Only One More day left Before I Have To Leave 29 June 2013

Up late today, maybe it was reading until the early hours,  looked at more photos, had breakfast, I have been trying to eat a little better whilst away, trying local food, today it was shredded wheat with cranberries and milk, may see if they have this at home for a change from porridge.

Went with Mykle to Sande, I must apologise because some of the Norwegian words I am using, I do not have the correct keyboard for, had a look at the airport very different from others it is tiny, then to see ferry crossing at Andetolote where they are proposing a replacement bridge to speed everything up. Then on to Utvik fjell down to the village and Invik, next shopping in Sande for some items Jean needed for the traditional meal she was cooking that evening. We stopped so I could take photos across the lake from where they lived, then back to house.

Went on computer to book train trip from Bergen to Oslo,  then had evening meal of, typical Norwegian food, consisting of kjottkaker (meatballs) entestuning (mushy peas) potatoes,  carrots, tyttebaer (cranberries) the meal was delicious but then followed byblå plomme (similar to damsons) with custard. After we went for a walk I was hoping it would help me burn some of the meal off so I do not put to much weight on.

For me it was quite sad as was my last day in this fantastic setting with two fantastic people for company, I shall miss Jean and Mykle greatly but am hoping to keep in touch on my return, they have shown me how different life can be if we really try at it, if you read this Jean and Mykle again thanks for everything. After this I went bed to be ready for the long day tomorrow.

A more cultural day 28 June

Believe it or not this is my second attempt at what was quite a long blog, that suddenly disappeared when I went to save it, so as cannot sleep at 3 30 in the morning will try again.

Late start, first breakfast and conversation then as Jean was going out so Mykle and I went on a pleasant walk to look at the Nicolai Astrup museum not far away at Astruptunet,not being a great follower of art I had not come across this artist before

  It seems he is a famous Norwegian painter who moved to the area when quite young, married had children and used the setting of mountains lakes and the general scenery from his studio for inspiration,  as his income Improved so he moved from house to house next to each other, all now preserved. His homes were so basic compared to those today. We had a young guide explain about his life and paintings, that went from landscapes of the area to

portraits,  plus some more complex subjects, the guide also gave background to his home and family, I have never been that interested in any particular artist but, I found some of his paintings very attractive to look at, also to see the houses preserved and odd little things like the roof was covered in vegetation that turned out to be bark from trees which it seems is a very good strong resilient way to protect the roof of a house, also I found with my bad back that the doorways into the houses were quite low, my presumption was that this was because Norwegians were small, the guide explained in actual fact it was done this way so that anyone attempting to get in and attack had to bend down very low so then gave the owner a good chance of hitting them over the head with a weapon, it just goes to show there is a good reason for everything.

It had been raining unlike previous days so it was as well we had umbrellas to protect us on our walk back, when we arrived so had Jean so we had something to eat, whilst eating, there was another visitor to the bird feeder, namely Cyril the squirrel,  he was a red one, I had only ever seen one before, but it seems they are common in the area, he set to eating some of the food Jean had put out, so I took a series of photos of him.

As Mykles computer was still not working spent some time trying to resolve, but was unsuccessful even with the assistance of fivety plus forums kind assistance, and that of my computer expert back home via e mail.

During my time here I had not watched or missed the tv but tonight there was a programme 50 years of Richard Attenborough, the others wanted to watch so we did, it was funny to see how he had aged from a young man and how technology had progressed over the years to enable them to observe and record more detail of the life and environment of animals both during the day and night.

Mykle and Jean then showed me photos that charted their progress from the original plot to their present home, it must of taken so much desire, determination, planning, skill and physical effort to of achieved such a fantastic home in this sort of setting, where the elements conspired against them.

It was late so I went to bed but could not sleep, so decided to read a little of one of my e books, More William by Richmal Crompton,  whose books I had read when young, I had not realized until starting this book how long ago it had been written,  in fact it was 1922 a very differt world to the one we live in, the book though was still an enjoyable finish to the day.

More beautiful scenery today 27 June 2013

I must apologize to all you readers, firstly I cannot remember my password for the blog, so it is ceating a problem for those trying to post comments, also as am so busy with all these adventures I am falling behind with updates, so will try to do better, also when return home will attempt to add photos out of the 400 or so I have so far taken.

