bus for the last part of the trip home. My next foreign jaunt to look forward to is a day trip by Eurostar to Brussells in December with Ann and Aquiles.
Additional sentence added 26 October - it is only a week since my return from Norway and they already have six inches - 15 cm - of snow! Look out for snowy picture which will be added in a day or two.
Reidun’s Chocolate Cake
4 eggs, 125 grams sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa, 60 grams of flour, half teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Beat egg and sugar together and add all the dry ingredients. Put it into 2 oiled baking tisn in the middle of the oven 150 to 175 centigrade for about 30 minutes.
When cool sandwich the two cakes together with whipped vanilla cream. To decorate the cake, melt half a bar of cooking chocolate and add 4 or 5 tablespoons of hot water and 100 grams of icing sugar. Cover the cake and leave to set.
Reidun’s Apple Cake
150 ml measure of sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 300 ml measure of flour, 100 ml of milk, quarter teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons oil, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 tablespoons sugar, 3-4 apples
Mix egg and sugar together and add the dry ingredients, followed by the oil and milk. Put into an oiled baking tin. Peel the apples and cut them into slices. Add them to the mixture and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top of the cake. Cook at 180 centigrade for about 40 minutes.
It was almost 10 pm and it was almost an hour’s drive down the motorway to their home in Drammen but the time passed quickly as we had so much to talk about. On arrival at Drammen Jon offered to do a quick tour of the town so that I could see it, pointing out the key places of interest, and this was most enjoyable. Afterwards we were wending up the hill to their home and soon at home where Reidun got busy putting a meal on the table for us and Linda showed me my room and I quickly sorted out the gifts I had brought - 4 bottles of wine and various Peruvian items, handbags for Linda and Reidun, purses etc for the menfolk. I knew they would be pleased with the Peruvian items as they are all really fond of andean music like me - that was how we got to know each other in the first place, because of our mutual love of andean music. We enjoyed the meal, all of us chattering nineteen to the dozen. I was delighted that they all spoke such good English as I did not know even one word of Norwegian!!! Finally we all went to bed pretty late, having planned to spend time in Drammen next day.
Next morning after a nice breakfast Linda, Jon and I set off by car to see something of their town. One of the most memorable things we did that day was to enter a spiral tunnel which was cut into the mountain, spiralling up and up until eventually we came out on top of the mountain where we parked the car. This was the gateway to various walks in the forest but our plan that day was to see the views over Drammen from such a great vantage point. We took some photos even though it was a hazy day and these are included on the photos which follow this story.
Then we made our way back down and Jon drove us to show me some ancient drawings that date back to the third millennium before Christ, protected by iron railings and yet more of these ancient drawings at another location nearer home. These were of moose, fishes etc and it is said that the ancient magic invoked in these drawings still lingers today. Then Jon dropped us in the town saying he would collect us again later, and Linda and I headed for the church where Linda sings in the choir. As we walked in the organist was practising and the atmosphere was lovely. We took a couple of photos and had a good look around the church whilst listening to the music.
Once outside again we spent some time in the town, looking at the shops and the centre, etc. I was quite shocked at the high prices of everything generally - for example I was thinking of buying a rubber gadget which one puts on ones shoes when there is snow on the ground to prevent one slipping down, until I realized they were £20!!!! I was sure I had seen something similar back home for a quarter of that price. We came across an icecream parlour in the shopping centre so enjoyed some icecream. It was really nice too - I was well impressed with Norwegian icecream. Although the day started hazy, the mist gradually lifted throughout the day and the sun was shining. It was much better weather than I had anticipated, especially after Linda’s snow joke where she sent a photo of her house half buried in snow - a December rather than an October photo!!! I bought some postcards to write and send the next day and eventually we met Jon again and went home for a late lunch which was a Norwegian dish Reidun had prepared especially for me - made with lamb, potatoes and cabbage and was really delicious. The name of this dish is Farikal. We spent the rest of the day indoors and later I met Libo, Linda’s husband, when he came home from work, and he downloaded the digital photos we had taken that day so that I could send some to my family. Libo is from Shanghai and we have a plan that in a couple of years time when they go to Shanghai again I will be accompanying them. That will be really exciting because I have never been to the Far East. Later in the day Reidun produced a delicious chocolate cake that she had made and we all thoroughly enjoyed this with coffee - see the recipe at the end of this story.
