RL updates

[moonwise]

Yeah, it's been a while.

The trip to Scandinavia was a great experience, although it would have been even better if we'd been able to go in the spring or summer. This is such a dreary time of year, and there's been no snow in Uppsala, which the Swedes lamented because it meant no local skiing. (aside from the whole climate change thing etc.) Most of our trip was spent in our meeting, as it should be, but we did go to Stockholm one day for a look-around. We didn't get to do much there, as it seemed that most of the attractions closed at about 5 PM, and we didn't get there until about 2 PM. There wasn't much to see in Uppsala besides the cathedral, but we did enjoy the restaurants. I also had a very tasty treat called a punchbulle.



Our hosts were very gracious during the meeting and afterwards, and they took us to a traditional restaurant at the usual "let's all be friends" dinner. I had some sort of fish eggs with sour cream and then reindeer for the main course, neither of which I might have tried under ordinary circumstances, but when you are sitting next to your host, it's a good idea to eat what you're given or else there could be an international incident. The cloudberries for dessert were tasty, except for the big crunchy seed. :(

On Thursday, the rest of the group left for home, and I boarded a flight for Norway. It was touch-and-go in Oslo, as I had to pick up my bags before getting the connecting flight, but I made it to the next flight with about 5 minutes to spare. fireceremony and her mom met me at the airport, and we visited their cute little "country house" before going on to fireceremony's apartment. Spring was definitely in the air; the snowdrops and crocus were all up, even if the air temperature wasn't that warm.

It was a very nice visit, and good to see a longtime friend again. fireceremony showed me all around town and helped me find something homegrown to bring home for the family. Since the dollar is so weak, it wasn't worthwhile to bring an item home unless it was something you absolutely positively could not get in the US. Husband wanted a wooly sweater, but the prices were just too high, so he got a pair of traditional wooly gloves instead (which he loved, and which he'll probably get more use out of anyway.) On Friday night, I had dinner with fireceremony's family, who are all delightful and friendly people.

It would have been nice to stay a bit longer, but beggars can't be choosers, and our secretary had wiggled it so that the company paid the flight for my jaunt to Norway. The price was that I flew home economy instead of business class, but even that was okay, because it turned out to be "Economy Extra." While it's not the uberposh atmosphere and constant spoiling that you get in business, you do get more legroom and a video screen to play with.

Turned out to be a blessing, because the trip home wasn't fun at all. The flight out of Norway arrived in Copenhagen on time, but the flight home was delayed three hours. For someone who really really wanted to go home at this point, it was not welcome news. I tried to amuse myself by shopping in the airport, but I'd already done the "candy for the office" thing in Norway, and all of it was stuff you'd find in any airport duty-free store.

Finally the flight left, 3 hr 45 min late. To add insult to injury, there weren't any gates available when we got to Newark, and we were waiting on the tarmac for an hour. This is also not good news, esp. when you have to visit the restrooms, and the restrooms on the plane are closed. At long last, I got my bags, got through customs, and husband drove me home. Thanks to jet lag etc, I was plenty cranky, but I was feeling chipper enough the next day to have lunch with my cousin and dinner with the neighbors.

Comments

[pointedview.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds like quite a trip! What is a punchbulle? I tried Googling it, but came up empty-handed.

Glad you're back safe and sound!

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

Hm... I'm not sure if it's a typo for the rather common "punchrulle", or just a variation thereof. "punch", as in the alcohol type. "bulle" means bun, or "rulle" means roll.

A punchrulle (also commonly called "dammsugare", which means vacuum cleaner. Go figure) look like this:

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that's the thing! It was quite tasty and definitely had some kind of booze in it.

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

The alcohol in question is called "punsch" (not to be confused with the Englis word punch as related to alcohol)... here's some info for those curious:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punsch

And yup, they're reasonably tasty. =)

[arafel.livejournal.com]

There were so many pastry shops in town, I could have walked up and down the street all day sampling all the treats. Of course, they would have had to put me in a new weight class on the way home after that. :)

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's definitely like that in some parts of the city. =)
Whereabouts were you, usually? Sounds a bit like Old Town, but could be virtually anywhere really.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

In Stockholm, we mostly walked around Gamla Stan and a bit in the area around the train station. There was a large department store about two blocks from the train station that we went to as well. There was a grocery store in the basement where I bought some chocolate that a coworker had asked for. The pastry stores were all in Uppsala, though I'm quite sure there were many in Stockholm as well. :)

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

Yup, was guessing Gamla Stan (which means Old Town) =)

The department store sounds like Åhléns.

And yeah, there'd be more pastry stores in Uppsala, though there are quite a few once you get out to the suburbs, and some streets in Gamla Stan as well. =)

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Photos! We demand photos :-) When you've had chance to get your brain back on time and some organising done, of course :-)

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I'll try to do a photo post - for some reason, my web space hasn't been allowing me to hotlink, and I've neglected to call and yell at them. Probably that would be a good idea, yes?

[ladyofthesea.livejournal.com]

Delays always fuck up trips no matter what. Sucks that you had to experience them during what might have been a pleasant experience. I'm curious: what does reindeer taste like? I know it's a big thing in Scandinavia (considering you can't sneeze without seeing one). Was the cloudberry served with some kind of sauce? I tried lindenberries and it came with it. I think there was some kind of cheese too. It had a distinct cheesy flavor.

Sounds like the excursion to Norway didn't allow you to appreciate its fjords. :( Can't wait to see pics!

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I want to say that the reindeer tasted like beef, but the flavor was much milder than beef. It was quite tasty, but I'm such a picky eater that I couldn't think too hard about eating it. The cloudberries were served as a compote, so that you mostly enjoyed the taste of the berry. Apparently, they're hard to find, so you don't dress them up too much. Lingonberries, on the other hand, are served with everything! :)

[ladyofthesea.livejournal.com]

Oh that's what I meant, lingonberries. My bad. ^_^' I may have to pass on the reindeer in favor of salmon, but my sister wouldn't. She loves beef and if it does taste like it she'll look at Rudolph in a whole new light. XD

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked your trip. And yeah, not much snow around here (I'm a Stockholm person myself) right now, been a dreadfully boring winter really. =)

Come back sometime...

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I'd love to come back to Stockholm, when it's a bit warmer! I did notice that punk fashion was alive and well in your city, lots of people in interesting clothes. :)

[nekoryuu.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, definitely some punk fashion alive in the city still. People watching can be quite fun some days. =)

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I did take some photos, and eventually I'll put some on Photofuckit and show everyone. :) No snow where we went - it's been the warmest winter on record, and the folks in Uppsala started keeping track when Celsius was doing his work there at the university, so about 200 years. It wasn't much colder than at home, mostly wet and windy with temperatures about 5 - 10 degrees above freezing. There was a cross-country skiing competition around the royal palace in Stockholm, and they had to manufacture snow in order to hold it!

[arafel.livejournal.com]

It would have been more magical if I'd learned that there's cloudberry liqueur before I left Scandinavia! Cloudberries grow above the Arctic circle and are hard to find, so they're something of a delicacy.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're back, and doubly glad you had a great experience overall.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to be back as well. Getting over the jet lag was a pain, and then Daylight Savings Time on top of it.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Ugh, Daylight Savings is a pain.