Alagaesian

What to do when you lose your glasses? 

I’m now faced with that question after losing mine this afternoon while hiking up the mountains in Bergen.  I was wearing of course my nice pair of sunglasses and kept my prescription ones in my jacket.  I only realized that I lost it when I was back in the city.  So what to do…

1.  Tell your officemates you lost your glasses, so you have an excuse not to go to work the next day…  hehe. 

2.  Get into your blog and write something about it.

3.  Call your travel insurance and check if they will cover it. 

4.  Make sure you have an extra pair sitting at home next time.

I was clever enough to have done number 4 above only that they were an old pair so the grade won’t be similar, but close enough.  And just for the record, I won’t be skipping work the next day (coz it’s a holiday anyway).

It looks like the travel insurance might cover it… I have the excuse of loosing it while I was out traveling so that might help a bit.  Cheeky but what’s a guy to do?

You cannot barbeque in London parks unlike in Norway where we bbq anywhere (not exactly anywhere, but nearly). London has nicely landscaped and huge parks in the city which makes it perfect for picnics and bbqs especially with the sun out.  We went to Regent’s Park bringing bbq things but ended up eating bread and salad, and feeding nuts to a curious squirrel.

We did our bbq for dinner instead.

In the picture – Turan, Yvette (my cousin & her husband), Remco (holiday buddy from Belgium) and me.

London was great. It was my third attempt to visit the Temple Church. I missed the opening hours of the church twice previously. Temple Church is located in the middle of a maze of buildings with something like an car showcase of mazarattis and beamers. It is merely a small church but with interesting gargoyles and tomb stones we have all seen in the movie Da Vinci Code.

A weekend holiday won’t be a weekend holiday without alcohol.  We mostly spent time in the nice and trendy hotel lounge / bar in City Inn Westminster.  Of course, a visit to London won’t be complete without a visit to a local pub – but I actually preferred bars.  Bacardi/coke and beer was flowing, but I’m pretty sure we kept them at bay.

Lastly – Chelsea won against Manchester United last Saturday.
 
Technorati Tags: Temple, Church, London

I would’ve posted sooner but I have been traveling for a week and just arrived tonight.  I made the mistake of drinking coffee in my evening flight so I’m still wide awake at the moment.

Anyway, the 17th of May – Constitution Day in Norway – was perfect weatherwise.  Not a trace of cloud and the temperature is perfect for wearing the national costume – bunad. 

It was a whole day of activities starting with breakfast (made fruit salad), parades, dinner parties, concerts and a nice fireworks display to end the day.  I was up from 6am and got to bed the next morning after packing up for my trip.

Technorati Tags: 17, May, Mai, Bergen, Norway, National, Day, Constitution, Bunad

Here’s hoping for a sunny weather on 17th May – Constitution Day in Norway – when everyone goes out in their national costumes and take part in the parade or just enjoy pølse og is (hotdogs and ice cream) along the main squares. 

From really nice spring time weather ranging 12 – 18 degrees in the past few weeks, and even reaching 20’s some weekends, we were suddenly poured over by either snow or hale last night.  Typisk!

Yesterday the forecast for the 17th was bad.  Today the weather people are promising some bit of sun. 

Will keep you posted…

Technorati Tags: 17, mai, bergen, norway

Serbia is the big winner in tonight’s Eurovision contest. 

Simply put for those who don’t already know, Eurovision is a European olympics for songs performed by all European countries.  Voting is by phone or sms and you cannot vote for your own country.

Unfortunately, Norway didn’t even get to the finals.  I haven’t heard anyone say a good thing about the song which makes me wonder how the performer won the Melodi Grand Prix early this year.  There were other better choices!

Helsinki, Finland hosted tonight’s Eurovision, as winner of last year’s competition.  It was a good show put together.  The ‘commercials’ on Finnish culture and sceneries has a special touch of humour.

Anyway, Serbia won tonight with a ballad sang in their local language so I didn’t understand anything, but the melody is ok.  A Swedish newsreport says it’s a Lesbian battle song.  No comments…

My votes went to the following countries – Finland, Sweden, France, Ukraine and Russia.  Serbia wasn’t even in my list but ok they’re song was good enough.  I mean, it’s 24 countries to choose from – they’re all nice songs but just have to choose… and be loyal to my Nordic friends. 

I was watching alone in my flat, but fortunately my friend Annina from Finland ‘watched’ with me via Skype.  So there was not a silent moment over the chatroom where nasty comments continuously flew around.

A quick explanation on my votes – they might not have been the best songs, but i think my emotions got the better out of me.  Finland because I made a promise to Annina (plus they’re song is actually good – unfo, they did poorly in the results), France, Sweden and Ukraine because they’re just so funny.   I can’t really vote otherwise as I didn’t understand most songs anyway which were done in other languages. 

Hands down the strangest act – Ukraine.  The Norwegian commentator calls them ‘morsomt lot’ or a funny lot.

Technorati Tags: eurovision, 2007, finland, helsinki, serbia, ukraine, norway

According to forecasts, today is supposedly the last sunny day in at least a week.  Hence the difficulty in trying to decide whether to go to the gym today or let laziness takeover and relax in my balcony and finish reading my book.

I am trying to finish Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones.  I bought the book during my 5-hour wait in Amsterdam airport for a connecting flight.  In fact, I bought 2 books, another one of which I have yet to read.  That’s next in line.

Air Babylon is a story narrated by an airport manager about life in the airport and up in the air.  For a person who flies a lot, it is interesting to read what people working in the airport / plane are actually thinking while serving passengers like me.  You also learn what happens to passengers – both alive and dead, what happens to your luggage, where the best place is to have sex on a plane, and other nasty details.

Technorati Tags: air, babylon, imogen, edwards-jones, bergen

Definitely one fine 1st of May day.  18 degrees and without a trace of cloud.  It’s a sin not to go out and enjoy the outdoors. 

Me and my friend Anita enjoyed a barbeque out on my balcony, taking advantage of the sun and an awesome view of the mountains and the city. 

On the menu for the afternoon – steak, sausages, some veggies and ice cream.

After the afternoon barbeque, went out for a walk around the mountain to the sentrum which is filled with people and of course the russ. 

As i mentioned in my previous post, they do a whole lot of crazy stuff… and not the least, crawling from the mountain up to the square.  Such a fine day for a walk… errr… or a crawl.

Technorati Tags: norway, bergen, russ, may