And it’s all over now….baby blue

Yep…the fun part is all over, just the serious writing up to be done and sadly, closing down the blog. My life ain’t exciting enough to run one full time. The last couple of days in Stavanger I took fairly easy. The weather stayed great, the teachers stayed on strike so kids home, and generally all pretty relaxed… I miss it!

The flight home was a long one….leaving lunchtime from Stavanger was a nice change to the usual pre dawn departures but it didn’t start off real well – plane was an hour late leaving. But it didn’t matter – there was a long wait for the connection at Frankfurt which, considering it’s such a hub, is one of the world’s most boring airports. Nothing to do except browse a few of those uber-expensive label shops - do westerners ever actually buy anything in these places?? I had something to eat, wandered off and left my cabin bag by the table for about an hour before I realized…surprised I didn’t spark a major security alert, evacuation of the airport etc! When I suddenly realised and dashed back, someone was sitting at the table and had just pushed my bag to one side – so much for concerns over global terrorism – and also a good indicator of people’s honesty etc – was very impressed.

Finally off on Singapore Airlines – they are just great – the contrast with United couldn’t more striking. Plane was ¾ full and it was as good a flight as you can expect in the el-cheapo seats. Stopped in Singapore for a few hours – now Changi Airport has it all sorted out. As well as a million shops (many of which are actually interesting) there are all sorts of other services – I went and had a foot massage and reflexology – is great after a long flight and really relaxing. Trip to Oz was uneventful though we arrived early and had to circle for 20 mins or so because of Sydney curfew – fair enough I suppose but doesn’t seem quite so good when you are sitting in the plane just wanting to get home! Through Immigration and Customs the quickest ever – Customs especially – they just whizzed me through – must be my honest face! Outside to a mile-long queue to get to the Domestic Terminal – just what you want after 30 hours traveling. Qantas finally organised a couple of extra buses and whizzed us around (was freezing cold and pouring rain in Sydney) to the Domestic but we had to book in again. Actually managed to catch the scheduled flight – just – but, as it transpired, my bag wasn’t quite so lucky!

So, arrived to a cold but dry Canberra and met by T which was nice. Waited for bag…nothing…turns out it was still in Sydney…bugger, as it had my house keys in there… Ah well, silly you more-or-less is the supportive message I get from Qantas when I explain predicament! So homeward bound and with a screwdriver manage to open bathroom window (now made more secure I hasten to add!) – that’s all very well – but have you tried climbing up through a bathroom window…not so easy. I ended up hanging half in, half out – head first staring at the toilet and the bath. Finally a big push and head over heals and landed in the bath – definitely the better choice. Was surprised I didn’t obviously hurt anything…however, a couple of days later my back is killing me and I spend the next few weeks visiting the chiropractor every other day.

And so, it was all over….back to reality, sadly! I thought I would be fed up with traveling and pleased to be home. Was pleased in a way but also, certainly wasn’t fed up with the traveling…could have gone on a lot longer! That's it - I think..... Here endeth the blog.

To Noroway, to Noroway o'er the foam..

After a fairly humdrum trip (not exactly o’er the foam, more o’er the clouds, and also, far more successful than poor old Sir Patrick Spens..) I got to Norway. Rather late at night – 11.25pm to be exact. Caught the bus into main station at Stavanger with intention of then getting a taxi to where I am staying from there (it was suggested I do this as the price of a taxi direct from airport would have been about the equivalent to a small country's national debt). In theory fine, but at 12.30am on a Wednesday morn the main station here ain’t exactly humming and finding a taxi was easier said than done. And by now of course, I am carrying around about 40kg of stuff – things have accreted as I’ve gone along… So arms at this stage about two inches longer than normal...even with all the gym I had been doing! Finally did find a taxi and for a mere week's wages got to my friend’s house. So all OK, settled into a house on an island surrounded by trees, water etc – and some other houses, not all alone…very beautiful. The weather here is fantastic – genuinely hot and being light till about 11.30pm adds to the weirdness… I sort of expected Norway to be at the very least chilly and wet…

Into Stavanger and firstly work stuff at the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound - nice offices, interesting joint digitisation venture and a big collection to worry aboput. Stavanger town has lots to see…busy harbour, quaint old town etc and did the archeological museum – sadly, a bit ordinary – and to my great delight, discovered this is the land of socks and sandals!! Yes, I’ve been fine all the time…just in the wrong country!! Also, the old "give way to the right"rule still prevails here on the roads - which is a bit disconcerting when not used to it.

