My Trip To Norway

Hi Folks, as some will be aware, I am off to Denmark then Norway for a holiday this Friday 21 June 2013 until 4 July 20913, it will hopefully be a trip of a lifetime, because I have promised myself that I would get see the Norwegian Fjords, for many years.

It all started with meeting my friend Mykle in London last year and him showing me photos of where he now lives in Norway, also my reading his story of how he moved there and the trip he does each year to come back over to England. This was the inspiration I needed to start planning the trip. I decided that a blog was the easiest way for me to give updates of the adventure rather than endless e mails.

Because I was waiting for an operation until that was carried out and I had the all clear nothing definite could be planned, then next task was to obtain travel insurance, which I eventually resolved, so the idea could start to develop into reality. I had also discussed a holiday with my friend Brian who has featured in previous Blogs and our other friend Alan, we talked about different destinations and in the end settled on Copenhagen, we were going for a week, so we then started working out how to get there and where to stay,

I contacted Which Travel for advice on things to do and see, then contacted my friendly travel agents Sue to ask for her help. It seems that Scandinavia, other than by ship is not listed in most holiday brochures. Unfortunately, Alan decided in the end that he was not going with us so we ended up booking for 4 nights, the first being the summer solstice(longest day) we booked the flight and accommodation and I bought a new lens for my camera to capture all the things I am hoping to see on the trip.

We are also hoping for a trip to Malmo in Sweden to see the bridge between the two countries. Brian will return home after 4 nights and my real adventure will really start I said I was considering visiting Norway and may call to see Mykle and his wife Jean, Mykle kindly offered that I could stay with them when visiting the area that they live in as a result we spent a lot of time through e mail and phone calls trying to work out an itinerary for me, up to this time I did not really know where he was in Norway apart from the fact it was away from the towns and cities, plus that it gets very cold in the winter, eventually we sorted out a trip that would enable me to see some of the best parts and beautiful scenery there, my friend Brian said I may see elk and wolves and possibly beavers, seems he had not done his research that well as Mykle stated this was unlikely, they lived further north.

The trip from Copenhagen, will take me by plane to Bergen where I will be met by Mykle, then boat to Sogndal, from there by car to his home in Myklebust for a few days, then we travel back to Bergen by coach, and I will stay for 3 nights, I then travel from Bergen to Oslo by train which Mykle tells me is quite spectacular, then later that day fly back to London, where as it will be in the evening I will stay before returning home the following day.

Due to uncertainty about the weather I will take a mixture of clothes, I have bought a tablet computer so I can continue to record the trip for the blog, the tablet has been a learning curve for me, but my son spent some time showing me what the various functions are for. I had forgotten how many pieces of paper are needed when travelling independently, as well as medication, transformers for charging devices, and guides, unfortunately over the weekend my back has gone into spasm, so yesterday I saw an osteopath, the pain has not yet abated, if it does not improve before Thursday I will have to go and see GP for strong painkillers, as I am not going to cancel the holiday

