My favourite place

I love the countryside.

Listening to the birds' dawn chorus in the mornings
The wind rustling the leaves
The silence of the empty roads
The clear, starry, night skies

The different plants and animals
Sounds and aromas
The differences of countrysides around the world
The similarities

The fjords and mountains of Norway, equally beautiful at any time of year.
The snowcapped mountains in winter
Everything coming to life in spring
The lush greenery of summer
The fiery colours of autumn

The rolling hills of the UK countryside.
The hedges and old dry stone walls separating the fields
The little old villages that time forgot
The ruins of civilisations that was.

The adventure begins

.... Well, the adventure began a few days ago actually, but this is a different (or an extra) adventure. It's Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

Islands of Adventure was more the way I thought Universal Studios would be, clearer sections. Like yesterday, I headed counter-clockwise around the park, and so the first section I got to was Seuss Landing. I haven't read many Dr. Seuss books but I quite enjoy the films. I went on the Cat in the Hat ride, which was good, probably more fun for the younger crowd, but I did enjoy it.

The next section was the Lost Continent where I attended Poseidon's Fury. It was a really good attraction, I walked through Poseidon's temple on a guided tour, with special effects, with a large group. The guide was really funny and the end of the tour was a lot of fun, I don't want to give too much away, you should see it for yourselves!

The next section was the one I had been looking forward to the most, Harry Potter! I'm not a big fan of the films, but I love the books. Well. I like the films if it has been a long, long time since I read the books, that way I can't remember the books so well that I compare them all the time. Which reminds me.. I want to re-read the books, again. And I still haven't seen the last few films... I've got some catching up to do!

Anyway, I digress. The Harry Potter part was really nice. You walk through a winter version of Hogsmeade, where you can buy wands, clothes and other Harry Potter related things. The only thing I bought was a Butterbeer-slushie. I've never had a butterbeer before. I was worried I wouldn't like it, that it would be too sweet and sickly since I pretty much only drink water, but it wasn't. The butterbeer was really tasty, I wish they sold it everywhere so I could buy some whenever I wanted! I was also quite brave (for me) and I went on the Hogwarts ride. I was really nervous before I got on it but I knew I'd be kicking myself if I didn't go on it. It was a fun ride actually. Yes, I got dizzy and nauseous, but mostly I thought it was quite fun.

By the way, the single rider queue is awesome! The wait for the Hogwarts ride was supposed to be around 60 minutes, but because they had a separate queue for single riders I probably only waited 10-15 minutes! A handy tool if you're travelling alone or if you're in a party that doesn't mind being split up for the ride (why would you mind if you're all adults travelling together? It's not like you can talk much during most rides anyway).

As I walked to the next section, Jurassic Park, it started raining, so I walked into the Discovery Centre. Not too bothered about that one to be honest, more for children as far as I could tell. When I walked back out again it was throwing it down and I could hear a thunderstorm in the distance, it wasn't as bad as yesterday but I still waited for a little bit, until the rain eased up, before I emerged from my shelter. I had been wanting to go on the Jurassic Park River Adventure, but they had closed it due to the weather, I waited around for a little bit, but as there was nowhere to sit down I decided to just move on to the next part of the park. I hate standing around without anything to do.

Toon Lagoon was next. I loved it! I have read many of the toons featured there, in Norwegian. I used to buy Beetle Bailey every time a new issue came out. Blondie is one of the comics my mum buys for Christmas every year, and Hägar always had some guest strips or pages in the Beetle Bailey mags. It was a fun little section of the park. They also had Popeyes boat, and if you walk along the little path behind it there are lots of little fun things hiding. Like a school for fish and Plymouth Rock, shaped like a Plymouth amongst other things.

Next I "geeked it up" with the Marvels section. I am so glad someone introduced me to the Avengers and some of the other Marvels films, like Fantastic 4 and the individual films for each superhero. It was a nice section of the park. I went on the Spiderman ride, which was a lot of fun. They also had a single rider section so I didn't have to queue for long. I am sensing a pattern here with only going on the simulator rides... It feels safer, I know it's only a screen and nothing too bad can happen to me if something fails.