The following day we were up early and got the bus outside the house and got off in the town by the railway station. As we approached some young men were selling hot waffles and coffee and we decided to partake, this being a typical Norwegian snack that is very popular. We quickly bought the train tickets and then enjoyed the waffles with loganberry jam, and just had time to buy some sandwiches for the journey and then we were on our way. I enjoyed the trip through the Norwegian countryside which seemed quite similar to England with the green fields and animals peacefully grazing apart from all the fir trees and the alpine style of the houses (which is incredibly pretty).
An hour later we arrived in Oslo where we would be spending two days. Libo works for a hotel chain which is owned by an 80 year old man who still works 12 hour days and is hard at work each day from 6 am. The hotel chain is Thor Hotels which have just been renamed - they were formerly Royal Hotels. As part of the name change, free hotel accommodation was offered to all hotel employees and Libo was able to transfer this to his wife and me, and we were looking forward to our overnight stay in such a nice hotel. We couldn’t check in until noon so didn’t head for the hotel until then. We began our sightseeing with a walk up through the middle of the town to visit the royal palace. It was a bright sunny day with blue skies and we took some nice photos of the palace and of the guards outside and the children who were so thoroughly fascinated with the guards, asking them hundreds of questions. The view down over the town was really good from here. We then went walking and visited a few shopping areas, and found a nice icecream parlour where we enjoyed huge dishes of icrecream and icy cold drinks. Linda showed me a favourite restaurant of hers where Eastern and Western food is available and we decided we would have dinner there in the evening. Later we went to the town hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year. Normally this is open to visitors every day but unfortunately not that day as something else was going on. Later we came across an Indian restaurant and decided to have lunch there as Linda had never prevously tasted Indian food and we both enjoyed the buffet lunch that was on offer.
After this late lunch we made our way to the hotel. All morning we had been travelling around on the brilliant tram system, which is something really different for me as there are no trams in England. Soon we were checked into our room which was very comfortable with a nice bathroom, television, fridge bar etc. We then set off sightseeing again and got the tram to a famous park which contains nearly 200 nude statues all carved by one man, the most famous of which is the angry boy. The weather was glorious and we spent a great couple of hours in the park and took photos. Everything looked so beautiful with the autumn colours of the trees, the bright blue sky, rose bushes still flowering etc. Later we looked at more shops and I bought some spices needed for the Peruvian meal I would be cooking on Sunday, and a bottle of Argentinian wine for us to share back at the hotel later. We ended up in a nice bar in the shopping centre for a drink before making our way to the restaurant for dinner. The bar prices were alot higher than in England at £8 for a small diet coke and a glass of wine half the size I am used to back home!!! At the restaurant Linda chose an Eastern dish and I chose Western and then we headed back to the hotel about 8.30 pm. We spent the evening playing Scrabble, a game I had brought with me from England to teach her, and we had a glass of wine each.
Next morning we went down to breakfast just before 10 am, and enjoyed the lovely buffet food on offer - delicious smoked ham, cheeses, muesli, cherry yoghurt drink, hot bread rolls, scrambled eggs and delicious coffee. We had until noon to vacate the room and were not meeting Jon and Reidun until about then so managed to squeeze in two more games of Scrabble before checking out and taking the tram to the harbour where we were meeting them. The harbour looked lovely, with restaurants lining the waterfront and people enjoying the warm sunshine and taking drinks in the open air. When Jon and Reidun arrived we went straight to the car as the next items on our agenda were visiting two museums that they knew would be of great interest to me.