An Incident at Manchester Airport

Embarrassing Incident At Manchester Airport Last weekend I travelled over to Ireland for my granddaughters 21st birthday, when I got to Manchester airport I could not believe how quiet it was and I sailed through security apart from having to take my shoes off and put them through the machine, not sure what that proved at all.
Not having had lunch I went and bought a meal Deal then found a convenient seat where I could see the departure board and my flight boarding gate, I put my MP3 player on, got my paper out and started to eat the sandwich,
I’m not quite sure why but I suddenly felt I was being watched, so looked up, the young man sat opposite, who looked very intense had a pad on his knee seemed to be staring at me, then doing something on his pad, being conceited I thought maybe he’s trying to sketch me, so continued with my food and reading. I’m not sure why but I started to think about what he was doing, so now started watching him,
he looked very very intent, and I suddenly noticed he was not drawing but writing notes. I couldn’t decide what to do, should I confronted him, should I try to absorb myself in my magazine music, should I move seats, the information desk was nearby, maybe I should mention it to them, in the end I decided to move across the way so I was not in his line of sight and see what happened,
what I noticed was that he continued with the same behaviour, I now started to wonder was it something to do with the till at Boots behind me, it all seemed rather odd.
A member of staff came and started working at the information desk, so I decided to have a word with her, I politely explained and said it was a gut feeling that something was not quite right, she asked me what she wanted me to do, explaining that she could not approach him.
It was decided in the end that she would contact security and be advised by them, so I felt that was the end of it all. A few minutes later she came over to my seat, to inform me that she had spoken to security and that they had informed the police who would call down and chat to me about the problem.
Oh dear this was not what I was hoping for, I prefer to be anonymous but now was going to be the centre of attention and the man was going to know it was me that reported him. A little time later two young policemen arrived, I explained to them what had happened and how the man of made me feel quite uncomfortable and that may be there could be problems with other passengers because of his odd behaviour, we gave a description of him because by now he had disappeared, which in itself seemed a little odd,
one of the policemen took my details and said he would let me know what had happened. A few minutes later they came back, it appears that the man was a French person, an accountant in fact he was busy working on a project and had been totally absorbed in this, oblivious of all around him, he was flying back to France and everything checked out,
of course I was totally embarrassed, but the policemen reassured me that I had done the correct thing and it was better to have made sure all was well, I spoke to lady at the desk, she said similar, and also said there was something about his appearance and manner that could be a little off putting, but that all had worked out well in the end.
I am still unsure what it was that set me off, was it some basic instinct, was it the stress of being at the airport, was it something to do with getting old and less sure of myself, what would I do if a similar incident happened in the future, let’s just hope it just doesn’t happen.

A new start

I had not realized how long it had been since I last posted so I think now is a good time to start again soon as some will know I am off on a trip to Norway and intend to try to do posts on the trip I hope you will enjoy all of this in the meantime I will try to find something to chat about

Gentle C hit Chat Thread on Sagazone

I have started this Blog to help people who come across the Gentle Thread to learn a little about its history and the people who post on it

Gentle Chit Chat - Any time of day and Linking not allowed!

I am sorry all you linking fans but I am blinking fed up with it.

Bring back chatting without linking, please - good topics and lighthearted banter are all that's needed in my humble opinion (like wireless radio before tv came along!).

Susie Q

09/03/2008 01:34:37 Its hard to think so much time has already passed and so many people have joined in our chat since this date.



Well that’s how Susie Q started it all, in an effort to get away from some of the stranger threads on the site & to make it easy for anyone to join in normal conversation through Sagazone,, despite the distance some of us are from each other, without any nastiness, rudeness where people can support each other joining in general conversation, where people could talk about the ups & downs in their lives without feeling threatened.

When I checked a little earlier today we had had over 56000 posts on this thread, so I think it’s a sign that people are enjoying it up to now.


Susie mentions Linking and many have asked what this is and are worried about inadvertently doing so on the thread
This refers to when people show a link in a post , you can see these on many threads on the site when they show a short piece of text usually blue underlined that has a web link to another area or site, it was felt on this thread that it was distracting and did not help with the flow of conversation.


The other issue that Susie raised was that of quoting, which is when people use the quote button to refer back to a previous post. This on the odd occasion can help people to see what a previous poster was talking about, but as you may of seen on other threads, to many quotes can totally lose the point of the conversation then make it hard to follow for the rest of us.

Early contributors included, Goingupcountry, Whitehall, Wait and see pudding, Cinderella Sue, Jeffreybbb, Veronika, Pennywt, sadly some have found other parts of the site more interesting and moved on but maybe one day they will call back in for a chat.

Common interests and topics for discussion seem to include
FOOD, our own or others pets, travel, family, MEN & their failings, drink, meetings, the weather,
this is not a comprehensive list & other topics can be added later by any of you

Below is a list of members, I am sorry if I have missed anyone out and if you join after this is posted please send me a PM with brief details and I will add you to the list.
Should you not want to be included I will happily remove you and your details from the list.

