Oslo has been wonderful!!! So much to see and do - just the oh-so-many museums would take a loong while to cover, and for the first time I found myself wishing that I would be here just a little longer. Having a wonderful friend in the area helps as well, of course!

Flying out to Oslo

I am finally here in Oslo!!! Actually, I've been here for over 24 hours, but finally found the time to sit and write about it.

Flying to Oslo from Stavanger was an experience - the entire check-in, ticketing and baggage process being automated was such a joy to use. I also spent the whole flight with my nose glued to the window, as the view below was spectacular. When you could see it for the clouds that is :) But my overall impression was of mountains streaked with snow wrapped in cosy cloudy blankets, and beautiful rivers and lakes trapped among the boulders, or escaping and bursting out in white frothy waterfalls. The fir or pine forests mainly in green, with a few other trees in full fall bloom added bursts of color to the scenario, as did the bright farmhouses surrounded by rolling fields. A beautiful country overall, even when seen from above.

Hmm bedtime calls.. More on this tomorrow!

Dancing with Penguins..

Today, our colleague Nina took us ice skating. The first time on the ice for all five of us from the sunny tropics. As we were waiting for her to come pick us up from our apartment, we were really wondering what we were getting ourselves into. Standing around and balancing on knives attached to our shoes??? How crazy is that???

But.... we had fun, surprisingly enough :) Standing and moving around on solid ground was surprisingly easy - the ice, of course, was another matter. And so we had our faithful penguins come to the rescue. One of our team got the hang of it pretty soon, and was managing without his penguin - another was getting along, on and off, with a bit of help. Me??? I love my penguin!!! Took a couple of spills - part of the fun I was told!! - but otherwise managed to have a really enjoyable evening, even with a deathly grip on my not-so-feathered friend :)

The best part of the experience were the kids, though... The penguins of course were kiddie-sized, built for children to learn to skate. So they were all tickled pink to see all these crazy adults holding on to their penguins for dear life!! Soon there were a few of them keeping an eye out us, making sure that we have a penguin within reach when we went wobbly. I even had a two-year old compare ice-covered gloves and battered penguins with me. The time flew by with the kids and the birds, and before I knew it it was already 7:30 and we had been skating for 2 hours or so!!!

Now, back in my toasty warm apartment, rubbing ointment on my aching joints and sore muscles, I can definitely say that this is one of the highlights of my stay in Stavanger. Thanks, Nina!!!

Of cats and other pets :)

Four years ago, my husband and I rescued a frail and tiny calf from slaughter. After a lot of TLC, he turned out to be a very fine bull, who adores other animals. He shares his fruit basket with squirrels, mongooses and even rats, and was very protective of them all. So, since Ravin was at H'tota, and I am always at work, and he seemed pretty lonely during the day, we ended up getting him a puppy, Tara. Tara is another rescue, who we found on the roadside covered in tar (which is where her name came from). She and Moy became great friends, but for one small issue - Tara loves cats!!! She would howl and whine when she sees cats walking along the walls, and beg us for a kitten.

So, Christmas 2009, Ravin and I get Tara a cat. She adored him, played with him, bullied him and generally had loads of fun. Unfortunately, he died at six months of age - Tara and I were both devastated. Then, around the same time, this little black and white cat turned up at Ravin's quarters in H'tota. Ravin brought the little scrapper home, and I called him Sooty - because he is black, and also he was sooo tiny ("chooty") - he could sleep in the palm of my hand! But he ended up being called Puddy Tat, because his markings are so similar to Sylvester's.

Anyways, Puddy grew up into a handsome, gorgeous cat, and fell in love with a lady Tiger cat living in our area. Imagine our surprise when he turns up one day, with his yowling, starving and heavily pregnant lady in tow!!! He enticed her indoors, shared his food with her, kissed her and cuddled her, and we of course welcomed her into our home.

And that is how we ended up with a bull, a dog, and seven cats as our family :)

Change, changes and changing...

My life's been changing so fast these days. 1 1/2 years at a crazy-busy job. Then, a job offer, but only if I agree to go to Norway for 2 1/2 months. So, I ended up coming over here to Stavanger. Then, when I just get relaxed enough to try and write blogs, I am asked to move to Oslo instead.

My conclusion? Blogs are better when written on a daily basis :) But since I kept writing and writing and never posting because there is no "explanation" for what comes previously or next, here it is. My first blog post.