Spent over half a day in the Petroleum museum – I know, sounds a bit anoraky and not that exciting but it is a great museum – fascinating. Very new and a bit of sales pitch of course for Norway’s oil and gas industries but was really well done…the best 3D film (with specs) I’ve ever seen - though the role of dinosaurs in the creation of oil was, I think, a little over-emphasised in this production!

Then spent the weekend (which was incredibly hot) climbing mountains, going up fjords, travelling through snow drifts etc etc…very full on outdoorsy thing…am still recovering! See the link for this place.. http://www.stavangertravel.com/news/pulpit-rock-norway.cfm that’s me on the edge there…well not quite, but lying on my stomach peering over was brown trousery enough…from the photo you'll see my nervous grin...but awe inspiring (I think). Apparently 604 mtrs straight down…and yes, people do decide to end it all there – no one survives (without a pracahute!!). We stayed the night – two adults, three kids – in a ‘quaint’ hut (the right word trust me) in the mountains. The room was about 2mtrs x 2 mtrs (bunk beds) but was OK..I felt very Grizzly Adamsish….fortunately though, didn't have to hunt for dinner, someone thoughtfully provided a bbq which was pretty good. This is the land of beer only though - wine seems hard to find and not genreally available. I didn't know but Norway had prohibition from 1916 to the end of the twenties and stronger drinks like wine and spirits and very heavily controlled...all seems a bit unnnecessary!

The next day was a bit easier going – a ferry trip up the fjords – all sightseeing oohs and ahhs – then a long drive home through the top of the mountains and heaps of melting snow…magic.

Getting close to the end now…so will be one more post before I put this blog to bed and return to the land downunda…probably time to come home…

Teen spirit and Ljubljana..

Last few days in Ljubljana and the sun has now come out and weather lovely. One of the wonders here is the Post Office – they actually provide a service and they still look like post offices, not toy shops or stationers… They are open from 8.00am to 7.00pm – yes, incredible! And when I was in there it wasn’t jammed packed with people; the staff were very helpful and even stuck the stamps on for you and whisked away the cards into the post bag….admittedly, there seemed a lot of account keeping involved in purchasing three stamps at a total cost of just over two euros…still, it was nice to relive a proper post office experience.

On the most perfect day so far my professor here and his wife took me out to Bled – possibly the most beautiful place in Slovenia and certainly breath-takingly lovely. The Alps in the background, a clear green/blue lake, an island with a monastery and church, beautiful woods and trees – it was all fabulous. We walked around the lake – a gentle, three hour stroll – and checked out the Villa Bled – a top notch hotel (was the King - not Elvis! - then Tito’s summer holiday spot)…I reckon this is the place to stay – it’s just great…about $500 night but for a couple of days on that special occasion….check it out http://www.vila-bled.com/ I should be paid for this! Was also very quiet on the day I was there though apparently heaving at the weekend – and you can see why.

On the way home stopped at a traditional restaurant and had a good meal – similar to Turkish in many ways…though noticed foal on the menu…hmm….and it’s not cheap either for you horse lovers!! Another thing, what is it with their word without vowels, or not in the right place…there’s heaps of them...how do you pronounce something that starts vklj, or the place called zdhivo ?? Dunno… I had enough trouble getting to grips with hello and thanks! But it doesn’t really matter – everyone speaks great English.

After this touristy stuff went to the Central Technical Library and spent an afternoon there – a very impressive, incredibly busy university library bang in the centre of town. An interesting discussion re their library software – they developed and maintain their own collection management system – finding commercial software with Slovenian interface not easy…so they did their own and it looks good. Though maintaining it is an issue.

No doubt for the less aware you are pondering the Teen Spirit reference...well, some closing trivia re Ljubljana – Nirvana played their last ever concert here – Kurt Cobain went home and killed himself shortly after apparently…they worry this creates a bad impression of the place – was it so bad he had to shoot himself??! It isn’t – it’s great and I’m looking forward to another visit…

The pace quickens

Well, it still hasn’t stopped raining…how come it was perfect in Manchester and so wet here…the world certainly is changing…
I’m now safely ensconced in Uni accommodation and … it’s better than the hotel. I was expecting pretty standard student/college rooms but in fact I’m in rather attractive old house that has been converted for visiting academics. A smallish room – but bathroom and kitchenette as well and about a 20 minute walk to the faculty – would be quite nice if it was sunny! University of Ljubljana is big – 60,000 + students in a town of only 270,000 people – so students everywhere. And about 65 undergraduate full-timers in the LIS school – is good to see crowds of students. Their English is good though they are a bit shy about asking questions and I have done three lectures so far – another three to go. They are 90 mins each (no break!) and on the whole they have gone well … I assume… as it’s a bit hard to tell with everyone being so polite. They are all young and very few blokes – even less than we have… though interestingly, the faculty is about half and half.

