Genoa - Seaside

It was a Friday night, we were looking at the weather reports, sick and tired of cold, fog and rain. Genoa was only two hours away and the report saying 18 degrees and sun.

When we first came out of the fog we were in the outskirts of Genoa already. The landscape suddenly changes from flat to hilly and the road goes through tunnel after tunnel. Then as the last tunnel opening is past the wonderful view of the hills and the Mediterranean ocean reveal itself. We decided to park in the center and walk around to explore.

The first stop (not counting all the shops) was the square with all the fountains in front of the art museum. We enjoyed a milkshake and looked at the city life pass by. Next on the list was the famous via Garibaldi on the UNESCO world heritage list. It was a magnificent street with huge old rock buildings. Showing that this city once was very wealthy.

Later in the day we went to the seaside to join the crowds enjoying the sun by the harbor. Looking at all the yachts there are still some rich people left here. Sadly our Norwegian eating habits didn't go well with the Italians. It was impossible to find a restaurant open before 19.00. We couldn't last that long and lowered us self to a meal at McDonald's. After that we found it best to just go home. The day was great, but we learned an important lesson about finding a place to eat before we get too hungry.

Fountains and the city's Christmas tree.



My lovely wife in front of the Art museum.This old street is on the unesco world heritage list.



Palm trees.



Genoa harbour.One of the many yachts.

Sailing in San Benedetto del Tronto

One of my new friends in Italy invited a group of people to her home town to spend the weekend. I was the only one who went and I am glad I did.

After a long train ride we arrived in the evening, just in time for Italian dinner. Gloria's mum happens to be one of the Italians mothers that know how to cook. On the table was all kinds of meat, vegetables, cheese and drinks. I had no problem what so ever to get full. Even though the conversation language used was mainly Italian I felt very welcomed.

After dinner I went out with Gloria and her brothers. We walked through the streets and met people they know around every corner. The city life is lively even at night. We had a bike ride on the long beaches and I could imagine this to be a popular place in the summer. Now it was just too cold to enjoy the beach for summer activities.

Gloria's dad is an eager sailor. He even runs a sailing school. The Sunday we came he arranged a regatta. He let us go in one of the bigger sailboats for the race. I was very worried about my sea sickness, but I didn't tell anyone about it. Once aboard I felt good and enjoyed the drafting air out in the sea. The waves didn't bother me as much as they do on bigger ships. We got a great start in the regatta and our boat was in the lead the whole time. I cannot say I contributed by anything but keeping out of the way. I am pretty sure I got a tan sitting in the sun the entire day. Back in the house was homemade Italian pizza.

I do hope to come back to San Benedetto again. I am thinking this is a nice place to take my wife for a summer holiday. I won't tell her just yet, but this area is also where most of the Italian shoes are made. Besides it's so good to know you have friends in this place.

One of the sailors. Notice how far behind the other boats are.

We had plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine and the smell of the sea.


San Benedetto del Tronto housing.

Old Fiat 500. Old Lady.

Living in Italy

Considering the distance to Northern Italy is the same as to the North of Norway from my hometown I felt well prepared for the long ride.

The view over Lago Maggiore.

But the drive down here felt like an eternity, especially since my car was fully packed and I had to drive in the slow lane on the Autobahn all the way through Germany. Luckily the great view that met me once arriving to Ispra was awesome. During the first days here i got to walk around the area and take some photos.

A local farmer has been preparing for winter.

My reason for being by the foot of the Alps is through my job as a trainee in SVV. The Joint Research Center is under the European Commission and can simply be described as a research institution for the EU. I'll be a trainee her for 6 months working on the INSPIRE project. I will also be attending Italian classes and hopefully by the time I am leaving I'll be able to speak entire sentences.

Big fields of corn and industry is typical.

The area around where I now live is flat, moist and beautiful. Did you know that the biggest rice fields of Europe is here? The view of the Alps makes a awesome scenery and the snow of the peaks makes me dream for winter and skiing. There are two types of roads in Italy, you have the super fast Autostrada which are modern highways and then you have the local roads which are winding and narrow. Still it seems like the Italians prefers to put the pedal to the metal when they drive on either of the roads. The other day I was tail gated by this crazy driver, the car would stick to my rear no matter how fast I tried to pull away. When the speed slowed down in a roundabout and I got to see the old lady driving I was totally perplexed.

Homemade sushi

Delicious homemade sushi

Norwegians are not known to be running down restaurants, we keep the traditions of eating at home, making our own carefully prepared food (Grandiosa), convinced it's the healthiest food we can get. Supper is also the only warm meal we eat, by all means we can't be said to be high maintenance eating dark bread for the rest of the meals in a day. Coffee, desert and cakes is another story. The coffee must be dark with no milk or sugar. The dessert is simply some kind of pudding or stewed fruits, few ingredients, but oh so good. I am not getting into the cakes as it just would end up with me craving something I shouldn't eat.

Living in Canada showed me a new way of getting food. I can't even remember how many times I was dining out. It sure beats making your own supper-for-one kind of thing. My roommates at BCIT had the privilege(!) of introducing me to sushi. I remember being fairly sceptical to eating raw fish, but then I remembered we Norwegians eat rotten fish(link) and fish(link)baked in caustic soda. With my fear blown away I was sold with my first tempura and califorinia roll. After my first sushi meal I felt full, good full, a feeling I would be craving many times.

