Sleeping on an air mattress next to the main road turns out to be loud and reasonably comfortable, also because the British windows do not seem to be more than a couple of micrometers thick. (Darn, I bloody miss New Zealand!) It was not perceivably louder when we opened them in the morning.
We walked around in the city, very British, cosy, and nice indeed!! We had a bus tour to the institute (and algae) of the friend who made her PhD at Kent University. At the beach we took a nice fish'n'chips and headed back home, not without buying some unhealthy stuff in the nice shops in Canterbury.
Then, haha, we watched two episodes of the very first Star Trek series and it was time for me to head back to London... Heading back to my home in Oslo...
2013.10.25 - London IV
Going to bed with TV shows to watch is always somewhat good. And therefore I woke up early and relaxed. Also, the blister was continuously getting more comfortable to deal with, nice! After a decent breakfast I finally tried to hide a geocaching-travel-bug in a cash; I had promised to do so to my flat mate.. Those travel bags have to be hidden somewhere for others to be found and travel around the world. I just saw the Big Ben but did not find the cash. I walked around for a bit more, went to the British Museum. Then it was already time to collect my backpack from the hostel and go to Viktoria Coach Station where I met my two Austrian friends. We took the bus to Canterbury to visit a mutual friend. So many Austrian friends at once! That's unusual, but good indeed. We had a nice burger and very nice talks, good to see good people!!
2013.10.24 - London III
Another social encounter was planned for today. At 10.00, I met another friend from Vienna in Camden, and we walked around in Camden Town. Go there if you are in London, that's a special place with awesome shops, in the area of a former stable. We went to have a view on the city from Primrose Hill, then I continued (again by myself) via Regent's park and took an obligatory shot of Baker Str 221b or whatever it is. Now I have to watch the current Sherlock show again to compare if it really was the same door (oh no!). Then, a quick tour in the Science museum, the normal walking-around-a-bit toward the hostel, and a decent dinner, kind of, a 500ml Ben&Jerries. But I reckon, I am eating way to healthy in Oslo, so I need a bit of a change. Then, finishing the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy part 2 (first time in my life I've read a book in 3 days, my English must really have improved somehow!) and catching up with you, dear diary! Sweet dreams to all the readers out there in continental Europe.
2010.10.23 - London II
Walked up, walked again back to the city, together with all my belongings. I was going to change hostel. The one in the east of the city (the cheapest of the youth hostel hostels, "Thameside") was really quite remote. And expensive. And shabby. So I moved to another hostel where I walked to, with all my luggage. I walked to the London bridge, I walked to Monument, Bank and all the skyscrapers, St. Paul's, Trafalgar Squ., Green Park. There I went to the first hour of the free guided tours (the guide was the actor of the current Mikado commercial!) and then I took my first non-walking journey to the London Eye. There, I met two friends, one of which we surprised with me suddenly being there, she was going to leave to New Zealand, so it was really good to see her again .. Who knows when we are going to see each other next time!! We took a river cruise back to London Bridge, had a fish and chips around Covent Garden. Then they had to go, and I went to Kings Cross to make a bit of Warner-Bros sightseeing, and yielded to my desire to watch a movie. So I saw Schwarzenegger and Stallone. I am glad that my English is already so good that I can fully understand Stallone! After that, another bit of walking, and finally bed. Hello, blisters! Second time in my life (I think) I got blisters. What to do with them? Ignore them! So, now to the central hostel called White Ferry (1a Sutherland Street, Victoria), worth recommending.
2013.10.22 - London I
Woke up extra early to have enough time to leave. Had a good breakfast, had a glimpse at the kitchen watch and thought I have enough time. I went out of the house, looked at my phone and saw that I have not at all enough time. I went as fast as possible to the bus terminal but was 3 min too late, the bus had already left. Damn. I waited for 40 min for the train + bus that took me there (Airport Rygge) and surprisingly made it there, but hey, the last time I had synthesized so much adrenaline was when I was going bungee jumping.
Ryan air flights turn out to be quite normal, there's nothing that was terrifying me, I arrived safely in London. The time the bus took to get to London Victoria made clear that I haven't been in a big city for quite a while. Wow. So huge. So jammed. I am glad I am in Oslo. It's cosy there.
London feels great, so much londony aspects, red buses everywhere, and the English language of course, very nice indeed.
I walked around for a bit, towards the Buckingham Palace, watched the guards for a bit, walked around in the green park, and then took the famous tube which took ages to get near my hostel. There, I realised that the English are not only using yard and I don't know what, but also another system of power plugs. Weeeell that's stupid. So I hope my phone is not being stolen at this moment from the USB port of the public computer downstairs in this youth hostel...
No it was not. In the evening I took a long walk from the Thameside Youth Hostel to Piccadilly Circus, where I was planning to meet this friend of mine. He is here at the same time as me, completely accidentally! He is here to spend some last days with someone who is heading home after being in London. So, after some time I gave up waiting, let them have their time, and took the subway to the hostel, maybe we meet tomorrow.