Watched the Man United/Chelsea match on a big screen here with a few of the guys – lots of beer and crisps…just like England! And was a good match too… Got back to my accommodation about midnight and found someone had kindly locked the front gate to the grounds which caused me some degree of perturbation (as Jeeves might say – have been reading PG Wodehouse a bit lately). Fortunately, having drunk enough to be confident but not uncoordinated, I managed to scale the fence and get to my front door…not easy, but finally got in OK. Though was a bit concerned that maybe someone would have seen me and the local police would shortly be on their way…but my concerns were unfounded… I am still here!

Have now finished lectures and in the afternoon I had a personalised tour of the National Library. It’s great – an imposing building with fabulous art deco designed furniture inside – a lot of care (and money) went into it. It is rather imposing though – if you weren’t confident you might feel a bit put off going inside. Afterwards had a couple of drinks by the river – the sun had finally come out – and it was very pleasant. Though it didn’t last – rained again yesterday and I cancelled my tour of the city. Will try again….also internet connection out in my accommodation – a bit irritating as have been relying on that for news etc – with only Slovenian or German language TV available in my flat it ain’t that informative or entertaining!

Finally did a tour of the city which was interesting – lots of history. During the tour, a thought suddenly struck me which hadn't occurred to me before – and I doubt, dear reader, if it has ever caused you concern either. That is the preponderance of soaring gothic architecture in churches in the northern countries – England, Germany, France – and their complete absence it seems from Italy and as it appears, Slovenia. This erudite question popped into my head while in an Italianate renaissance style church in Lube (as it’s known to its friends) – which is all roundish – arches, and curvy bits (my knowledge of architecture is a bit limited) – with no soaring spires at all. St Peters in Rome is the same… so I mentioned it to the guide. Alas, no obvious answer it seems – there was an earthquake here in 15 something that destroyed 95% of the town…so everything had to be built from scratch again..so if there was a gothic masterpiece before – it’s long gone. But it is an interesting question …. Something to ponder…

Also took the funicular up to the castle – its on a big hill overlooking the town (walked down!). A bit odd what they’ve done to the castle in trying to make it a tourist spot and also preserve its integrity. It sort of works but we would probably think too much modernizing has been done to it. Downstairs they had an exhibition – lots of quite nice exhibition panels describing medieval life (I assume) but all in Slovenian. The only English in a book tied to the first panel – odd, since 90% of the visitors would not be native speakers I wouldn’t think. And they’ve gone to all this trouble to create great art work with the panels and lots of info…hmmm - everywhere else English is rampant!

Someone was getting married in the castle courtyard - fair 'nuff - but what is it with the piano accoprdion and this country - it does seem to be the national instrument - but at your wedding?? Surely that's taking nationalism just a little too far!

Sunday – managed not to rain but still overcast and cool. Sorted myself on the public transport – it’s cheap and good – and off into the countryside and to Postojna Caves – the second largest complex in Europe if you didn’t know. You take a train into the heart of them and walk from there – the train runs through tunnels about one inch higher than me and the driver obviously loves his job – drove like a complete maniac – as fast as he could – was truly scary. I can’t believe more people haven’t been scalped – if I had a Bob Hawke head of hair I would have been in trouble…sadly(?) I don’t! The caves are caves – think I might have done my life share of caves – they are pretty much the same – stalacmites/tites etc (how do you remember – tites come down), giant halls, lots of water and pretty chilly. Still, was pleased I’d done it and also mastered the public transport system (though truth be told is simple here as everyone speaks good English). Have also finished my literary book I bought in Manchester – Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood – loved it and will leave it here for the next visitor. Finished Melvyn Bragg’s Credo a while ago – it just went on and on and to be honest was a bit of a chore. And from a secondhand bookshop in town bought Geraldine Brooks’ March – which, with an omnibus slection of Stephen Fry writings from The Listener et al should tide me over till I get home.

