A Funny Old Year 10 December 2013

As we are approaching the end of the year and its early morning and I cannot sleep, it seemed a good time to give you readers an update on my thoughts and experiances over this last 12 months.

Where to start, maybe a reminder of a couple of good things such as my trip to Scandinavia where I went to Copenhagen with Brian,  then on to my holiday of a lifetime with Mykle and Jean in Norway,  not only did i have a holiday with them but found them to be two lovely kind people who had created a beautiful home out of nothing in such a beautiful setting. It was also a reminder of what i could achieve despite my bad back and other health issues.

The next good thing was that at last I had my TURP operation to help with my waterworks which will help in a number of ways for the future, the other good thong was that the doctors told me there was no underlying cancer which was a relief. Another bonus hopefully out of this was that, due to my complaint to the hospital the quality of the toilet paper will improve on the ward.

For some years I have been looking for different ways to spend my time that are more pleasurable,  I had been aware of the U3A organisation for some time and finally made an effort,  joining earlier in the year, I think I will write briefly now and maybe do a longer blog of my experiances with them another time.

I have been to a number of the main meetings and talks at U3A, which have been enjoyable, meeting new people in a social setting, plus I have joined a recently formed photography group within the branch, which is a pleasant mixture of people and skill levels. I also briefly joined a beginners group with them for Spanish,  but found I did not enjoy the style of tuition, I wanted to order a drink or meal not to know the waiters name, so gave it up.

Updated 12 December

As part of this I have become involved in creating a new database of members to more easily track the membership and their interests using a product called Cardbox, again more of this maybe in a future blog, si seems it was a positive move and has widened the circle social contacts I have.

Out of the blue earlier this year I started with nose bleeds in my right nostril which I have not had for many years. They seemed to get worse over about 10 days ending up in a trip to A & E when it would not stop eventually 3 hours later it stopped at the time we were in the middle of a heat wave. I got outside waited for my lift as it arrived, off it set again, this time they admittef me, put a plug up my nose and kept me overnight, the next day cauterised it and sent me home. Within an hour it was off again so back in for a further four days, I was amazed how many people came in during this time but unlike me were quiclky discharged. Finally they took the bung out and cauterised again, so far no more problems.

I forgot to say earlier in the year I finally bought this tablet which was a great buy, as I can read e mail when have access to Wi Fi, search the internet and do many other things when away from home including listening to my music and doing tasks such as my blog, which am doing in bed again as cannot sleep, oh I forgot I can also read,  I have plenty of reading material on it in fact I would imagine sufficient to last me the rest of my life

I went away with Andy and Brian to Newquay as recorded earlier, think I will look carefully at the length of trips in the future if on a coach or other forms of transport.

One of the things I wanted to do was to see Chorus Line the musical in London, again as I recorded on here I managed that plus to meet up with ex saga friends for a trip down the thames and then across it on the new cable car.

I asked my son what he wanted for his 40th birthday, he said a trip to the Grand Canyon it looks like finally next year we will manage this, together with a brief visit to New York and Las Vegas, I am advised that this will be best carried out in November, since then I have devifef to extend the trip for me after he returns from Vegas,  and then depending on whether my friend in Hawaii is available to visit there, otherwise to go to Australia and finally see Sydney and other places, before travelling on to Penang to meet with my friend from childhood, then possibly to visit Singapore and see the lights before returning home.

The trip may be the last long distance one other than possibly if I finally get to my safari which I have talked about for years, the sad thing for me is that at present I will be on my own, which will be enjoyable but I dont think quite so good as having someone to share the experiences but who knows whats round the corner

Over this year our ME group has created more social activities which I have enjoyed plus I now am assisting on the committee and am an active member of the Facebook group we have,  which has helped people cope with the isolation which is so often part of this condition.

The flat has finally had a coat of paint on all ceilings and woodwork and hopefully in the new year the living room will be decorated, it would of been done much sooner but for the problem of finding someone to fo the work, its odd that when so many are looking for work my trying to find someone to carry out the task has been so hard

Earlier this year I changed my computer and decided to use voice recognition more, its bern a mixed thing due to a number of reasons, I do know it is helpfil and encourages me to sit bettet on my seat improving posture and lessening back pain,  what I should of done was to have further training so I could do even more with it  and lessening the the effects of typing on my hands and arms, one of my resolutioms is to do this in the new year.

One of the other issues, has been the fact that I have been transferring my LPS,  (for those to young to know these are the large vinyl records we all used to listen to our music on in the past, ) onto my computer, part of the problem is that I cannot use both the microphone and input from the record deck at the same time, so have to disconnect the leads and alter the settings on the computer. The task is still not complete, but I am getting there, so far nearly 300 done.  The hope is that I will be more likely to switch off the tv and listen to the music and maybe do more reading instead
,

A couple of months ago I joined a course to help people who have long term health or disability issues to cope with the symptoms and pain not as a cure more in becoming better at dealing with it, its run by an organisation called Breathworks and is based on Buddhist teachings but without thr religious aspect, I found it helpful and feel that it will help me to move on in how I deal not only with health issues but also generally in life

So a busy year of such contrasts, some of the things I hoped to achieve have fallen by the wayside but also other doors have opened that I did not expect.

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.

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

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