Now back to the plot, we had a trip into Ford so Mykle and Jean could do some shopping, I went for a wander round the art museum, most of the exhibits I could not understand, then a sandwich and a drink, the prices here are so much dearer than back home, but not particularly for Norwegians,Norway is a very rich country,followed by a walk along the riverbank, whilst waiting I noticed a fire engine, I looked through the zoom lens only to find that the 2 firemen were watering the flower beds,

an interesting way of using resources, so sat and waited on a bench before meeting up again, we drove to the agricultural college, Jean explained less and less youngsters go there as they now wish to do more modern things such as computers as a job, they took me through the grounds to a really magnificent waterfall,

we continued our drive looking at further beauty spots, then stopped at            to look down at the road and the series of hairpin bends, it made me dizzy just looking down,

the scenery is so different to that at home and I have never seen so many waterfalls.

Eventually returned and tried to assist Mykle who was having difficulty connecting  his laptop to the internet, we tried various remedies, then asked advice from some of the people on Fifty plus forum, still no success,  I even tried my computer man back home via e mail, in the end gave up, he will take to shop instead

Then had a well deserved rest, whilst writing this out in rough, I was sat in the garden a mixture of all sorts of plants and colours, the only noise was birdsong and that from the waterfall, bliss. Later another enjoyable meal cooked by Jean with good company and conversation.

Despite the fact it was quite late, the sun still had not set and the sky was turning a delicate pink, I have taken a photo with the tablet but not yet worked out how to upload it, I think I am going to be very busy with the number of photos I have taken trying to sort them out when I return home.

Day Two At Myklebust 26 june 2013

Had breakfast, what a view outside the dining room window, went round the garden and full plot of land, I could see how much time, effort and energy Mykle and Jean had put into making it such a fantastic place to live,This is what the plot looked like when they first aquired it

was shown log splitter and how it works, Mykles vehicle to carry heavy loads,  the vegetable garden, what a good idea to raise some of the beds to make it easier.

We walked across the other plot to their Waterfall,

  what a feature to have on your land Mykle explained how it froze up in winter, it was hard to believe with such a strong flow of water. We went for a walk around the area, it was a mixture of modern and older properties, but everywhere the views were stunning and apart from the odd car passing, so peaceful and quiet.

Came back met up with Jean and had something to eat, then off on a trip that included the glacier museum, fjaerland, Mundeal village, which is the book town where shops are former piggeries, boat houses etc, we also went to boyum arm glacier, that Mykle tells me is the largest in northern europe, even from a distance it was huge and almost intimidating

its so hard to explain how impressive it all was, when I get home I will try to upload some of my photos to give a better idea.

That evening despite all the driving Jean cooked us a delicious meal, after we sat and chatted, it was still fairly light outside although getting on for midnight, we finally retired to bed to prepare for our next adventure.

Norway and a meeting with Mykle and Jean at last

I rose early finished my packing, had a shower, I had by now got the hang of how not to soak the floor, then went down for breakfast, Brian was worried about the weight of his backpack,  so we checked he was still under the limit, it seems he wanted to take the papers he had collected to read at his leisure,  checked out, got metro to the airport, it was even busier than when we arrived, said cheerio to Brian,  warned him about security,  then went to check in, there were great long queues, but eventually all was sorted, had a wander round the departure area, bought sandwich and a drink for the flight then people watched, what a range of different people and cultures, eventually boarded the plane very pleasant staff,found that the quality of service from Scandinavian airline a pleasant experiance only a short flight, Bergen airport  was tiny compared to the last, picked up luggage,  then outside.

There was Mykle patiently waiting for me, we went for a snack, then got the bus into town, much better seats and ride than those back home,  the town was very pretty to look at as was the backdrop of mountains and fjords.

We wandered down to to the ship through the market, on the way looking at the live crabs and lobsters in tanks, got to the boat it was large and modern, found seats with a good view, when we set off I said I wanted to take photos, Mykle warned me not to go to the front, as soon a went on deck understood this with the wind, took a series of photos of mountains bridge etc,

the boat called at a number of ports, there was an announcement that we had to change boats, which was done with little fuss,

finally we got to Sogndal.

There waiting for us was Jean who was very welcoming then we set off on our way to our destination Myklebust,  along the way we saw beautiful fjords and lakes,  waterfalls and mountains and even a glacier,

because of my surname Glasser, at school any reference to glaciers always had brought out laughter concerning my name,  at long last here was one of these gigantic areas of ice so large its difficult to describe.