Foreign parts

Up at another unholy hour – 4.15am – though by the time I left for the airport, was already getting light. So the shortest flight I’ve done on this trip – Manchester to Gatwick – and the only one on BA and surprise, surprise….my bag doesn’t make it with me. Not really a surprise, Manchester airport was heaving with people and not enough staff on anywhere..I had to jump the check in q else I’d still be there and the security was way over the top.
So I make it to Gatwick and spend ages filling out forms re bag – which ends up taking a trip to Zurich before reuniting with me in Ljubljana the next day! Not a major prob but c’mon BA – this is getting a habit!
Ljubljana is surprisingly (I thought) small. Easy to get round – I hired a bike for the day and saw it all. It is very bike friendly – lots of bike paths etc and fairly flat for most of it. The usual medieval type square and lots of cobblestones – dodgy on the bike. And of course it decided to rain just after I took off – so did get pretty wet – but could’ve been worse. Checked out Slovenian impressionists exhibition at the Nat Gallery – just like everyone else’s impressionists! But they also had a great display of book art – covers and illustrations – from turn of the 20th century – lots of art deco designs and with their script quite unique – really good. Also did the national museum and learnt a bit about Slovenian history.
Surprising lot of church bells too - not too early, and definately not like Italy but along those lines..
Lectures start tomorrow – so preparing for that. Had a quick look at the Uni – very 19th century and attractive and bang in the middle of town – a bit different to CSU!!

Scots wa hae... or something like that

Manchester – and despite its reputation as one of the rainier cities in the UK, the weather has been great. Lots more beer drinking and walking in the countryside – a happy combination it seems. Lovely countryside, big hills and bluebell woods – England’s green and pleasant land indeed. A bit of a rude awakening yesterday though when caught the train into Manchester to visit the Ryland’s Library (one of the great private libraries in the UK – now part of Manchester Uni) – which by the way was well worth it. But as well as me, there were something like 70-130,000 (figures differ) other visitors – 90% of them being Rangers supporters from Jake’s hometown – Glasgow. The other 10% being the Russians brave enough to come across for the UEFA football final (Rangers and a St Petersburg team). The Library seemed to be the only place (can’t think why…) that wasn’t full of very loud, halfway to being completely plastered, Scotsmen. The place was jammed pack. Sad to say, Rangers lost 2-0 and Manchester looked like a bomb had hit it – unfortunately, just before the game started, the giant TV screen set up in the middle of town (they were never all going to fit into the ground – you could have got a thousand quid for a ticket apparently) failed and never recovered – not a good thing when this huge crowd were just settling down to watch the match. The ensuing riot has been headlines today and there is going to be an enquiry but I would have though it fairly predictable…(they needed a backup TV at least!!) - and only one Russian stabbed…c’mon Jake – your Glasgow mates getting soft??

I have been involved in less active sports – down the British Legion a couple of nights playing snooker and darts…some of you will know my embarrassing lack of cue and ball skills but this was redeemed somewhat by success at darts. Though that might have had something to do with the amount of beer we had drunk and packets of crisps consumed – it seemed to get a bit silly towards the end. To complete the English experience, we grabbed a kebab (sadly, not a curry) on the way home and watched football on the TV – quite nostalgic really. The next post will be from sunny Slovenia – watch this space!

The Darling Buds of May

Arrived to a rainy, cool Heathrow – surprise, surprise. But more or less since then has been unseasonably warm and sunny – positively hot some days. According to the paper the last few days have been hotter in London than Barcelona or Corfu – and we are proud of it!! Apart from this aberration with the weather, England is as ever – green, busy, traffic appalling, no air conditioning and still a bit expensive. Though the dollar has definately helped improve things there – now it’s only a little bit pricey instead of ridiculous. Have spent the last week with my cousins in Surrey – good to relax and enjoy some home cooking and decent beer. The beer makes up for other failings – though the baked beans are better too for some odd reason – and they do feature prominently on most pub menus! Spent about half a day in what seemed like the world’s largest Tescos – you can get anything – including stupidly cheap clothes such as three quid jeans – I resisted the temptation… The tabloids still as bad as ever and everyone has about 100 TV channels to choose from – doesn’t mean anything better to watch though.

Spent a couple of days in London doing work things – visited the BBC which was very interesting – they have over 400 staff in their archive’s branch! And also OTAB – part of a larger archive of sporting stuff. That was also a good visit but I was an hour late – finding it was very difficult…I thought I knew West London OK but was totally wrong…they didn’t seem too fazed but I was a bit embarrassed!

Spent a day at Wisley – the home of the Royal Horticultural Society – so beautiful gardens, lakes, etc etc. If you like gardening – very popular here – its just brilliant…I’ll stick a couple of pics up later. Am now typing this on the train as I head up to Norfolk for a weekend catching up with old school friends – the inter-city trains are great, if expensive.

OK, an update – spent weekend with ex-school friends who I have known for almost 50 years..and we still get on really well. Got through outrageous amounts of wine and beer and lots of great food – the host is a gourmet cook. Did some touristy stuff – walking and on a boat out to Seal Island – yes, lots of seals checking you out. All-in-all a great, relaxing weekend – esp. as the weather was so good – needed sun screen and hats.. Now in Manchester – more on that later.