Marvels is the last section on the Islands of Adventure, but I didn't end my day there. I had really wanted to go on the Men in Black ride at Universal so I decided to head back there and go on it. Again, they had a single rider queue so I got to the front of the line fast. It was a really fun ride. You shoot at aliens and get spun around a lot, I actually wanted to go on it again, despite feeling nauseated and having a headache, because I wanted to get a better score. Unfortunately I had to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Tomorrow I am getting up early and heading to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I think.

Right to brag

Tell us about something you (or a person close to you) have done recently (or not so recently) that has made you really, unabashedly proud. - The Daily Post

I am incredibly proud of my little sister Caroline for having the courage to follow her dreams.

She has just finished a year as an exchange student at a high school in Wisconsin. I remember thinking about doing a year abroad when I was her age but I wasn't brave enough to travel alone until later. Caroline decided a long time ago that this was something she wanted to do, she worked hard, saved her money and did it!

In Norway she would still have one year left at school, but in America she was a senior and so she also got to have an American graduation ceremony, with the cape and hat. I wish I had been there to see it. Even at university level Norway doesn't have the whole hat and cape thing (Only a couple of them have started doing it in the last couple of years, by student request), so it was also a special experience for our mum and her husband who went to the ceremony.

She is now doing a coach trip from LA to New York to see more of America before going back to Norway. How I wish I could join her!

City planners

If you could clone one element from another city you've visited - a building, a cultural institution, a common street food, etc. - and bring it back to you own hometown, what would it be? - The Daily Prompt

I would import something I've seen in a few cities. And I would want to bring it to all cities and towns. An outdoor skating rink. They have one in Oslo, they have one in New York, they even had one on Bondi Beach in Sydney! I haven't been skating since I went to school, but if I knew there was always one there in winter, maybe even a free one, I think maybe I would get some skates and go more often.

Spikersuppa, Oslo, Norway

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Rockefeller centre, New York, USA

Another thing I think would be really nice to clone is the street art culture in Melbourne, Australia. I wouldn't want it on the old historical buildings of course, but in alleys between newer buildings it can really liven it up, make it seem less scary.

Vestnes

Last week I was back in Norway for a few days. It was really nice to see some of my family and friends again, and there was even a little bit of snow!

Asterix

One of my friends who lives in Trondheim had travelled down to Molde for a few days so I was very happy to see her for a few hours on Tuesday before she had to head back north. 

Before I left the UK I had already decided that I wanted to walk up one of the small mountains and watch the sun rise over the mountains, weather permitting. As my mum was off work I managed to convince her to come with me. I'll admit, when I woke up Wednesday morning I was kind of hoping for an overcast sky so I could go back to sleep but as soon as I saw the stars when looking through the blinds I was happy to get out of bed.

When we parked at the parking lot for the mountain we were nervous we were going to miss the sunrise as the sky was already pink above the mountaintops, so we walked fairly quickly to the top… Which isn't really that quick when there is snow on the ground and you're very unfit.

When we got to the top the sun luckily hadn't come up over the mountains yet so we found a nice place with a view to sit down and have some tea and "tjukklefse" (a local snack). 

How we didn't loose our fingers to frostbite I don't know! The sun took its sweet time getting all the way over the mountains. In the paper it had said sunrise would be at 9.45, but as we came to realise that means the sea-level sunrise, not the mountaintop sunrise. 

It was still completely worth it though and we both got some very nice pictures, I only had my phone camera to take pictures with as I didn't pack my DSLR for this trip to Norway.

Although I had things planned for every day I was in Vestnes I din't feel like I was rushing about at all, it still felt like a relaxing vacation, but then again it's more like going home than anything else, and I don't have to go to work!

The best game in the world!

10 Lake Spectacular Winter Tour

On Friday I had booked the 10 Lake Spectacular Winter tour with Mountain Goat through GetYourGuide. I had actually booked it for Thursday but right after I booked  it they told me that one was full, luckily, since I was still planning to be in Windermere on Friday, they offered to move me onto that tour instead. 

The minibus picked me up from my B&B and once everyone was picked up we were 6 passengers on the minibus. Our guide for the day was Tony, who I have to say have a perfect voice for being a guide, he spoke clearly and not too fast, he also seemed very knowledgeable as well as interested in what he was telling us about, as all good guides should be.