Being me and having a girlfriend who is great with food I had my first meal of homemade sushi not too long ago. First of all, getting all the right ingredients was not a stroll in the park, after wandering the shelfs of 5 food stores we had gathered all the needed material. Lessons learned from making sushi at home:

• Preparing sticky rice is almost like making risgrøt(link).
• Cutting fish and vegetables is not as easy as it looks on TV.
• I wish I had a good knife(link).
• If you have 3 huge plates filled with rolls it's more than enough for a family so don't fill 2 more plates.
• Having a girlfriend who knows what to do is KEY.

Arctic awesomeness

Ever since I was a small child I've traveled the 1000 km up north annually. Most of the times to visit my relatives with my family. To me it's been a place of freedom, to relax, stay up late at night and have fun. My latest trip was no exception to the latter.

My good friend Johannes lives in Tromsø with his wife Live where they have a small apartment. The large windows make up for the small space, viewing the harbour and the coast mountains. Anywho the day after my arrival we packed our backpacks and headed to the inland mountains just by the border of Sweden and Finland. On the way up to the cabin we had gotten distracted and it was getting dark fast, there had been no time for supper either. We stopped at a gas station to pay the hunting license and found to our great surprise they were having some kind of campaign and were giving away free hot dog meals. When we finally parked the car the darkness was ubiquitous and the next 3,5 hours or 11 km we walked in total darkness. The cabin was spacious and had all the utilities needed for a good base camp. We lit a fire in the oven and went to sleep. Around 3 in the morning I woke up feeling it hard to breath and I was soaking wet. The warmth was unbearable, I opened a window and I felt a flow of fresh air eas up my breathing. We left this sauna for one of the other bedrooms with a more human sleeping temperature.

The next days we started the day walking to where the three line start to find the areas where the grouse was likely to be. Walking win the shotgun ready to lift up and aim is while covering great distances makes two hunters hungry. Stopping once and again filling up on peanuts and chocolate. Walking in beautiful surroundings is much better than the ordinary stroll in the park kind of walk. If we stopped and listened we would only hear the wind and when the wind let go nothing else put silence. No people, cars, roads to see anywhere around us. Sadly we could say the same about the grouse, an absent we had to make stop.

Suddenly we see two birds flying up at a far distance, and a grin fill both of our faces. Carefully determined we sneak towards where the birds landed. We are ready, the Adrenalin starts pumping, focus is 100% and PANG. Johannes shot one of the birds the second one lands close by and I see my chance. I walk towards it with my gun held high aiming at where it landed. My heart is beating so hard It's like I can hear it. Suddenly, on a rock I see it. It's watching me coming closer, stretches the neck and prepares a flight. But before it could lift a wing I pulled the trigger and I had shot my first grouse.

London on my own

In many ways I am a realist. I am able to think of the most things that are likely to come my way where ever I am headed. My experience tells me so. Having this quality I am not the easiest person to surprise. Last month it was a quarter of a century since I came to this world. And to my great surprise I got a birthday gift I had no idea about. I was so lucky to get a weekend in London, UK. I was thrilled, it felt great to get such a pleasant surprise. The only downside, you might say, was that it would be on my own.

I admit the tickling in the stomach when finally at the airport ready to leave never seems to give in. Mainly business people are on the flight with me, it strengthen the feeling of traveling by my self. Finding the Norwegian YMCA is easy, especially since I got a little help from my new GPS phone. And what a neighbourhood, I see embassies, fancy cars and clean streets. I am given a warm welcome, one of the staff is giving me a tour of this 5 storey house. The ceiling is stretching high above my head and I immediately get a feeling of exclusivity. I've shown to a room with 4 beds. This will be my place to sleep and rest the next 3 days. Included in the good price they serve breakfast, lunch and supper. Some of the staff are young Norwegians working here for a year, they are friendly and very including. This is a place easy to meet and get to know new people.

Exploring London is a project of unlimited time. What to see and what to do in just three days? One of the first activities I did was walking, I walked from one famous place to another. London Eye, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. It was quite the stroll. After that I was leaving most of the travelling to the excellent London public transportation. I'm quite amazed by all the people walking Oxford street, not even the streets of Beijing is crowded like this. A friend of my family took time to show me around the area around Piccadilly Circus, having seen the great malls we had both a very nice dinner and wonderful muffins for dessert.

London gives great diversity across the city, from the city center to the not so nice Southwark neighbourhood, to the fancy business area Canary Wharf and to green and cosy Greenwich. I spent a long afternoon in Greenwich walking the park and visiting the free museums. Studying geomatics gives me a certain good reason to visit the Royal Observatory at Greenwich where the main meridian lays. The old markeds where they sell anything handmade from food to paintings really satisfied my need for local arts and cusine. There are many more things I want to see and do in London so this was definitely not the last time.

Holland Park Neighbourhood

St James Park

London Eye

Me and two great people from the YMCA staff

Holland Park

The world largest painting on a ceiling in Greenwich

Greenwhich Park

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Wild Berries

The sky is dark grey and it is as small streams are coming down pondering to the ground. There is a cold breeze coming from the window. The drag from the air smells like morning. It's time to get up although all I really want is to stay in bed and sleep. I think I could sleep for a week or even more. I keep thinking of all the happy and good experiences happening during the last years. It's been so good...

One of the things I like to do is to hike in the wilderness. This time I had just spent too much time at home and needed to get away. By myself I packed the backpack with the things I need for a good day out. Finding the first and best place to make some food I started up the burner, put the pan on and poured the pancake mix in it. Nothing tastes as good as outdoors. Sitting enjoying the view, the smell of fresh pancakes and picking blueberry and cranberry for desert. I am glad I can enjoy nature on my own. Feel the distress coming over me and everything is in my paste. But I can also feel the urge to share this feeling, this moment. It's so wonderful, energy is refilled and it's hard not to smile. Up here there are no worries.