Ryan air flights turn out to be quite normal, there's nothing that was terrifying me, I arrived safely in London. The time the bus took to get to London Victoria made clear that I haven't been in a big city for quite a while. Wow. So huge. So jammed. I am glad I am in Oslo. It's cosy there.
London feels great, so much londony aspects, red buses everywhere, and the English language of course, very nice indeed.
I walked around for a bit, towards the Buckingham Palace, watched the guards for a bit, walked around in the green park, and then took the famous tube which took ages to get near my hostel. There, I realised that the English are not only using yard and I don't know what, but also another system of power plugs. Weeeell that's stupid. So I hope my phone is not being stolen at this moment from the USB port of the public computer downstairs in this youth hostel...
No it was not. In the evening I took a long walk from the Thameside Youth Hostel to Piccadilly Circus, where I was planning to meet this friend of mine. He is here at the same time as me, completely accidentally! He is here to spend some last days with someone who is heading home after being in London. So, after some time I gave up waiting, let them have their time, and took the subway to the hostel, maybe we meet tomorrow.
2013.10.19 - Tønsberg
Just a quick day trip to Tønsberg. The 'oldest city of Norway'. A friend of mine who had the idea of going there was hoping to see band members of her favorite band 'Seigmon'. We walked around and actually really saw and talked to Alex of this band, well that was luck! Nice cosy city, residence of the king in some old days ... Pictures will follow, sooner or later.
Yeha! The version of my two texts I am due in a week are more or less done, at least I would already dare to send them as they are. I finally started to do corrections on my master thesis. In order to do so, I did it the norwegian way and sent a mail to the chef of the choir and asked if it was possible for me to not come that evening. Imagine that would be the normal way for everything.. Anyway, right now I am on the way to London, next adventure awaits. And afterwards it's master thesis, hopefully the creation of the very last version of it!
And about the photos, be patient ... They have not first priority ;) have a good one.
Yeha! The version of my two texts I am due in a week are more or less done, at least I would already dare to send them as they are. I finally started to do corrections on my master thesis. In order to do so, I did it the norwegian way and sent a mail to the chef of the choir and asked if it was possible for me to not come that evening. Imagine that would be the normal way for everything.. Anyway, right now I am on the way to London, next adventure awaits. And afterwards it's master thesis, hopefully the creation of the very last version of it!
And about the photos, be patient ... They have not first priority ;) have a good one.
2013.10.15 - Bergen
Monday evening, after the choir rehearsal, I took the night train to Bergen. Again, I was lucky. The last week or so, the way between Bergen and Oslo was compromised and no train could come through. A couple of hours before my train left, it was announced that everything is fine again.
The train left perfectly on time at 23.22 and arrived at 06.51. I walked up a random hill, took heaps of pictures and wrote some diary/blogpost/this. The random hill turned out to be the Tøyen hill, where the cable car is going up. So I saved some money and had some fresh air. Win/win.
The stupid thing is, that I booked the journey to Bergen (this week) and to London (next week) before I could know that I would have quite a lot to do for university. For the uni in Oslo, I had to do homework for the norwegian course, but that's not much. For "Introduction into the old norse and celtic culture", I have to write two papers, one for each parts. In my whole life, I have never heard anything about this whole stuff. Additionally, it's all in norwegian. So, it's quite some effort to understand what they want from me and what I have to write. As I also want to finish it, I spent both afternoons in the university here in Bergen, continuing to research and write. Because when it's done, I can deal with my master thesis, and I want to have this bloody thing done, believe me....!!!
I stayed with a Brazilian couchsurfer who is studying in Bergen for two semesters. As I arrived in Bergen at 7.00 in the morning and was productive (hiking&studying) until 18.00. I slept more than 9 hours (9h30) which is very much for me. Probably I missed to see some northern lights that night, but hey.
The next day, I was not really planning to do anything. I was thinking about taking a fjord-tour, but the one that was recommended to me is just being offered from 01jul to 31aug. So, next time. Instead, I walked up the Ulriketoppen, apparently the highest mountain right next to the city, and walked then back home to Oslo again, right into the library, yay! I am so out of shape, my legs trembled when I walked down, my muscles need some more exercise. I think it makes a big difference that I don't have to climb that little hill at home in Austria; it's just a few meters but apparently it keeps the muscles active.
The next and last day, I just had one or two hours before taking the train back home. I went to the Fantoft Stavkirke, the church which was first burned down by a member of the black metal scene. Then, I had a yummy fish'n'chips, enjoyed to sun for a couple of minutes (not a single drop in three days!) and into the train back to my home in Oslo ...
The train left perfectly on time at 23.22 and arrived at 06.51. I walked up a random hill, took heaps of pictures and wrote some diary/blogpost/this. The random hill turned out to be the Tøyen hill, where the cable car is going up. So I saved some money and had some fresh air. Win/win.