I have put words that come to mind when I see your names, and occasionally things that appear to be topics you discuss or points I have attributed to you, no offence is intended, its all in fun, this is only to encourage you to give me a couple of lines to replace mine and to help people know a little about you in terms of the thread, obviously if people want to know more they can look at your individual profiles




Veronika early riser dogs, meetings

Nobaggage France holidays OH, village

Samsnan Grandchildren

Bollie Budgie breeding, ironing, baths

Greendragon cats

Idanyelle Red rose

Maggie C Morgan cars

Jeffreybbb Grandchildren, giving unwanted advice, fantasy forums

Brendaja webcams, meetings Caravan, food

Minijune Cats, planes, cars,EX OH

Andtiggertoo Cats, London, meetings OH

Merlotjess Able to stand up at an angle, Scotland

Dolly j

Lindy lou Moving house

Coomara

Murriell Daughters, holidays, meetings

Myklebust Norway, snow, fish

Dee3

Skipton recently joined

Aggie Maggie Meetings, London

Wellie recently joined

Tigger too recently joined

Nippynana

Angie 027

Boudica recently joined

Yeaovileman

Ribrae

Maryrose


I have not written about all of you because so far it has taken three hours to get to this point, please PM me some info to be included about yourselves

My Trip to Kefelania

My trip to Kefelonia

I was feeling fed up, I was recovering from a virus, and I felt I needed some sort of a break in guaranteed sunshine, I checked various websites but everything seemed so dear, then I remembered Sue my helpful travel agent, so contacted her and explained what I was looking for.

Within a short time she seemed to find something that fitted the bill, was inexpensive in a beautiful location Kefelonia, it was travelling the following Tuesday so I needed to book it straight away which I did.

All went well on the trip, then on the coach transfer I first met Elizabeth the representative from Olympic, she seemed so kind and caring toward the people as they reached their destinations, in fact at one place, there was no one to meet the elderly guest so she finally found someone who would take care of them until the owners arrived.

Finally I got my apartment, it was very strange because was no reception desk and the apartment was down a side street, it appeared that the owner lived on the top floor showed me to the room which was a bit basic but not to bad, if I wanted air that was on an additional charge, so I decided to see how the weather went but it was already hot and humid, so un packed and had a look out of the window, in one direction I could see the sea in the distance but very prominently was a bright yellow tractor, so I looked to the left and appeared to be looking out onto somebody's back garden and rubbish tip, but in the background there was a view of the mountains and sky plus I had my own balcony.

I went out and wandered round the town, that seemed to consist of a main street with lots of cafes mini markets and souvenir shops, but there was a beautiful Long Beach all along the bay, so I went and bought some provisions, I was quite surprised that the cost was so much bearing in mind that Greece is in the middle of a recession, that night I struggled with the heat, so decided that next morning I would pay for the cost of the air con.

Went to the welcome meeting for Olympic, which went well, originally I had decided that I would like to rent a car so I could see all of the island was having seen the way people drove and the hairpin bends decided because I was on my own it was best not to, so chatted to Elizabeth about the various other options and decided in the end to go on two trips, I said I would pay her then, she said to leave till later in the evening, so I ended up having a wander around the town.

In the evening went to book the trip, Elizabeth said she was surprised that I had come back to do the booking, so I said I was quite surprised that she hadn't taken money off me that morning, because she was not busy we had a chat for a while, also spoke to the young lady waitress who I later learnt was called Lynda, so I now had an island tour booked and a trip to one of the other islands called Ithica.


Over the course of the week I had walked along the bay in both directions wandered round the countryside taking photos and relaxing on the balcony reading my book and sunbathing, unfortunately though I managed to burn my left shoulder which caused the discomfort for the rest of the trip so I was much more careful after that exposing myself to the sun.

I went on a coach trip to Ithica which was very beautiful and we stopped in some lovely bays for a look round, at lunchtime I joined up with another man on his own and shared lunch and had a chat which made a nice change, I decided I would love to come back again at another time.

The day before my return I went on an island tour, I have to say this wasn't quite as good as Ithica, but was still pleasurable, the only problem on both trips was the picking people up at the various places before the trip started, which was an hour long, but then another hour dropping off at the end which made it a very long day, the courier on the trip was very knowledgeable and made it pleasant, the only other difficulty was that on the first trip the air-conditioning did not seem very good on the coach.

