Lazy Summer Days

My last blog was after the end of our trip to Norway. Since our trip, we have not made any excursions outside of England. We have spent the month of August exploring different English sights.
First up, we went to York for an overnight stay where I registered to run the York 10K on August 1st. York is a medieval town with roots back to Romans and the Vikings. We saw York Minster, the largest Gothic structure in northern Europe, went through the Jorvik center, a Viking tourist attraction and stopped by the York Model Railway museum. The model railway museum had certainly seen better days but Christian and Jacob loved the rooms filled with model railroads and the special room dedicated to Thomas the tank engine. Christian's quote for the visit was "This is the coolest place ever." I finished the race in good time, even though it was nowhere near my personal best, but I was still happy that the course was flat.
Last weekend, we took the train to East Sussex and walked along the South Downs Way, one of the many walking trails in England. This part of the trail happened to be along the white chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters. We walked four miles along Mother Nature's version of a roller coaster, up and down rolling hills.
Finally, this weekend, we went to Richmond Park, one of the Royal parks in southwest London. Richmond is a town along the Thames and the park is the most massive park you could ever imagine with hills, forests, grassland, lakes, and so on. We even saw herds of deer. All that outdoor space only a tube and bus ride away for London. Jacob even managed to walk most of the time in the park. It was very nice to let them run on the path and only have to worry about deer.
Looking back, even though we did not venture too far in August, we still had plenty of adventures. The best part is getting to see all these great places but still make it home in time for bed!

Top 10 Reasons to Visit Norway

Given the conclusion of our trip to Norway, I thought I would enlighten everyone on the top ten reasons to visit Norway.
1. Spend your hard earned money. Okay, a dodgy reason but nonetheless, visiting Norway is expensive. Dinner at a so-so Mexican restaurant for four set us back $150, groceries for three days $120, ferry ride $20 each way. We were able to minimize our costs by only eating out once and using the kitchen at our accommodations. Norwegian currency is the krone and Norway is known for being the most expensive country in Europe to visit. Must be due to the thirteen months of mandatory maternity leave.
2. Visit Fjordside, a B&B we stayed at for our stay. It is located on Sorfjorden, about twenty minutes north of Bergen. We had an apartment with two beds, a kitchen, reception area and bath. Outside, there was a nice terraced garden, a deck overlooking the fjord, and paths to the beach and a boat dock. They also had five chickens that were kind enough to lay two eggs for one of our breakfasts.
3. Practice your manual transmission driving skills. Our rental car was a Hyundai i2 with a manual transmission. Most of the roads were narrow, winding mountain roads and in the more developed areas, we had to navigate the European favorite roundabouts. No need for cruise control—you would have to be a daredevil to maintain 80 km/h around those hairpin curves.
4. Learn the names of Norwegian crudes. Norway is the world’s third largest exporter of crude (the largest country that is not a dictatorship or monarchy) and they name all of their crudes after towns and things in Norway. Troll, Njord, Jotun, Oseberg, Ekofisk…not really the best way to relax from a person who deals with North Sea crudes everyday for my job.
5. Drive through lots of tunnels. Norway is certainly a country that has decided that the easiest way around a mountain is through it. While there are plenty of winding roads on the side of a fjord, there were plenty of tunnels including the world’s longest at 24 miles. Imagine, the Lake Pontchatrain Causeway, in the dark.
6. Long summer days. Norway is farther north than the United Kingdom and United States. Further north in Norway, they experience midnight sun, where the sun never sets for about two months in the summer. Where we stayed, the sun set 10:30 pm and sunrise before 5 am. It meant we could fill our days with as many activities as we could stand, not having to worry about making it home before sunset.
7. Visit another country and realize that they are bilingual like the rest of the world. Most Norwegians speak both Norwegian and English. They are very gracious and will speak to you in English. However, I always feel bad that I cannot reciprocate and speak in Norwegian. Interesting point, Handy Manny is dubbed over in Norwegian but when he usually interjects Spanish, in Norway, it is English.
8. See a real glacier. On our last full day, we saw the Bonnhusbreen glacier and associated glacial lake. A glacier is perhaps the most awesome and mighty thing I have ever seen. Keep in mind that the glacier we saw had carved out the majestic fjords millions of years ago.
9. See a waterfall. Big or small, your choice. On the drive home from Flam, we took the scenic route on the south side of Hordaland along the Hardangerfjorden. At Skjervefossen and Steinsdalsfossen are massive waterfalls including one you can walk behind.
10. See a fjord. They are everywhere you go, at least in western Norway. Outside of the tunnels, it was granite fjords plunging into clear green water with a few waterfalls and idyllic small towns with brightly painted houses thrown in. Everywhere. Breathtaking.

