Climbing in Hell...

... felt like Heaven :)

Climbing?

well that's how it looked like 2 weeks ago - let's hope that tomorrow's better ;)

Povesti si povestiri

Si-uite-asa se face c-au ajuns si-n Suedia: dupa o incercare indrazneatea de catarat afara s-au socotit ei ca in incertitudinea vremurilor nordice mai bine se tin cu iarna decat cu vara si-au iesit cu schiurile la vecinii de peste munti... s-naintand ei pe calea estului, ca vantul si ca gandul, gropile cresteau, drumul se ingusta, camilele se inmulteau, wue scheuna si vuia, neaua se-nnalta, limba se-ngreuna si preturile scadeau... toate ca toate, dar scaderea pretuirilor ii fericea mult pe voinicii nostrii, care pornisera cu ganduri de mari negustori. Ajunsi in tara raurilor de miere, vikingii de vest se zbenguira pe derdelus, se-nfruptara din bucatele alese, devenira frati de cruce cu renii mosului aflati si ei in vacanta si-si umplura desagii cu provizii din camara matusii Ica. Firave raze de soare le mangaiara fetele albe ca spuma laptelui, incalzindu-le gandul si sufletul. Inainte de lasarea serii, cei patru luara calea apusului, urmarind soarele in drumul lui lenes de-a lungul fjordului auriu cu obrajorii rumeniti de schi si voie buna ...
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:) story about our trip 2 Åre: still skiing, as climbing turned out to be a colder experience than expected (see pic ;) ) nice prizes in Sweden, great "chocolate ball" and spicy french fries (actually Swedish fries) great skiing and mandatory shopping (BACON and cheeeeese); very confy ski lifts and beautiful sights, daaaaangerous pists but not for us ;) reindeer time - a love at first sight experience, but why r they white and so small??? some sun and nice temperatures all day long - GOOD choice! still, tomorrow we'll try climbin' in hell, see how that turns out...

Primavara...

... asta soarele se joaca-n parul tau... in parul tau si-al meu, dar mai ales in parul din gradina care-nmugureste, infloreste si-verzeste-n asteptarea unei veri de poveste in care soarele nu coboara de pe cer decat pentru-a-si netezi coama razelor jucause. In asteptarea unor ghiocei, unor zambile, unor frezii, lalele, narcise, lacramioare sau magnolii adorm cu floare-albastra-n gand si visez povesti cu troli si Fanny ...


I’ve updated my picasa album with some pics from Cambridge and Heidelberg, where I spend two intense, stressful, amazing, inspiring and exhausting weeks and met great people. Funny how your future is decided from one moment to the other and you find yourself looking at life like at a TV series, with no awareness of the realness of events to come (when you’re sitting comfortably in your office chair just after having a nice lunch it’s quite easy to book a 7 a.m. flight and it’s only on the night before that it starts too seem a quite bad idea; however, you fully realize the consequences of your actions when your alarm rings at 5 a.m.). So it’s a fact, I’m going to live in England for 3-4 years, punting on the river Cam, eating fish & chips, drinking ale and navigating through the epigenomic dimensions of life.

But until then, the reality looks very Norwegian and I’m enjoying the ever growing sunny days, even if it has to be from behind a window most often. We spent very relaxing Easter holidays at Seljestad, 4m of snow, blue sky, great food and skiing. Felt a bit more like winter holidays for me, but as I understand, it’s the traditional Norwegian way (celebrate Easter before it’s actually there, just as for Chrismas) ;) good winter holidays ...

I’ve been complaining quite a lot about spring arriving so late up here, but the past days have finally brought timid bird songs and thermometer raises over 10 degrees. It’s such a good feeling to go home from work in sunshine and remember a dark December evening while looking forward to an amazing month of May. To celebrate all this, we went climbing outside last Sunday, and even though I was crying along with my frozen fingers on my way up, I felt new, spring blood running through my veins by the end of the day.

Time...

