Noaptea de Sanziene sau Sankthansaften

Trondheim, 22.06.2008, ora 0:00...

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Long summer days...

I loved enjoying the lazy Norwegian sun the last week, when Scandinavia finally had the best weather in all Europe. Done with my diploma (yes, I’m almost a graduate ;) ) and after spending one week in Southern surroundings, I was shocked to find a Norwegian capital in 100% summer holiday mood. The entire city was outside, on the terraces, in the parks, eating ice cream, drinking bear, grilling, sun bathing (on every single green spot), playing games, chilling, but most of all, staring at the sun (I was not the only one)…
However, the best place in town was the new Opera House, which I was very excited to see. The white marble mass coming out of the water, the different planes and lines, the squared glass and finally the wooden interior give a very spacious, harmonious and simple impression. Everything seems to be just as it is supposed to in this white dimension, where everybody feels at ease. Enjoy the pics in my Oslo album and, if your interested, read up more about the building and the architects (same ones that build the Library of Alexandria and recently won the competition for King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture) here!

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!!!

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...