Raspberries

Last week, Susan and I went to a big farm just outside Oslo where you can pick your own berries. We picked 10 kilos of raspberries. You may ask: why bother? The answer is: It's cheap. It's fun. The raspberries are soooo much better than the ones you buy at the supermarket. Price per kilo: 50NOK.

What a wonderful, and what total bliss to have your freezer full of these lovely raspberries! Mmmmmm.

Drinking in the right district.

No beverages served after 9.30pm? Not even a cup of tea? Yes, this is Oslo!

“I’m sorry, we are not allowed to serve any kind of drinks here after 9.30pm" said the waitress at an outdoor restaurant down the road.

“Why?” said my friend.

“Because we are in the St.Hanshaugen district. But hey, if you walk across the street, you are suddenly in Frogner disctrict, and they are licensed so serve alcohol even after 9.30pm” explained the friendly waitress.

Ok, it was the hottest day of the summer, with temperatures rising up to 30 degrees Celsius. It was the Sunday of the warmest week in Oslo for 60 years (according to some tabloid papers…). But no beverages served outside after 9.30pm? You must be joking. But no, this is Oslo.

I started contemplating how expensive everything is in Oslo, the city that several times has been named the most expensive city in the world.

And I realized that I have lived here a year now. I left Spain on 21 July 2012. Could this have happened in Spain, the country where people have dinner at 9.30pm?

***

My friend Solveig participated in “Opera Idol” at the Opera House today. She competed with 15 other young talented singers, and was of course the best singer on stage! (Sadly the jury didn’t agree.) This concert was a part of the summer concerts at the Opera House, which are held four days a week, at 2pm. Tickets are only 50NOK, which I have to admit is a joke. It’s extremely cheap compared to other kinds of entertainment. (Going to the cinema, for instance, costs 100NOK.) However, some of the tourists I started chatting with at the concert couldn’t stop laughing when I claimed that 50NOK is cheap. So we ended up discussing prices, wages etc in Norway compared to their home country, Poland. Very interesting.  

After the concert, Solveig invited her fan club (her brother, mother and me) out for something to eat and drink. Solveig’s mother is from Argentina, and although she is fluent in Norwegian there was a mix between Spanish and Norwegian spoken at our lunch table. I loved it. And it was scary, because I have forgotten so much of my Spanish.

Aim for the next year in Oslo: Improve my Spanish.

One year in Oslo. I have landed now. And I have learnt that I have to go out for something to drink before 9.30pm in certain parts of Oslo ... 

Summer

My parents' summer house

The sisters at the local Viking festival 

Sivert and his favourite auntie at the viking festival

 Oda and the horse at Buggegården 

The Oslo Opera House 

Very good friends at The International Museum of Children's Art

Cooking with auntie 

Hiking in Oppegaard - part 1

Hiking in Oppegaard - part 2. 

My grandmother's power nap

Cousins in Oslo

Four

Four more days, and then: seven and a half weeks of well deserved holidays! Can't wait. What I'm looking forward to the most (apart from the trip to northern Norway, family time, and Sweden), is to do as little as possible. And to live in the present.

Last summer was chaotic. I was trying to settle down here in Oslo again after three years abroad, and we all know the end of that story! :) The three summers before that were either spent saying farewell to people because I was moving to Spain (2009), or trying to catch up because I was visiting from Spain, but had only got limited time to see all the people I care about here in Norway (2011, 2012).

Now I live here in Oslo. I've had a year back in Norway. It's time to spend the summer in a park, with a good book and a glass of wine. And most importantly: take each day as it comes!

The birthday party

My friend Mette's birthday party on Sunday. 

Mette lives by Norway biggest lake, Mjøsa. It was a spectacular, almost surreal afternoon and evening, in beautiful sunshine. Summer had finally arrived. (Or, at least it was sunny that particular day ...)

