Bunadmania: 200 years of Constitutional Fun

Enthusiastic Norwegians, a few in full suits, celebrating May 17 by paddling through Oslo's inner waterways. 

One month ago today Norway celebrated the 200 year anniversary of creating its very own constitution. This is an especially significant and unique holiday because it is not Norwegian independence day, that came nearly 100 years later, but rather the day when Norway took matters into its own hands and created its constitution after being handed over to Sweden from Denmark following the Napoleonic wars. Norwegians are extremely proud, rightly so, of their constitution and the democratic ideals it put into writing. And so, May 17 is not just a celebration of one day in history, but rather a celebration of what it means to be Norwegian.

I was lucky to have a few visitors from the USA here for a visit. These crazy folks planned their vacations for the sole purpose of seeing the spectacle that is May 17.  They were not disappointed. With the holiday falling on a Saturday, the festivities began on Friday night and kept going for the whole weekend. The main event was the children's parade on Saturday, preceded of course by a champagne breakfast at 9am (brunch is for the weak). With corks popped well before noon, the spirits around town are quite high around 1pm or 2pm. And of course these high spirits are enhanced by the fancy traditional dress, the bunad, that is donned by all. These spirits (and comfort level of the bunads) fade by about mid-afternoon, but the true pros get a mid-afternoon nap in, and then keep going for the rest of the evening. We tried this strategy and spent the evening watching the events downtown from a lively rooftop.

The following day we recovered by taking a walk in the woods and an evening spent in relaxing. The weekend went by too fast, and on Monday my friends were back to the USA. But with some of my favorite Americans here in Oslo mixing with some of my favorite Norwegians, it was a truly memorable way to celebrate a historical day for Norway.

Participating in Norwegian tradition - flag waving and sun worshiping. 

Soon to be graduating high school "russ" students. 

Norwegians in full bunads, enjoying the sunshine and a traditional ice cream. 

Random Socializing in Edinburgh

The plan for Memorial Day weekend came about a little haphazardly. After buying tickets to Istanbul in early April, I decided that I should make an effort to get out of Norway a little more this year and did a little searching for some cheap intra-Europe flights. I found some under $100 roundtrip tickets to Edinburgh, hit purchase and promptly filed the trip into the "plan later" category. Fast forward into mid-May and I finally got around to booking a hotel and thinking about what I might do in Scotland. I didn't manage to recruit a travel companion, but three days of low-key hanging out sounded nice.

The Friday before Memorial Day I hopped onto my first Ryan Air flight from Oslo Rygge (a much smaller airport south of the city) to Edinburgh. The experience was about what I expected of Ryan Air - cheap, no frills, and not exactly comfortable. But it did the trick and without incident I arrived in Scotland, caught a bus to my hotel, and settled in for a quiet night in. While checking the good old facebook, I noticed that one of my A-100 (Foreign Service cohort) friends was also in Edinburgh to run the half-marathon that was also taking place. After some message exchanges we found a time to meet up, and voila, people to hang out with!

We had a lovely (and oh so cheap in comparison to Norway) lunch and then joined a free walking tour. Catching up and seeing sights was great, and while I love traveling alone, it was really nice to be able to engage in a running commentary on the tour guide with som like-minded Americans. I was even invited in to a home-cooked meal with my friend's friend (a genuine Scot).

The next day I did some exploring of the castle and downtown while my friend and her colleagues did a cold, wet half-marathon out to the coast. I decided to do my own run through town, running up and down Arthur's Seat, racking up some kms along with some sore hamstrings. Later in the evening we all joined up for a very fancy set-course all-local meal before heading out for an evening of whiskey tasting and experiencing the Edinburgh nightlife.

Monday I returned to Oslo, grateful for a wonderful weekend away and for random encounters with colleagues from around the world.

Edinburgh Castle

The top of Arthur's Seat, the mountain on the edge of Edinburgh. I didn't end up with much of a view from the top at first, but a few minutes later the clouds parted and I got a great view of the city. 

A visit to the Scotland National Museum was rewarded with a close-up encounter with the remains of Dolly the cloned sheep. 