The first was the Viking ships museum where there are three Viking ships on display, dug up after being buried 1000 years, complete with the burial tomb of a Viking king from one of them. One of them was in amazing condition, having been buried in blue clay which had preserved it beautifully. I was very impressed with the intricate carvings on the prow and the amazing workmanship of the shipbuilders 1000 years ago. We took some great photos of all three ships and read all the history attached to their retrieval from the ground back in 1905. Before leaving the museum Reidun bought me a book about the viking ships which I will look forward to reading very soon.
Afterwards we went to the Kontiki museum - the museum founded by the Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, who in 1947 built a balsa raft and sailed 5000 miles (8000 km) from Lima, Peru, to Polynesia, just to prove the indians so long ago had been able to do this. The raft followed the Humboldt current and the trip took them around 60 days. Looking at the actual raft they sailed on it was amazing to realise that such a tremendous adventure had a satisfactory conclusion. We could watch a film of the expedition on dvd - which was televised back in 1947 - and we read about the trip and several other trips Thor undertook on balsa and tortura (reed) boats from various other locations around the globe. One was able to realise what an amazingly exciting life he must have led. The museum is being kept going by his two sons and a similar trip is being planned by his grandson, leaving on the same date 28 April 2006 (his grandad departed Lima on 28 April 1947) - and this proposed trip will include the satellite technology on board so that the whole adventure can be followed online until its conclusion. I will definitely look forward to following that adventure with relish! This balsa raft will be built with Ecuadorian balsa wood from the Galapagos islands.
In the late afternoon we drove back from Oslo to Drammen, stopping at a supermarket before home as I would be cooking for seven of us the following day and wanted to get thenecessary ingredients for it. I brought the Peruvian spices from home to cook Adobe de Chancho because Libo’s friend at the hotel where he works is a Peruvian guy from Arequipa named Wilbert and he would be coming on Sunday with his Norwegian wife Marta, and I thought it would be fun to serve up a Peruvian dish for them as a surprise. For tea Reidun cooked a delicious norwegian soup called Lapskaus made from Pork and vegetables and we enjoyed two bowls each of this with Norwegian flatbread. During the evening we watched the DVD of a film called ‘The Emperor’s Groove’ which was about an Inca who was turned into a llama and was an incredibly funny film. We were all in fits of laughter. And for supper when he arrived home from work, Libo cooked us a delicious spicy noodle dish, Shanghai style.
When Wilbert and Marta arrived late afternoon on Sunday we had a lovely evening with them. Wilbert really enjoyed the Adobe de Chancho and had three helpings and everyone else enjoyed it too. To accompany the adobe I did rice, roast potatoes and broccoli - the latter being the English element of the meal! Afterwards we enjoyed Reidun’s delicious apple cake with icecream - see this cake recipe too at the end of this story. It was fun to meet Wilbert and chat to him about andean music generally and he was curious to know about andean musicians living in England. His wife Marta was lovely and spoke excellent English and we all enjoyed each other’s company immensely – she went to Peru just like me, because of her intense love of Andean music and met Wilbert there and they have been married and living in Norway the past 4 years. Jon had lit the wood burning stove and it was so cosy and warm. I could imagine how cosy it would be there in the winter when there is deep snow outside. The house is made of wood and heavily insulated, so that even with minimal heating it is cosy and warm. In the winter with their under floor heating and the wood stove burning too it must be cosier than ever. Nearly all the houses are made of wood for this very reason. In deep winter the temperatures can go as low as 30 below centigrade which is unimaginably cold. When they left at the end of the evening I exchanged email addresses with them in order to keep in touch. Then Linda and I had three games of scrabble whilst the others watched the progress of the Chinese space shuttle on the internet.
Our day in the mountains on Monday was absolutely fantastic. We woke up to sunshine yet again, even though the temperature was only 1 centigrade first thing - this improved throughout the day to around 11. After a nice breakfast we dressed up warmly because the weather can change quite rapidly in the mountains. Jon was telling me that tourists have even died because they ignored the many warning signs, going mountain climbing in shorts and T-shirts - in the mountains warm sunny weather can turn into storms and even snow in an instant. Jon had planned a route which would take us up the mountain with us returning in another direction. He made slight adjustments to that plan tht morning when we realised there was frost outdoors, choosing a route which would have more sunshine than shadow.