Photo: Me

 Photo: Kristin Opdan

Photo: Kristin Opdan

Photo: Me

It was nice to spend some quality time with all the great people there. The food was excellent. The location was just perfect! The view was fantastic! The atmosphere was just what you want for a relaxed but fun Sunday afternoon birthday party. And it was rounded off with a very interesting badminton tournament, which was won by the birthday girl and her partner. Hurrayyyy!

What makes you happy?

This one is from one of my favourite pages on facebook: 

"Don’t wait for someone to bring you roses; plant your own garden and decorate your own soul with ideas and passions that bring you joy. 

You do not exist to impress the world; you exist to live your life in a way that makes you and your loved ones smile. - from our (audio) book: http://www.marcandangel.com/book/"

On Reading

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once."

- George R.R. Martin

This is the book I am reading now! 

Blessing

One of the very good things about being back in Norway is that I can have a perfectly normal Monday afternoon dinner with my lovely niece and nephew. Me gusta mucho!

Brown chocolate and old ladies

Had lunch at Lille Persille in Suburbia (aka Lambertseter) with Ingvild and Åse today, after a painful 70 minutes long yoga class. We discovered the cutest thing at Lille Persille: Five old ladies enjoying a cup of coffee, and a very traditional Norwegian chocolate called 'mokkabønner' (mocca beans) which they obviously had brought from home. (My grandmother does the same all the time!!)

On my way back to the city centre, this little observation made me think of the restaurants in Australia where you can BYO; Bring Your Own ... alcohol. I remember it was quite handy, actually. (And very cheap.) Then my thoughts drifted to last week's hot potato in Norway: yet another debate on the use of derogatory words, such as for instance the n-word. Have a look at the chocolate box, and you will understand why. 

Three months into 2013

Today is the last day of the first quarter of 2013. It is the last day of March. The days are longer, brighter, and sunnier. I have survived my first winter back in Norway. Spring is in the air, and it feels good!

My aim for the next three months of 2013 is the following:
"Forget the past, move your attention, turn to the future."

A week in the sun (and some rain)

Lena picked me up at Starbucks Málaga airport, and I had to use my Spanish alias again; Cristina. 

Valentine's day. And the linda vista from Lena's balcony.

Saturday in Fuengirola. It was a beautiful day! 

 Old habits die hard #1: Ensalada Thai break con gambas at Terra Sana. 

 Old habits die hard #2: Picture at my favourite benches in my favourite park in Marbella. 

Old habits die hard #3: Dinner and tea at Overseas in Calahonda. 

I had a very nice and eventful week in Spain. Went to the Aloha musical, went to a tango show, conducted the mini choir at El Campanario, sang with EC Singers, relaxed, sunbathed, walked, talked, laughed, met many very nice people, lost my credit card, spent quality time with quality people, discussed interesting aspects of life, spent money, ate nice food, had nice wine -- to sum up: a very good holiday! 

Snow

Ok, I know I get a bit silly with all the beautiful snow, but it is just sooo fantastic to experience some proper winter days again! I didn't know I would find it so beautiful and breathtaking!

From Berg School's activity day on Thursday. 

Lovely walk from Berg school to the local coffee shop on Tuesday.

Roses

Came across this little piece of art today. Wonder what it would have looked like in minus 17, which is the temperature we had earlier this week. Today it was "just" minus 2 degrees. Bliss! :)

Longer days

The days are getting longer! The sun is stronger (when it is out). And I am really trying to get my DDDD (Daily Dose of Daylight and vitamin D). Project DDDD has resulted in long walks with fellow teachers in the middle of the school day, walking home from school with Nina, etc. etc.

Frognerparken, my favourite park, on 1 January 2013. 

This year has started off really well, and I am doing things that I enjoy doing. I am also having a positive view on things that come my way, and I have decided that 2013 will be the year that I do things I normally wouldn't dare doing! A year of positive (and scary) challenges. 

Lucky grapes

I didn't bring 12 lucky grapes to the new years eve party last night, but I was wearing my lucky grapes studs so I hope 2013 will be a year filled with luck!

It has definitely started off really well. To quote my friend Ingvild: This is our year, and it's going to be a good one!