My last day in Edinburgh: The clouds and rain finally ceased and a rainbow emerged over Arthur's Seat. The white building with the spikes coming out of it is Scotland's Parliament building.

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Istanbul (diplomats delight)

Old town and Blue Mosque

The Spring has flown by in a flurry of work and fun and visitors, so rather than try to recap everything that's gone on, I'll start by writing about one amazing weekend in Istanbul. This will be followed by a recap of Norway's 200th year celebration of their constitution and then a trip to Edinburgh. I'll try not to get distracted by the amazingly long days and accompanying activities.

But first, Turkey, or as it should be known, diplomats delight. It seems that's this wonderful city is particularly popular among the foreign service crowd. After a couple of years of hearing, "you MUST visit Istanbul, it's amazing," I was starting to feel like I was missing out on a key prerequisite to becoming a real diplomat having never been there. So when a $200 roundtrip, non-stop ticket on Turkish airlines coincided with a Norwegian holiday, it was only a matter of convincing a friend to join me and then the trip was booked. 

So a few weeks back we headed out for a long weekend filled with shopping, mosques, food, and fun. And now I understand why so many of my colleagues are drawn to this east-west crossroads. It has all the predictability and functionality of Europe with the lower prices, spicier food, and more vibrant colors of the Middle East or Asia. Combined, this really does make Istanbul a perfect destination for those seeking a change from the everyday of Europe without having to go too much outside the comfort zone. 

Inside of the Hagia Sophia, originally built in 537. 

More Hagia Sophia - it is truly one of the most stunning buildings I've ever been inside. 

Storm clouds float in as we enjoyed the views from the Asian side of the Bosphorus

Floating down the Golden Horn with a crescent moon above. 

Hagia Sophia lit up at night.

View of the old town from the hotel roof.

Winter is over, so I guess it's time to share what I did

It's April and I can't believe 2 months have passed since I last posted. As those who know me know, I've been busy and am somewhat terrible about being in touch and posting on blogs and emailing and calling, and on, and on. But before it gets too warm out and a busy spring schedule of visitors and traveling begins, I thought I would share a short recap of this winter. And I'll emphasize short, because despite the nearly three months of constant grey/dark (seriously 17 hours of sunlight between Christmas and mid-March), there wasn't much of a winter to speak of, and the flowers are now blooming and snow is a forgotten memory. 

But despite, the slightly disappointing snowfall, I did the Norwegian thing as much as I could. So I skied and went to cabins and basically had a blast out in the snow. It was a long-time coming, this return to cross-country skiing. A lifetime ago, as a lonely, bored, poor AmeriCorps volunteer in St. Paul, MN I made a decision to learn how to ski. It was impractical at the time, since as mentioned, I was poor. But the boredom and loneliness overpowered my finances and I bought some mediocre skies, signed up for lessons, and become a horizontal skier. 

Fast forward about 8-9 years, a nearly cross-country free decade, and I find myself in the mecca of skiing. So when the snow started falling just after Christmas (FINALLY), I put some new wax on those old skies, swallowed pride, and started marching around on skies like the legions of Norwegians around me. My modest skills came back, but with some good balance and general ability to keep moving, I managed after a few times out to look not so foreign on the trails. And to top off the winter experience, I made it out for a couple of cabin trips (hytta turer) with friends. Below, some pictures of the highlights. 

Hytta tur #1 - Sjusjøen

Waking up on the 1st morning of my 1st hytta tur. Me and the girls forged that path through 4-5 feet of snow the night before. 

Out on the trails at Sjusjøen, one of Norway's best areas for cross-country skiing. 

Climbing a hill in a dreamy landscape. 

Doing our best impression of what happened to us when we came back down the hill (steering on cross-country skiis is WAY different than on downhill skiis)

Hytta tur #2 - Haukeli, Telemark 

What our group awoke to, a close road and not a snowplow in site. No skiing for us that day. 

The small hydro dam next to the cabin. 

Since there was no skiing, we chose to lay in the middle of the road instead. 

A view on the way back to civilization. 

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