On our trip we stopped at various places to take in the landscape, we even stopped at a toilet in the middle of nowhere as I had mentioned in my other blog, finally we reached Mykle and Jeans home, it was well worth the trip what a stunning location and their home was very attractive also, they explained we were 100 feet above sea level but because of the height of the mountains  and lake it seemed much lower their home was as beautiful inside as out, I unpacked then we sat and chatted before finally going to bed

Last day in Copenhagen 24 June 2013

I must apologize to you readers, for getting so far behind but it has been a busy few days since my last post, I will post this about our final day in Copenhagen,  then tomorrow try to catch a little on the next day or two, its always harder when busy to find the time

Sadly this was our last day in Copenhagen,  we started with a hearty breakfast, then into the city by tram.
We decided to do one of the hop on off, boat trips, to make it easier to get round,  there was a group of young school children on board who were very well behaved, this photo is of a particularily low bridge we went under, we again visited sites such as the little mermaid but also a mixture of other sites that were of interest,

I noticed this motorhome as the boat went past, I hope nobody tried to walk to the back whilst it was parked so far back on the quayside

Then went looking for the Round House Rundtarn, what a climb it was  along the sloping floor to the top

but well worth the effort, we could see the bridge to Malmo in the distance

but also some of the rides at Tivoli Gardens,

next we went to the Botanical Gardens, had something to eat, then wanderd about admiring the displays and taking photos

,  this is one of the alpine gardens together with my elusive travelling companion Brian,I enjoyed the tranquility of the lily pond with the ducks

eventually we left there and I returned to the hotel, Brian stayed on.

I did some packing, had a rest as my back was in pain,  then we later went for our last meal at the Chinese,  I had a real beef burger, it was 3 times the size of those from a certain fast food chain and much tastier,  I struggled to finish the meal.

Next we went to the promenade to take last photos,  of the sunset,

clouds had gathered so nothing like as good as we hoped for,  so we started back, but over a 10 minute period the sky went a lovely red and pink making it worth the wait,

then back to the hotel as it was getting cold, then more packing before we went to bed.

Another busy day in Copenhagen, summer solstice

As usual we started with a good breakfast, then off to get the bus, unfortunately we could not work out where to get off so decided to use the metro, yet again we could not work out which sort of ticket but a lady kindly helped us.
We were hoping we would see lots to photograph on the trip to they centre,  sadly most was underground,  we got to the center then, took the escalator up into a store,  oops,  we quickly found our way out and set off looking for the Little Mermaid

and any other places of interest along the way along the way. for example we saw the royal theatre

Unfortunately  I did not record all the places we saw along the way, so may need Brians help later to edit,

I think it was the royal palace where we saw the guards outside and there were all sorts of statues, again I will have to put photos on when return home, trying to remember it all at 12 at night is a bit of a struggle made worse by my senior moments, there were lots of coaches full of tourists, along the way l needed to go to the toilet (see other blog) plus a cruise ship in the harbour, whilst there, it started to rain which quickly meant the people disappeared,  it only lasted a while, we made our way back to the centre and stopped for something to eat and drink as my back had set off again and I needed a painkiller, I settled for a pizza,  after this we made our way to the Town Hall where there were all sorts of activities taking place,

we passed a Latin American style band on the way, Brian bought us an ice cream each,

We went to Central Station for a look round and to catch the metro back unfortunately it doesent run from there, I have never seen so many cycles in one place at a time

I used the toilets there (see other blog) Brian had noticed there was something showing up in his viewfinder on the camera we could not remove it but managed to get it lower down on the screen hopefully it will not spoil his photos, then we went looking for the bus back as it was nearer than the metro,  we found the tourist office but it was closed,  which seemed odd in such a busy tourist resort, we found the bus stop but then were told it was the wrong direction, the driver sent us to the wrong street, but Brian  sorted us out plus we found the statue of Hans Christian Andersen and we were on our way back to the hotel, its a shame that it is surrounded by roadworks at present so is not at its best.

When we got off Brian said lets go down to the promenade as it was the Summer Solstice and lots of peple would be going there, I was amazed at how many people were walking and cycling there, couples family's and groups of friends,  both young and old, we wandered along, many had brought a picnic, particularly young couples,  one I noticed had rye bread, sausages and strawberries,  an interesting combination of food, we took a series of photos, then noticed that the sun was setting in the opposite direction,  just then there was a brief shower,  which quickly abated but many had already started to leave,

I forgot to mention earlier that Brian had kindly offered to carry my backpack to help me cope, normally I would not of taken him up on his offer but realised that it would help me to continue longer so many thanks Brian,  just after this we saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky so again out with the cameras.
I needed my painkillers that I have to take with food so back to our Chinese for a meal, what an odd combination I had of omelette chips with a mushroom sauce, whilst waiting I noticed the sun had changed to beautiful reds, so off for a few more photos, we then came back after the meal for an early night, ready for another busy day tomorrow

