Midsummer's Eve

This year's summer solstice occurred on June 20.  In Norway, the shortest night/longest day is celebrated on June 23.  It is called Sankthansaften (St. John's Eve) or Jonsok.  Tove and I invited Tove's mother, Kitty to come over for traditional sour cream porridge.  The weather was warm but it did cool off in the late afternoon.  Still, it was pleasant enough to dine al fresco on our terrace.  In Ulsteinvik where Ingvild, Arild and Mari live, they celebrate Jonsok with mock marriage ceremonies between children!  See the Wikipedia article here.  Mari was a bride this year:

Mari in bridal costume    

Someone asked Ingvild where the bridegroom was.  Ingvild replied that he was last seen running away screaming.  Mari did not look too thrilled, either.

On the actual evening of the solstice, we were enjoying the beautiful weather with a glass of wine when our friends, Solfrid and Asle called us up around 8PM to come out to Malvik to celebrate the fine weather that evening.  They have a nice house about 50 yards from the fjord's edge and a commanding view of the Trondheim fjord and its environs.  So we hopped on a bus and joined them on their deck for wine and tapas.

It was a lovely evening, but we had to take the last bus back to town.  We caught the 10:50 PM bus.  I took the following photos between 10:50 and 11:30 PM.  

Trondheim fjord from Malvik

Solsiden from the bus window.  This is very popular in the summer.

The Nid River.  This river wraps around Trondheim's sentrum.

When we got home, I just had to take a photo at midnight.  Here are three.  The first is metered for the sunset; the second for the foreground; and the third is a photoshopped combination of the two.

Weekend in Sunnmøre

We drove down to Eiksund, in Sunnmøre to visit Ingvild, Arild, and Mari.  We took the route that includes three ferries.  The weather was beautiful the Friday we left Trondheim.

Rest Stop near the burial site of Keiko "Free Willy" the whale.

Across the street from the rest stop.

Our car with fjord and mountains in the background.

The second ferry, I think....

The bus started its trip in Trondheim, too.

What else can I say?  It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Nice day for boating  

Hmmm . . . is that a USA plate?

 At the first ferry stop we parked behind a camper from Minnesota.  Its owners were about our age, maybe a little older.  They had the camper transported to Antwerp 4 years ago, then toured Continental Europe.  Then they drove it up to Lillehammer and have stored it there with their daughter who lives there.  This summer they are touring Scandinavia, Finland and Russia. 



Although this looks like it is in the middle of the mountains, it is not.  The sea is directly to the left of the road. 

  Summer vacations have started, so we saw lots of campers, mostly from Germany, but also France, Holland and Poland.

The view from Ingvild's and Arild's neighborhood.

Tove and granddaughter Mari out for a walk in the bright evening sun.

Ola and the King of Norway

So what do Ola and King Harald of Norway have in common?  They both had to dress up for Norway's Constitution Day, May 17.  This holiday is as significant as July 4.  There are parades and people dress up in bunads or suits and dresses.  We went to Oslo to visit Unn, Ole Morten and their newborn son, Ola.

Ole Morten and son Ola.

Notice the flags on TV?

I'm pointing to the Royal Family, King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Håkon, and Princess Mette Marit

See?  The King had to dress up, too.

The weather turned out very nice for 17.mai.

Ola took a well-deserved nap. 

Ingvild, Arild and Mari came to visit the next day.

This at the Train Station.  Mari has a tiger by the tail.

A BIG tiger.  

We took a nice walk through a creekside park near Unn and Ole Morten's home.  And we visited the University Residence Hall where I spent part of the summer of 1973.

Tove had baby stroller duty.

Nice evening.

Studentbyen på Sogn

And now..... to celebrate Ola and the King, we bring you "Kanskje Kommer Kongen" with translation below.


Perhaps the king is coming to dinner today.
We've set the station platform dinner table with all kinds of good food.
Mayonnaise and foie gras with beets and onions.
We must serve our best food for the King's visit.

Perhaps the king will come
Perhaps arriving on horseback.
The horse will get the smellbonbon (this is a "party popper" but more like British "Christmas Crackers" because they have a chintzy little prize inside, like a paper hat or crown),
because the hat will fit him best.

Turkey coated with lobster, small jars of artichokes.
Knutsen can serve and Ludvigsen will cook.
When we get to dessert, we will get caramel candy drops.
It is not good for your teeth, so we'd better eat them ourselves.

Perhaps the king will come in a car,
driven by a tight chaffeur
He can blow up the balloon
like drivers often do.

But perhaps the king is not coming
all our preparations notwithstanding.
It does not matter much
because then there will be more for us.