Run Naked

I ran naked. Okay so just without my headphones, I still wore running clothes. But without my headphones and iPhone, it felt like something was missing from my lunchtime run.
Yesterday, when dressing for my run, I realised I left my headphones at my desk and felt too lazy to go fetch them. I had recently read a Runners' World editorial about running without music and thought I should give it a go.
Heading out, I realised how distracting my iPhone can be, holding it the whole time, fussing with the playlist. Usually I flip through music when running, especially when my running playlist is getting old.
Besides not fiddling with music, I heard all the sounds that the music normally drowns out. I reached Westminster at noon and heard Big Ben chiming out twelve. I heard all the people talking to their companions, most often in a different language then English. As I came around St James Park, I could hear the band playing at the changing of the guard and then the insulated silence of trees in Green Park. I even heard my own footsteps!
As I ran, I thought of why I like to listen to music while running. It gives me a beat to follow and something to distract me during long runs. However, during that run, I remembered why running without music can be wonderful. I just might try it again. Just not during a long run.

Join the Moovement

Imagine my surprise this morning when I boarded the Northern line this
morning and saw a man wearing a cow costume. A few moments later, I
heard mooing further down the car and realized there were several
people wearing cow costumes. Some people smiled, some laughed, while
others could not be bothered. Some people even made eye contact with
fellow Tube riders (!!!).
When they hopped off a few stops later, they had managed to brighten
up a few people's days.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoFjYLO-J3Y&feature=youtube_gdata

Prague Castle

Prague

So our weekend in Prague has come to a close. For the late May Bank
holiday, we decided to visit Prague, the capital of the Czech
Republic. Interesting fact, most of the geography we learned in junior
high became outdated by the time we graduated high school. Prior to
1992, Czech was combined with Slovakia and was known as
Czechoslovakia. Now it is its own country again and has another twenty
years of capitalism after its separation. Sitting on the Vvalta
River, Prague is a beautiful city and its easy to understand why it
has long been the capital.
We left London early Friday morning, checking into our apartment
before noon. We ate a late lunch, took a nap and then caught up with
our good friend from college, Kate. She was in Prague for work and
hung out with us this weekend, flying back to the US the same day we
returned to London. With plenty of sun in the evening we visited Old
Towne Square and saw the astronomical clock.
The next day we started bright and early with a trip to Prague
Castle. The castle is a complex of buildings, centered around St
Vitus Cathedral. The boys enjoyed the castle grounds where they were
free to roam in the pedestrian only area. At the end of the day we
even took a horse drawn carriage around Old Towne.
For our second day, we rode on the furnicular railway, went through
the mirror maze, ate lunch on an island in the river and visited the
Spanelska synagogue. The best part of the day was the synagogue where
they had a Jewish Museum and we learned about the history of Prague's
Jewish population. It reminded me how horrible the Holocaust was and
makes me wonder how people can hate others of different faiths.
While we there, we kept ourselves fueled up with Czech cuisine like
goulash, dumplings and of course beer. We shopped a little, hunting
for Czech made marionettes, beer steins and garnets. Overall we had a
brilliant time and will have fond memories of Prague.

How time flies

Wheww, when I finally got the chance to relax after the marathon, I
was able to reflect on how quickly the last year has passed, how
things have become usual and how other things just aren't. I feel
pretty confident with my job, enjoying the work and the people.
Weekends are time to hang out with the family and picnic at one of the
many local parks. I have not driven a car in four months and we have
our weekly grocery order delivered to the house. Jacob calls his
diapers "nappies" and Christian's household chore is to empty the
rubbish bins. Other things that still strike me as "different" are the
grocery stores ( we order ours just so I don't have to confront the
oddity"), being surrounded by lots of people who speak different
languages, and the light switches outside the bathroom, not inside.
Even with the differences, we are enjoying our time here. Cheers!