The stupid thing is, that I booked the journey to Bergen (this week) and to London (next week) before I could know that I would have quite a lot to do for university. For the uni in Oslo, I had to do homework for the norwegian course, but that's not much. For "Introduction into the old norse and celtic culture", I have to write two papers, one for each parts. In my whole life, I have never heard anything about this whole stuff. Additionally, it's all in norwegian. So, it's quite some effort to understand what they want from me and what I have to write. As I also want to finish it, I spent both afternoons in the university here in Bergen, continuing to research and write. Because when it's done, I can deal with my master thesis, and I want to have this bloody thing done, believe me....!!!
I stayed with a Brazilian couchsurfer who is studying in Bergen for two semesters. As I arrived in Bergen at 7.00 in the morning and was productive (hiking&studying) until 18.00. I slept more than 9 hours (9h30) which is very much for me. Probably I missed to see some northern lights that night, but hey.
The next day, I was not really planning to do anything. I was thinking about taking a fjord-tour, but the one that was recommended to me is just being offered from 01jul to 31aug. So, next time. Instead, I walked up the Ulriketoppen, apparently the highest mountain right next to the city, and walked then back home to Oslo again, right into the library, yay! I am so out of shape, my legs trembled when I walked down, my muscles need some more exercise. I think it makes a big difference that I don't have to climb that little hill at home in Austria; it's just a few meters but apparently it keeps the muscles active.
The next and last day, I just had one or two hours before taking the train back home. I went to the Fantoft Stavkirke, the church which was first burned down by a member of the black metal scene. Then, I had a yummy fish'n'chips, enjoyed to sun for a couple of minutes (not a single drop in three days!) and into the train back to my home in Oslo ...
2013.10.13 - Trondheim
It's been some day since the last time i wrote something.
The reason for this blogpost is the trip to Trondheim with my new choir, the Oslo Voices. We have rehearsed around a dozen of songs, had a kind of test concert on last monday, and on friday the big day was there, meeting everyone from the choir at the gate, and flying to Trondheim.
I was quite lucky that I had a chance beforehand to have a short trip home to Austria, I would have had to buy a black suit, so I could just bring the one from home.
Anyway. We arrived in Trondheim, took the bus to our rather luxurious hotel (Radisson blu) and directly headed to our first appointment, singing for a relative of a guy in the choir. Then we changed to more comfy stuff and went to have dinner together. I there realised - those are all working people! They have money to spend! But the food was adequately wonderful. Around midnight, I was in bed, of course not without having been out to take some shots of the most important touristic sites.
Next morning - stunning breakfast buffet - rehearsal, concert in the afternoon at the Vår Frue Church. Dinner, sleep, breakfast, and then came the highlight of the week end - we sang in the Nidaros Dome, first a mass of Frank Martin during the service, and then four songs just on ourselves. Wonderful! In the afternoon we had another two concerts in the Vår Frue, but that was not THAT stunning.
Well, and that was it already. Flight back to Oslo and back to university-business.
The next day, as every monday, two lectures and choir rehearsal, now with christmas songs. Happy christmas everyone! It's unavoidable...
In the norwegian class, everyone who is too late has to make an extra homework. Last week, the teacher came too late. She couldn't really do homework, so she did make a carrot cake for us!
Next tour: Bergen, from whose hill I am writing these lines to you.
The reason for this blogpost is the trip to Trondheim with my new choir, the Oslo Voices. We have rehearsed around a dozen of songs, had a kind of test concert on last monday, and on friday the big day was there, meeting everyone from the choir at the gate, and flying to Trondheim.
I was quite lucky that I had a chance beforehand to have a short trip home to Austria, I would have had to buy a black suit, so I could just bring the one from home.
Anyway. We arrived in Trondheim, took the bus to our rather luxurious hotel (Radisson blu) and directly headed to our first appointment, singing for a relative of a guy in the choir. Then we changed to more comfy stuff and went to have dinner together. I there realised - those are all working people! They have money to spend! But the food was adequately wonderful. Around midnight, I was in bed, of course not without having been out to take some shots of the most important touristic sites.
Next morning - stunning breakfast buffet - rehearsal, concert in the afternoon at the Vår Frue Church. Dinner, sleep, breakfast, and then came the highlight of the week end - we sang in the Nidaros Dome, first a mass of Frank Martin during the service, and then four songs just on ourselves. Wonderful! In the afternoon we had another two concerts in the Vår Frue, but that was not THAT stunning.
Well, and that was it already. Flight back to Oslo and back to university-business.
The next day, as every monday, two lectures and choir rehearsal, now with christmas songs. Happy christmas everyone! It's unavoidable...
In the norwegian class, everyone who is too late has to make an extra homework. Last week, the teacher came too late. She couldn't really do homework, so she did make a carrot cake for us!
Next tour: Bergen, from whose hill I am writing these lines to you.
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