Konfirmasjon

I have described a number of Norwegian traditions, celebrations, customs and holidays.  Last month I attended the confirmation of our dear friends' daughter.  Confirmation in Norway is a big deal and need not be religious.  One can think of it like a bar/bat mitzvah, or a quinceanera celebration (except for girls AND boys).  Apart for it being, for some, an important religious affirmation, it is an acknowledgment of a child's transition into adulthood, and, perhaps from a cynical viewpoint, a great excuse to throw a party and lavish the 15 yr. old with money and gifts.

Our friends' daughter chose a religious confirmation.  It took place at the Nidaros Cathedral.

Organ and choir at the Nidaros Cathedral

The procession of confirmants. 

It is the widely followed tradition for the confirmants to wear the traditional bunad to the confirmation ceremony (under the simple white robes).  Here is Amanda in her bunad:

After the ceremony it was time to celebrate.  The family chose to celebrate in one of the many rooms available at the Kristiansten Fortress.  You can read the article, but I think the fortress was built in the 17th Century to defend Trondheim against the Swedes.  But perhaps it's most famous use was as the jail and place of execution of Norwegian traitors who aided the Nazis during the German occupation of Norway.  The most infamous of these traitors in the Trondheim area was Henry Oliver Rinnan.  He was executed at the   fortress by firing squad.  There is a monument there to the Norwegian Underground heroes who were executed by the Nazis at the same fortress.

Here is a view from the top of the earthen wall down toward the entrance to the room where the confirmation party was held.

Cannon protect the city, but they appear to be pointed at the city. 

The confirmation girl's cousins were "decked out" in bunad.  They were so cute!  The little boy, Anders the fifth (his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather were also named Anders)  told me that my Norwegian sounded funny.  I told him it was because I was from America.  He couldn't believe it.

I forgot to ask Anders why his hair was blue.  

The food was great.  We had a buffet of tapas, both warm and cold.

Finally, my homage to Laura Ingalls Wilder:

Meudon, France

Those of you who read my blog know that Miyake-san has been trying to sell Digital Streams America.  In April a joint venture group of companies from Germany, France and Spain expressed interest in buying the company.  After several telephone meetings with the purchasers, we set up a meeting in Paris, France.  I was very excited to go to Paris, even though it would be a very short trip limited to business.  I had not been there since 2004.

The JV group arranged for us to stay at a hotel in Meudon, a suburban village of Paris on the Southwest side.  It is a beautiful village.  Our hotel was next to walking trails, woods, and parks.  Take a look:  Ville de Meudon.  Regrettably, I did not have my camera with me, so the link is the best that I can do.

Getting There

Meudon is a lonnnggg way from Charles de Gaulle airport.  According to our hosts it could take 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours by taxi to get there.  I could have flown into Orly, but it would have cost three-times the price of a Trondheim - CDG ticket. 

My plan was to find a way to get to the hotel by train.  I used THIS EXCELLENT WEBSITE to figure out the route.  By the way, the tourist info office at CDG was very helpful, as was the ticket clerk at the train-ticket office.  In fact, everyone I asked for assistance, directions, etc. was helpful.  This has been my usual personal experience on 4 separate trips to Paris.

My train ticket cost about 12 Euros, or 1/10 the cost of a taxi.  I changed trains in Paris from a modern "metro" type train to an old-fashioned double-decker, big, broad train with windows that opened to the cool Spring air.  It was great.

The train dropped me off at the Meudon Val Fleury station:

You can't see it in the photo, but the station is next to a small town square with shops and restaurants.  I had planned on simply hailing a taxi to take me to the hotel, but none were in sight.  In fact, other than motor scooters and delivery vans, the streets were quiet.  Finally, I called the hotel for help.  They gave me the number for a taxi company.  A few minutes later, I had my cab take me to the hotel. 

French Food

Although I cannot tell you about the meeting with the JV group due to confidentiality, I can tell you that the next night we went a great little restaurant in Boulogne-Billancourt in part of the old Renault Factory that has NOT been torn down.  The restaurant is called La Machine à Coudes.  It's the kind of tucked-away little place that locals know about and the tourists never find.  It is run by a husband and wife team; he cooks, she manages and serves. 

The restaurant is tiny.  The tables are converted from sewing machine table; the foot pedals are still intact.  There are racks above the tables for brief cases, etc., that came from old commuter trains.  There are a few antique sewing machines here and there.  The name of the restaurant is a play on words:  machine à coudres is a sewing machine.  Machine à coudes is nonsensical but is a machine for in essence, elbow-lifting, i.e., to lift one's elbow to drink.  Take a look at the "logo" on the restaurant website (link below).

My appetizer was a delicious warm bonito tuna and asparagus ceviche-type dish.  It was complex and delicious.  The main course was a roasted pork belly served with bitter greens.  It was fork-tender and very flavorful.  We allowed the "wife" to pair the wines with the dishes.  The Cotes du Rhone was perfect for the pork.  Here's the link to the restaurant:  La Machine à Coudes.

I look forward to returning some day to Paris with Tove.  Maybe we will drive there from Trondheim?