I actually wanted to post something tonight… but the time seems to vanish somewhere between the TV and the almighty snowflakes: it’s late again and my thoughts are already turning into white dreams, escaping the dark night. Pictures, pictures, pictures (check out Romania, Oslo, Trondheim and SKIIII :) )…

2008

Nu stiu daca are vreo legatura cu incalzirea globala sau nu, dar e mijlocul lui ianuarie si la 3 pasi de ren de cercul polar sunt 7 grade cu plus si ploua... Si numai asa de deruta, niste poze din weekendu' trecut :) Raman datoare cu povesti din Ro, impresii din Oslo si mai multe poze de la ski...

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Te uită cum ninge decembre...

...e ziuă şi ce întuneric intr-o sambata care sub obisnuitu-i cotidian ascunde farmecul zilelor de sarbatoare ce se-apropie. Si poate ca mirosul iernatic al crengilor de brad, caldura luminilor care incep sa se iveasca in dreapta si stanga sau cate-un mic spiridus saltand prin zapezi in recrutare de reni ne-aduc pe unul sau pe altul un pas mai aproape de Craciun. Iar eu, chiar daca aud doar ploaia cum bate la fereastra, mai simt inca zapada de ieri scartaind sub talpa cizmelor de iarna, ghicesc gheatza ce se zbate sub patura stropilor prea calzi si presimt linistea de maine, cand totul va straluci din nou intr-un alb de poveste. Cu alte cuvinte, I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…

… just like the one we’re going to have this year! YES. I decided that given a white pre- and a white post-Christmas time (even if I’m cheating a bit, by being in Norway now), the Christmas time should definitely be white as well! So when I get on my plane this Thursday and fly all the way south-east to Budapest, I am determined not to forget all about snow, ice and winter but to rebuild the hope of a Norwegian-weathered Christmas in Timisoara. Until then I am enjoying my last days of 2007 here in Trondheim, after a rather full past week, with my 1. Julebord, the 1. December, 1. skiing this year, 1. Norwegian language course “exam”, 1. Aquavit taste and finally my 2. Julebord.

Julebord

Strangely enough, Norwegians like to celebrate Christmas before it is actually here, and don’t wait until the 24-25th to get stuffed with food and alcohol, but train over a period of around one month for the Christmas dinner. You find Julebords (= “Christmas tables”) everywhere – friends julebord, company julebord, department julebord, sub-department julebord, sports club julebord, language course julebord, other friend julebord, university julebord, santa’s julebord, elk’s julebord, and so on until you finally reach the Jule-Julebord, the supreme challenge. As for me, I must admit that I haven’t been training too hard, and missed one or two practices, with some regrets about missing the Pinekjott, the Ribbe and definetly the Aquavit.

1. Decembrie

Romania’s national Day is of course a day of great pride and importance for everybody in the world, even if they don’t know it yet. Some lucky ones get picked every year and join Romanians all over the world in their celebration, benefiting from insider privileges, being offered a taste of mamaliga and a sip of tzuica. This year the Romanians stroke again and five brave youngsters organized a feast in the city of Trondheim overwhelming their Norwegian, Dutch, Japanese and Peruvian guests with salata de vinete, salata de fasole, salata de ciuperci, bulz/balmos/ceva cu mamaliga, tochitura (ca la mam-acasa), prajitura, cozonac, vin fiert and of course tuica… They did not join the initiative of their brothers in Spain and failed to start a hora around the house, not to be blamed, considering the weather conditions and extremely dangerously surroundings (there is no ice in Spain!!!).

Skiing in Oppdal

… is great!!! Especially if you get the one day with sun in one month so that you can really enjoy the fresh snow that fell just two hours before your arrival. And even though is it by far not as big as famous stations in Austria, France & Co. you get far more out of it by the enormous off-piste options you have without needing to compete with hundreds of other skiers looking for virgin spots as it is not crowded at all! Plus, on and off the pists, you don’t have to worry about people cutting your path: the only direction is down, and it’s faaast! And finally, you can always stop to enjoy the sight of elegant telemarkers, flying down in dream of snow… I guess it must be true: Norwegians are born with skies on their feet.






... citeste-mi ceva de la poluri, te uita cum ninge decembre...