17. Mai

If you accidentally come to Norway on a sunny Saturday that happens to be the 17th of May, you might get the feeling that you’ve entered Alice’s wonderland, or some other related fairy-tale country. There is nothing ordinary about this day and there is nobody acting as usual. It’s a huge birthday celebration and every single Norwegian is congratulated and congratulates from dusk till dawn (Gratulerer med dagen! :) ). The entire population is on the streets, marching, waving, smiling, admiring, photographing, but most of all “Hurra”-ing (Hipp! Hipp! - Hurrrra! … Hurra! Hurra! Hurraaaa!). Everybody is there, from kindergarten children to pupils, students, musicians, sky divers, gymnasts, dancers, soldiers, skiers, motor drivers, war veterans and even ERASMUS studentsJ, wearing their finest clothes which are most often the traditional “bunads” (to my delight). All in all, it’s a day you should definitely not miss and I’ve had my share in waving the Norwegian flag, taking pictures (check the link as usual), eating ice-cream and watching parades.

Check out wiki fore more info on the 17th of May, Norway's Constitution Day!

Discoverying Norway

My parents came over last week, and we spent some sunny days driving along fjell and fjord, searching for Vikings, elks, and salmon. Norwegian weather was at its best, and still my mother puts her hope in global warming for her next visit - “beautiful country, too bad for the climate”.

We saw some great spots (“guri de rai”) and went from ferry to ferry, over the Atlantshavsveien, ended up in some half-opened museums (plan your visit to June-July-August!) and had great picnics on the shore. We had to drink the Romanian wine before darkness even tough it specifically says on the bottle “Enjoy after dawn”; but sunset takes forever nowadays around here ;)

My father was very intrigued by the beer price - “It’s the same as in Romania, why are you complaining?” – but had missed a tiny detail: it was a six-pack in Romania and one bottle in Norway. All in all there were some great days, which resulted in tons of pics which you can partially enjoy in my picasa album (highly recommended ;)) and ended up in a cruel wake-up to the “have to finish my diploma” reality. That I’m working on right now, after a great beach volleyball Saturday (hello sunshineJ ) and a very exciting Sunday fjelltur. Enjoy the pics!!!