I'm not going to tell you about every step of the tour as I think you should go and experience it for yourselves if you can. I also don't have pictures of every single lake anyway as sometimes the minibus stopped in places where we couldn't get out to take pictures. It might be just as well though as I think sometimes I get too focused on looking through the camera lens and I don't actually see what's around me.

The first place we stopped was Kirkstone pass, with its 500meters it's the highest pass in the Lake District, going up it was kind of like going up a steep mountain road in Norway. The view was amazing and I bet it's even more so when the sky is clear, but at least it was dry on Friday, and seeing the top of the fells hiding in the clouds is pretty cool as well.

With the high fells and big lakes driving through the Lake District was a lot like driving through Norway, until we came to the very typical small british villages; some of them very small but packed with character! Some places along the road there were flood markers, apparently the water sometimes get as high as 3 feet!

One of the best views on the tour was from the lookout named Surprise View, where we could see Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake in the distance. Apparently even prettier in summer but I really liked it with all the pretty autumn colours. A little bit down the road from Surprise view is Ashness Bridge, built in the 1600's and apparently the most photographed bridge in England.

We stopped for lunch in Keswick, I have been there before, in 2009 but couldn't really remember much other than Moot Hall. It's a nice village to wander around in, we had just over an hour for lunch and since I just grabbed a sandwich from an independent sandwich shop I had plenty of time to do just that. There are a lot of shops selling hiking equipment (not surprising when you consider where you are) and also a lot of sweet, chocolate and fudge shops. There was even a Norwegian store.

After lunch we stopped at Castlerigg stone circle which is about 4000-5000 years old, the stones are smaller than the ones at Stonehenge but like Stonehenge they don't really know what it was used for. Part of it is called the Sanctuary, and I kind of wonder if that's a name they have come up with in later times, as I find it strange if they know what part of it was called but not what it was used for… Why would only the name of part of it be preserved through history but nothing else?

The reservoir that provides Manchester with water, Thirlmere, is also in the Lake District, a long way to go just to get some water. Two villages were lost when they created the reservoir, but at least it looks pretty.

We also stopped in Grasmere for half an hour, this is where the Wordsworth graves are. The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop is of course there, it is over 100 years old, stepping inside it is a bit like stepping back in time, definitely worth a visit for more than the special gingerbread, which tastes a lot more of actual ginger than the usual gingerbread you get at Christmas.

In all the 10 Lake Spectacular Winter Tour was good, I learned a lot and saw lots of beautiful places. 

It shouldn't be this difficult...

I though I had finally found something I wanted to study. It was an online study with the Open University, which isn't really what I wanted, but I figured that even if I went to a "proper" university I would have to do a lot of work on my own, so I have to to just make myself focus and study.

Then it came to the payment options… Let me tell you, studying in the UK is NOT cheap!! The full cost of what I was thinking about studying would come to over £15000 for the whole degree.

First I tried applying for a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England. They would not approve my application as I have not lived in the UK continuously the last 3 years and I am not from an EU country (the EEA countries were not included in the countries eligible for a loan).

Then I tried Open University Student Budget Accounts, they would also not approve my application, there was no explanation but I'm guessing it's because I don't make enough money so that maybe I wouldn't be able to pay the monthly instalments.

The last thing I looked at was support from Norway. I have to be in full time education to be eligible for that…

I guess people just moving to the UK just can't get a part-time education unless they have heaps of money to spare.

It is tempting to go into full-time education just so that I can get financial support from Norway, but I'm just worried they won't approve me either for some reason or other. Moreover, just the idea of studying instead of working when I have been working for so long is terrifying!! 

I don't know what I'm going to do, but I feel like getting a good education should't be so expensive that people struggle to get one!

VIP Visitors

My mum and sister came to visit me for a few days earlier this week, it was very nice to see them especially as my sister is headed to USA this autumn for a year, so even if I go back to Norway on holiday in the next year I won't see her.

The weather has been great while they've been here, sunny and close to 30 degrees, perfect weather for a holiday. They arrived Sunday night so we just had some dinner together before they headed to the B&B across the road for some shuteye. 

On Monday we headed to Sherwood Forest, home of Robin Hood. None of us really knew if there was anything to see there or not but of course we've all heard of Robin Hood, who hasn't with all the films and TV series about him?