I really loved the beautiful countryside we drove through all day, winding our way up through valleys into first hills and then the mountains, passing rustic farms, animals peacefully grazing, all under a bright blue sky and the sun bathing everywhere in a lovely golden glow. We made one stop in a last village where there were shop, supermarket and garage and bought chocolate. From there the scenery became ever more spectacular as we wound our way up the mountain. No words can describe the incredible beauty - mountain lakes and the hills above them covered in trees in a multitude of autumn colours, the tall pines in the background, all reflected in the deep waters below.
Later we stopped and parked beside the lake and enjoyed the picnic food that Reidun had prepared for us along with coffee. We then walked across a little bridge, Jon telling me that the lake was full of rainbow trout and me imagining how delicious they must taste if caught and then cooked and eaten in the open air! On the other side was a little church where a service is held about once a month and the area beyond it was a battleground where 7 Norwegians resistance fighters and 26 Germans lost their lives two weeks before the end of the war. Jon's father was a resistance worker training in ammunitions in that place, the British planes coming over the nearby mountain and dropping the necessary ammunitions and supplies. The Germans heard about it and tried to come stealthily to the camp, setting a log cabin alight thinking it was full of Norwegians but luckily it was not! There was a memorial to the lost Norwegians and Jon said the surviving resistance workers come every year in honour of their dead comrades It was such a peaceful spot, complete with a big pond which was already covered in ice. We were throwing small stones onto it to see how strong the ice was and it took quite a heavy one to go through the ice.
After this we continued higher and higher into the mountains until finally we crossed the top, like a mini altiplano, with stunted bushes and bent trees. At each side of the narrow winding road, at intervals, are red sticks - this is all that keeps drivers on the road when there is deep snow as otherwise they would not know where the road was. Going down the winding mountain roads the other side, Jon said this was the coldest place in the whole of Norway in the winter, and could be the warmest in the height of summer. We passed many a mountain cabin where people retreat to for their summer holidays, travelling through moose country as well. Last year a couple of German tourists were attacked by moose, probably because they got too close to them when they had their young. There are even bears in these mountains but they usually keep well away from people. During the day we covered alot of miles and glorious countryside and the warm sunny weather lasted all day. I was so grateful to Jon for driving all those hours so that I could see the Norwegian countryside and mountains. Back home we went to the supermarket and Reidun bought the ingredients to make a delicious pasta dish for tea and I bought two kinds of fish and mixed seafood to make a Malaysian curry and Thai spicy chicken soup the next day. The route we took that day included the first stop at Prestfoss, and the village where we bought chocolate was called Eggedal. The battlefield was at Grantangen and the view down over the valley was at Hallingdal. We made a final stop at the bear centre situated at Flaa.
On my last day we stayed around Drammen and spent some time in the town again. Linda and I got the bus back before Reidun and only realised when we got home that she had lent Libo her key, so we went for a walk in nearby forest whilst waiting for Reidun and Jon to return. Jon had gone to get the winter tyres put on the car, due to our early start the next morning. In Norway each car has two sets of wheels and the ones with winter tyres are put on in October as the snows arrive by early November and continue until the following April. There are two types of winter tyres - those with a much deeper tread which are softer, and others which have nails attached which have an even firmer grip in icy conditions but creates havoc with the roads. Drivers using these tyres have to pay higher road tax, which is already twice or three times what we pay in England. Although we had blue skies and sunny days every day during my visit, each day was steadily starting colder with frost in the mornings which only melted in sunshine, the shady areas remaining frosty. The winter snows were only about a week away, having already arrived in more Northerly parts of Norway.