Day Two Our trip to Malmo

My phone rang at 6ish,  it was
Brian asking if I was ready for breakfast, I explained this was a little early for me, that I would meet 8ish, which we did, what a great range of food, I did struggle with the fruit juice which was to sweet and the coffee to bitter and I am not sure what happened with the bacon, I tried the rye bread and it found excellent


We then made our way to the metro then airport station for the train to Malmo, it was clean quiet and comfortable,  unfortunately we did not manage to obtain any photos of the bridge, Malmo station was very busy, in the distance we could see the new tower, called the Turning Torso,so started to walk toward it for a better photo,

the walk was through an industrial area it seems the whole area is being renovated, on the way we came across a small museum and spotted a jet fighter in its grounds

We then walked back through the park,

then the streets of Malmo, we came to the main square with lots of beautiful buildings and fountains for us to enjoy

another photo opportunity there was a very unusual band the optomistic orchestra, there

My back suddenly went into spasm so I suggested we make our way back to the station so I could have a painkiller, drink,  food and a rest, at the station I needed to use the toilet (see other blog) Brian wanted to try some local food so we had some rye bread with a variety of toppings, which I enjoyed, then back on the train to Copenhagen,  I said would buy the train tickets only to find I did not have enough money, so Brian sorted us out, I then worried what I had done with the rest of my Swedish money, this time the train was quite busy, when we got to Copenhagen my back was still painful, so I returned to the hotel for a rest, but Brian decided to walk back, on my return, I checked my money, it seems all was correct and I had bought less Swedish kroner than I thought, I rested for a couple of hours then we went for another meal at the chinese,

this time finishing off with a chocolate lolly each, we returned to the hotel, discussed plans for tomorrow, hopefully there will be no early calls in the morning

THE FIRST DAY

I could not sleep so I got up early had breakfast then a bath got ready, Geoff came on time, when we got to Brians he was outside waiting obviously eager to get going, the drive to the station was uneventful we said goodbye to Geoff got our tickets and went to the platform,

the train arrived on time, only problem it was packed out, we rushed down the train, eventually we managed to squeeze on and off the train went, a man with rather a loud voice was trying to chat up a young woman, only problem was she was more interested in sending texts, as we stopped at various stations more were more people packed in,

the conductor made an announcement warning passengers not to use first class unless they had a ticket, not sure how he could enforce this as there was no way to get through the crowd, eventually most got off and we could finally get a seat

No problems on arrival at Manchester aiport although it was a long walk to check in, that went well so on to security,  not sure what was wrong, but they did body search on me, had explained to Brian to put watch etc in container despite this they took his bag off for some reason but eventually returned it, after that no more problems,  flight ok, but it seemed a long trip from plane to getting out of  Copenhagen airport,  our carousel for baggage was furthest then had to walk back to get out

We coud not find out how to get to hotel, eventually found helpful lady and off we went on metro,  booked in, lift would not work,  we found out we had to insert room key in slot first, unpacked had a rest

Later went down to beach and spent some time taking photos, oops,  forgot to say that today was a very warm  day, was surprising how many planes flew over, there was also a mixture of boats and ships from tiny kayaks, to large cruise and cargo vessels,  withe the odd speed boat, leaving a huge trail behind them eventually went back to hotel,

today is longest day of the year, but we felt the need to eat then rest, we found some shops and the only one open was a Chinese, we settled for rissoles and chips with a coke,   place seemed very popular,  after back to hotel,  Brian tired so went to bed, thinking of my loyal readers I decided to post this blog,  only problem,  I could not remember the password, well now done hope not to boring for you, will post next episode tomorrow

Photos are of Brian on the promenade and the bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo seen from the promenade

Nearly time to go

Well its the day before we travel, my back is still in spasm, I have been to the GP who has given me strong medication to cope with the trip, I have now repacked everything and as far as I can see not forgotten anything, how odd that these days a set of scales is felt needed to make sure I am not carrying to much weight in my case and to avoid having to pay extra costs.

I have put the bedding in the washer, think I have all my paperwork sorted, now all I need is my friend Geoff to turn up at the right time in the morning and Brian to be ready when we go to pick him up, I will have an early breakfast and bath so am relaxed for the flight, I have been told by the physio to wear my support belt so will do this in the hope the pain quickly abates, I hope future posts on here will become more interesting as the journey progresses