Helsinki

We had a wonderful time exploring Helsinki (and guess what? We didn't have to chase the sun, it was just there, waiting for us!)
We crammed so much in to 4 days, ate too much good food, walked til our feet were blistered, ate wonderful ice cream (who knew licorice & lemon was such a good ice cream combo?)
Helsinki is the city I wish Oslo was. Super friendly, clean, a pleasure to wander around, great places to eat that don't break the bank, good manners,cool shops and bike friendly. Now, if I could just find a way to sneakily bring Helsinki to Oslo and swap them over......

Come fly with me

Leaving Finland 

Arriving in Norway

Chasing the sun

We tried chasing the sun all over mid/north Denmark. Some days we found it and lazed around on quiet beaches and swam in the sea, other days dark clouds and drizzle followed us everywhere we went.We made the most of it. We bbq'd sausages (English sausages too, we found those at a danish supermarket!) under our umbrellas,ate too many ice creams and danish pastries, we dodged jellyfish on the calm east coast and battled the wild, cold sea on the west coast.

Denmark

 

We just got back from 6 great days in Denmark staying in a very rustic (maybe a little too rustic for my taste!) farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. We drove over 1500km all over Denmark, eating our way around the country, lounging on white sandy beaches (when weather allowed) chatting to friendly Danes (and being amazed that I could hold a norwegian conversation and be understood, and kind of understand them too!) seeing the sights, shopping and taking advantage of the saying "It's good to be a norwegian in Denmark!"
Off to Helsinki tomorrow so just attacking a giant pile of laundry!
p.s The cheeky looking Lab is Junior who loved Henrik (and Henrik loved him back)
We borrowed him often for long evening walks and swims in the fjord.

Here comes the sun

The sun made a much needed return to the Oslo area today which brightened our moods but what also returned was my stiff neck which resulted in me walking around like a robot for the day unable to turn to the left. This often happens to me just as I finish work for a holiday, it's like my body winds down but something says,"ha, you may be on holiday but we are now going to give you something to moan about!" Good job I smuggled a whole load of good british painkillers to Norway last week!

This week

I finish work for 2 weeks day after the easiest working week ever. Just 5 kids at the Barnehage, me and another co-worker whose level of norwegian is similar to mine. I was nervous about the language with no native norwegians around for language help but I have coped and my norwegian feels stronger than ever. I feel proud even when being pulled up by a 5 year old when I told him I was feeling dirty, even though I meant to say I was feeling tired!!  (Tired=sliten   Dirty=skitten)  Oi Oi Oi I'm still making stuuuuupid mistakes!
Have a great weekend folks!
P.s If anyone has any good Helsinki tips please send them my way! Thanks :)

cruel summer

I'm really feeling the need to escape Norway for a while. The weather is shockingly shite.
The food is annoying me (it always does when I've been to England) and I'm really ready for our holiday in Denmark (and Finland too, we just booked flights and an Airbnb flat yesterday!)
Tonight I made a yummy middle eastern inspired dinner. Some kind of thrown together persian stylie rice number with a fattoush salad which we stuffed ourselves silly with. Thank god I can cook because with the terrible food choices in this country I'd have slit my throat many months ago if I was not able to whip up anything other than kjeeeeeeeedelig norsk mat! (boring norwegian food)

Our weekend

What a lazy weekend we have had.
Eating, snoozing, watching films, swimming, reading.
My only complaint about the cottage is the bugs. They are everywhere. I shake the bed covers before we get in, check under the pillows, hoover up all the dead bugs when we arrive and slap giant ants that crawl on us in the middle of the night. Some nights I drive Henrik nuts switching the light on and off looking for something I thought I felt... ugh....
Friday night we discovered we have a wasps nest inside the roof which had me almost back in the car heading back in the direction of Oslo. This city girl is learning to love the countryside!

England

Just got back from a very relaxing break in NW England (Liverpool,Lancashire (where I grew up) and Chester) We've eaten purely Waitrose and M&S food and stocked up our wardrobes.
It wasn't really a planned trip as my mum was supposed to be coming here to Norway but after flying here at christmas she was struck down (literally) with positional vertigo which has turned her life upside down for the last 6 months so we thought we would visit her instead. I love going home.
So good just to speak english and hear please,thank you and sorry being totally overused. Love it!