Back indoors I cooked three dishes for our late lunch which we had timed for Libo’s arrival home from work. I made a Thai green curry soup followed by an even nicer Thai red curry soup and the main dish was a Malaysian fish and seafood curry. Libo, being the only oriental amongst us, thoroughly enjoyed everything which was a great relief and everyone else did too. Whilst in the kitchen Jon and Reidun produced a lovely gift they had bought for me - a beautiful cheese cutting knife in a giftbox with Viking carved design on the handle and I was quite overwhelmed with this lovely memento of my visit. Jon also produced a big box of Norwegian chocolates and a gift bag of assorted sweets. I could not get over their wonderful kindness towards me - the whole week was really magical and they looked after me beautifully. I was suffering a bit with a tickly cough and each time I coughed Reidun appeared with a delicious hot blackcurrant and berry drink which soothed my throat beautifully. In the evening a cruise ship was arriving in Drammen at 6.30 so we turned off the lights and watched from the balcony which had an amazing view over Drammen, and as the cruise ship approached its mooring spot in Drammen’s river there was an amazing display of fireworks to welcome it and the ship responded by sounding its foghorn. I thought what a lovely welcome to Norway this was! Drammen’s river leads into Drammen’s fjord which later leads into Oslo Fjord. Later we had a few more games of scrabble and watched an excellent travel programme about Tibet on television before retiring to bed about 11 pm as we had an early start next day.
I woke up at 4.30 next morning and did not dare go back to sleep as I had set the alarm for 5.15. By 6 am we were enjoying a last breakfast together and at 7 I said goodbye to Reidun and Libo and Jon drove Linda and me to the airport which took about an hour. It was another lovely day albeit a bit foggy. On the way I missed seeing a moose which came out of the forest and before Linda had time to say anything we had already whizzed past. Moose are an intrinsic part of the Norwegian wild life and on some parts of the motorway there are crossing points where one has to slow right down in case any appear from the forest each side of the road. There are even a few wolves in Norway but not many these days, only about 30 in the whole country. There are much much more in Finland and Sweden.
Soon we were at the airport and it was time to say goodbye, but I will be seeing Linda and Libo again next summer as we are going to plan a nice holiday for them here which will even include a trip by eurostar to Paris. Libo drank champagne and enjoyed the show at Le Moulin Rouge in Paris when he first arrived in Europe and is looking forward to repeat that experience! Jon and Reidun want me to see Norway in both summer and winter weathers so I hope to make a return trip to see them again one day. The flight home was uneventful and I arrived back at Stansted at 10.30 am, where I had allowed loads of time to get to Victoria - 4 and a half hours!!!! But just as well I do this because on the outward trip I had had no idea that the bus trip from Victoria to Stansted took two hours. Luckily there is an excellent tapas bar right by Victoria coach station so it was easy to pass the time with a nice tapas lunch and large glass of wine until time to get the bus for the last part of the trip home. My next foreign jaunt to look forward to is a day trip by Eurostar to Brussells in December with Ann and Aquiles.
Additional sentence added 26 October - it is only a week since my return from Norway and they already have six inches - 15 cm - of snow! Look out for snowy picture which will be added in a day or two.
Reidun’s Chocolate Cake
4 eggs, 125 grams sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa, 60 grams of flour, half teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Beat egg and sugar together and add all the dry ingredients. Put it into 2 oiled baking tisn in the middle of the oven 150 to 175 centigrade for about 30 minutes.
When cool sandwich the two cakes together with whipped vanilla cream. To decorate the cake, melt half a bar of cooking chocolate and add 4 or 5 tablespoons of hot water and 100 grams of icing sugar. Cover the cake and leave to set.
Reidun’s Apple Cake
150 ml measure of sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 300 ml measure of flour, 100 ml of milk, quarter teaspoon of salt, 3 tablespoons oil, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 tablespoons sugar, 3-4 apples
Mix egg and sugar together and add the dry ingredients, followed by the oil and milk. Put into an oiled baking tin. Peel the apples and cut them into slices. Add them to the mixture and sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top of the cake. Cook at 180 centigrade for about 40 minutes.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Norway in October with Linda, Reidun, Jon and Libo
I have just got back from a fantastic week in Norway where I had a wonderful time in the home of my penfriend Linda, her husband Libo and her parents Reidun and Jon. The pictures shown here are those Linda took on her digital camera and more will follow in a couple of weeks when I have had mine developed. Also watch this space as very soon I will be writing about that fantastic week with such lovely people.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)