We had a nice walk in Sherwood Forest, apparently you can get walking maps in the visitor centre there but we just followed the signs towards the giant oak. When we got to the giant oak mum paid for my sister and I to do some archery with a longbow which was really fun. If you're going to learn archery, what better place to do so than Sherwood Forest? It was quite fun and it turned into a little competition between my sister and I. She won. Not that I'm surprised, she's great at anything she does.

On Tuesday we did some shopping at my sister's request. How my mum managed to produce someone who loves shopping is beyond me! I finally managed to find some nice summer tops though so I was quite happy as well. Then in the evening we went and saw Despicable Me 2 which was awesome!

Wednesday we went to the Peak District. We walked from Baslow to Bakewell via Chatsworth. It's a lovely walk but I think it's better when it's slightly cooler, we walked during the hottest part of the day and all I wanted to do was jump into a river or lake to cool down!

My mum and sister left on Thursday morning. It has been really nice to have them over, definitely a benefit of living in the UK rather than Australia! 

It's coming...

The rest of my posts about Disney World are coming, things are just a little crazy right now. When I got back from America I only spent one day with my dad before going up to Trondheim to visit a friend and tomorrow I am going down to see my mum. I will try to post the rest of the America posts before next Sunday. I can't believe it's only a week until I move back to the UK!

Pretty mansions in a new state!

Anne, Nathan and I drove to Newport, Rhode Island yesterday. Apparently it's where all the rich people live, and you could tell by the houses.

Anne had purchased tickets to go and see two of the mansions while we were there; The Breakers and one more of our own choice, we chose Marble House. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but I can tell you the mansions were beautiful, just like those old British mansions and palaces, for example Chatsworth in Derbyshire, although there was a lot more different types of stone in the American houses. It was amazing to walk around in both of them. We were guided in groups in both of them and the guides were very knowledgeable. It's strange to think that people were living in the houses so recently, and that they have taken so good care of it. Like all the old furniture and carpets. Of course it's also very strange to think about people actually living that way. At the Breakers, the family that built the house, the Vanderbilts, although they no longer own it (it is now owned by the Preservation Society) they still come and stay whenever they like in an apartment at the top of the house.

After the mansions we went for a little walk around Fort Adam. We saw a house on a little island, the island was only just big enough for the house to fit on, and I couldn't help thinking that it must not only have been cumbersome to built and decorate it, but also to get to and from. We also saw a hawk! I couldn't believe how close we got to it, unfortunately my shutter time was a bit to slow to get a good picture of it as it "finally" flew away. When we had almost finished out walk around the fort we also noticed some people that were coming in on their little sail boats, I can't help but think that it must have been cold for them even though they were wearing thick wetsuits.

We finished the day off in Plymouth, Massachusetts. At Mama Mia's restaurant we had some very tasty pizza indeed! I can understand why it was so busy and we had to wait almost a half hour to be seated, the pizza was worth it! After dinner we saw what apparently is the fake Plymouth Rock. Anne and Nathan said that the real one is further south but that this is the one all the tourists take pictures of.

Unfortunately Nathan has to go back to work today so he won't be able to join Anne and me on our trip to Salem. I'm really hoping to come back next year though, to see New England in the summer or late spring. We also talked about them coming to visit me in the UK and Norway.

I am glad that we're all getting along so well! 

Sunday Sunset

At Oslo Opera House

Apparently it's a good day to die hard...

When I got off the bus into the city today this is what met me:

I must say it's one of the best advertisements for a movie I've seen in a long time! I was meeting my friend for dinner and a movie anyway. we were planing to finally watch Skyfall, but it seemed a bit silly seeing as it's out on DVD in not too long, so after seeing the above advertisement we decided on watching "A good day to die hard" instead. I quite enjoyed it actually, and I must say, the guy playing the son is much cuter on screen than he looked on the poster, I actually didn't recognise him from the poster at first! A good movie if you like watching car chases and lots of things blowing up. I also have to say I kind of love that it came out on Valentine's Day...

I am looking forward to summer now. I'm tired of all the snow and ice everywhere, I can't wait until 3 weeks from now when I'll be in Florida!