In the course of the week I had dined at the restaurant where the welcoming meeting was, on the first occasion the place seem deserted, but I later learned that most of the people sat at the back in the shade, I asked could I sit at the front because being on my own at least I could watch the people going by, I got chatting to the young lady waitress, part of her task was to say hello to people in the hope they would be attracted to come in.

Whilst watching the people I realised that very few were happy or smiling as they walked down the street, it was interesting that some people acknowledged the young lady with a slight smile, many looked embarrassed and some actually turned away, which seems such a shame because after all they were all on holiday I presume, but many looked stressed, I talked to the young waitress about this and she said this was typical of the people who visited.

I realised quite quickly on holiday that I am not a person who copes very well with their own company 24 hours a day and at times felt quite isolated, it would have been lovely to have shared a holiday in this beautiful setting with someone special but unfortunately my special person couldn't come, neither could my friend Brian who I could have shared photographic opportunities with.

On the last night I called in at what has now become my favourite restaurant and had a brief chat with Elizabeth who I learnt was on Facebook as was the young lady waitress who I now learnt was called Lynda, I explained that I was going to put the brief story on my blog and gave details of how to find, so Elizabeth and Lynda if you are now reading this thanks for making my holiday special and best of luck in the future.

I would love to go back to Kefalonia but even more so to Ithica to spend more time exploring this beautiful island.

One of the interesting things on the holiday was that if I saw couples together taking each other's photograph I would volunteer to take one of both of them, it was surprising how many people initially seemed to mistrust my motives, what a shame I was only trying to make their trip a little more memorable but hopefully it gave them pleasure later.

A Catchup on 2009

It seems such a long time since I did the last blog, unfortunately this has been the combination of poor health lack of motivation and not very much interesting that I feel would appeal to the readers going on in my life.

Despite this I thought as we are now in a New Year of 2010 the least I could do was give you an update on my life, so here goes.

You may remember earlier this year I was having investigations of my spine and subsequently there were issues of whether I had angina, the good or bad news is that at present the sciatic pain has diminished and therefore the surgeon feels he will put off a back operation, this unfortunately will not stop the pain from the prolapsed disc so I will just have to put up with it, after an angiogram they have now decided to have a blocked main left artery which needs a stent in the not too distant future so we'll wait until I see a heart specialist about this.

As a result I am now on various sorts of medication, which seemed to have slowed me down greatly and I feel I have little energy at present to carry out a normal life, this is quite ironic because I retired in April to try to give me a better quality of life so that I could do some of the tasks I had been putting off but also because it it was considered my health would improve, so I applied for the new sickness benefit ESA unfortunately their doctor was of the opinion that I was fit for work despite various evidence I presented from my GP and other professionals,

I did appeal and even went to my MP, but there adjudication officer still felt despite the fact I had been considered not fit for full-time work since 1996 that miraculously I could suddenly carry out a full time job, in February I am due to go to tribunal in the hope that I can convince the panel that at the age of 62 with a range of conditions that affect my ability to get out of the house never mind work that common sense will prevail.

Sorry I have been rumbling on a lot about my health so on to happier things, most recently I went over to Ireland to see my son and his family and spent Christmas with them, the rest of the time I spent with my friend Debbie and her family and totally overindulged myself before coming back home to the present six to 12 inches of snow we seem to have

It's odd really because I had all sorts of ideas of things I wanted to achieve in this last year, such as doing a course at night school on digital imaging but because of the issues around my benefits felt it best to leave until this was resolved, I had thought of doing some travelling but again because of the issues to do with the angina thought best wait until that has been resolved,

I still go on to saga but find unfortunately that my back starts to ache quite quickly so it does not give me the pleasure in the way it used to having said that only yesterday I spent two hours doing my first Sainsbury's online shopping to relieve the effort of going round the supermarket then having to carry my groceries home, this is quite handy at the moment if it works because my car is snowed in.

Well I'm hoping to get back into the habit of doing blogs again so please look out for my next one in the not too distant future.