Fighting Parkinson’s on skies:
I would like to start the story of our ski trip with the most important result: The recreational part – to improve my physical and mental health. On a beautiful sunny day with fresh, crisp air, it was great to take a break at a lake after some kilometers up hill. With a snack I had in my pocket (an orange and two chocolate bars), we sat down for a rest and a nice chat. The view was breathtaking and I am glad I can share it with you as my Nokia Mobile phone is capable of capturing it all in panoramic mode:

Around 11AM and the sun is low on the horizon since it’s winter time – the darkest time of the year (6 hours duration in Oslo, Norway). If this isn’t wonderful scenery and an atmosphere to charge your batteries – then I don’t know what is!

Like I said: I was glad I still had the basic ski skills from childhood. It’s two years since I was last on skis when I got the diagnoses Parkinson’s – in addition to that I had a knee replacement about four months ago – so I have to admit my form has been better : -) But you can compensate quite a bit for being in shape if you have good technique, both on flat areas, up hills and especially down hills in (almost *LoL*) full speed:

Skiing: The most wonderful outdoors recreation I can think of : -)

The impact of Parkinson’s however feels like driving with the parking brakes on: Picture yourself driving like that and the wire from the parking brake is your body muscles – and they are stiff and tight as guitar strings. The effect of your engine, even on full speed, is relatively small and you have to use quite a lot of fuel to get going.
Let me add; it was my physiotherapist, who trains me 3 times a week, who came up with the idea. He is very supportive and focuses on my mental training as well. We often talk about getting me out of the role of patient and believe me: it worked on this ski trip!

Anyhow; it was a wonderful trip, and an outdoor adventure and I wouldn’t be without for anything in the world. Despite the struggle, I proved to myself that even if I have an uninvited “guest” (Mr. Parkinson) in my body; I am in charge and capable of doing the things that I like. I can still enjoy outdoor life, nature and improve my physical and mental health – and even better: to share these adventures and magic moments with my son!

Remember, all these (except for the cheese), are homemade with fresh meat coming directly from the butcher – made with love and care, based on recipes past on for generations! Just by thinking of it, especially when I enter my parents house this special day, I am literary taken down the memory lane – just by closing my eyes, I remember mom and grandma in the kitchen almost the entire month of December, the smell, the atmosphere, the excitement and the anticipation. There was something in the air – it was Christmas!
If you thought the food and the feast ends here, you are wrong! No, when you are filled up with pork and lamb and ham and…… and maybe had a short walk or a power nap to digest at least a bit, then the special homemade sweets were on the table:

To the right: All kinds of cookies and the Kransekake (Ring Cake)

The Nisse or Tomte:
A Nisse is a mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore originating from Norse paganism – actually close to what we call an elf. He was believed to take care of a farmer’s home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the house folk were asleep – type Fjøs Nisse (Fjøs = barn). Nisse is the common name in Norwegian, Danish and the Scandinavian dialect in southernmost Sweden is Tomte and Tonttu in Finland.
The Nisse was often imagined as a small, elderly man (size varies from a few inches to about half the height of an adult man), often with a full beard; dressed in the everyday clothing of a farmer. However, there are also folktales where he is believed to be a shape-shifter able to take a shape far larger than an adult man, and other tales where the Nisse is believed to have a single, cyclopean eye. Here are some examples of Nisse from my parents home Christmas decorations:

Left: My Great Grandmother’s Nisse – Right: My Grandmother’s Nisse Family

The Fjompe Nisse:
I’ve never seen him, but he has been an important part of my memories from Christmas ever since I was a child – especially in preparing, like decorating the tree and house in general. The Fjompenisse was defiantly a shape-shifter type, as he could come in (always at night) through the chimney or even the key hole. He defiantly had a temperament: One year I remember we had forgotten to take out the key from the hole and he had to use the chimney. You could then see his footprints of ash all around the house. The Fjompenisse was clearly a traditionalist too and did not want to be disturbed in his work.
Another of these things that takes me down the memory lane and brings back the Yuletide spirit from childhood when I enter my parents house, are all these Fjumpe Nisse figures hanging around:

Left: On top of the paintings – Right: On top of the old family clock from the 18Hundreds

Jule Nisse or the Santa Claus:
In the 1840s the farm’s Nisse became the bearer of Christmas presents in Denmark, and was then called Julenisse (Yule Nisse). This mythical character then turned into the white-bearded, red-capped friendly figure associated with Christmas ever since. Shortly afterwards, and obviously influenced by the emerging Father Christmas traditions as well as the new Danish tradition, a variant of the Nisse, called the Jule Nisse in Norway and Jultomte in Sweden, started bringing the Christmas presents in instead of the traditional Julbock (Yule Goat).

I hope you have enjoyed my reminiscing of my childhood and a walk down memory lane. Christmas Eve is now upon us and its time not only to remember our traditions but to give them to our own children and families. From all of us here to all of you we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This year’s November earned a place in history books: Never before have temperatures been so high in the month leading up to Christmas – the warmest we have experienced since temperatures started being measured in the 1860. November last year was the coldest in living memory and the temperatures in Oslo were setting records at the other end of the scale, down to -24°C.
That’s a sharp contrast from November this year, to say the least: For the country as a whole, highest temperature was measured +10°C (49°F) which gives the average temperature 4.5°C above normal. So we are all glad that winter finally arrived and just in time for Christmas too!

Now, let’s go back to the scenery I tried to capture after this year’s first snow fall:

My fascination for snow of course goes back to my childhood: I remember it took some time to dress for the winter season, but then again the strong winter weather never stopped us from having fun. Snow was something we looked forward to: instead of closing our schools, we went to school on skis and the recess in the school yard was never more fun than at that time of the year.

Let me end this White Gold of Snow post with the last photo I shot – by sunset, around 2:30PM. We are into the darkest part of the year and in Oslo the duration of daylight is less than 6 hours. We are soon at Winter Solstice you know (the 21st of December) and in this pic you might get an idea of how the snow brightens up the atmosphere – at sunset:

As many of my Facebook followers and friends already know, I am currently at a rehabilitation center for Parkinson’s which is just outside of Lillehammer. Many of you may remember Norway’s winter Olympics in Lillehammer 1994 – so I assure you the magic of winter has touched us here too. My training includes outdoor exercise in the beautiful mountains surrounding the center, so I hope I will capture some more winter magic for my readers in the next days. Even when I am away taking care of my health, I always have my Nokia N8 handy you know – so stay tuned : -)

Planning for the North – going to the South Pole:
Amundsen started preparing for an expedition to the North Pole, but when both Frederick A. Cook and Robert E. Peary claimed to have reached the Pole, in 1908 and 1909, respectively, Amundsen secretly changed his plans. In Madeira he revealed that the expedition to the North Pole would go by way of the South Pole. The race was on with Robert F. Scott to see which of them would be the first man on the southernmost point on earth. Five weeks before Scott, who died on the return journey, Amundsen reached the South Pole 14 December 1911:

Norwegian flag planted on the South Pole (Photo: Norwegian Polar Institute)

The first to sail through the Northwest Passage:
In the summer of 1903 Amundsen sailed from Oslo with the ship Gjøa. The aim of the expedition was to find the Northwest Passage, for which the English had been searching for 400 years. Amundsen had a scientific goal: he wanted to measure the earth’s magnetic field and determine its exact location.

The ship Gjøa in front of Fram Museum

The expedition had a 23-month stopover in Gjøa Haven on King William Island. While there, Amundsen studied how the Inuit lived and gathered a prodigious amount of ethnographic material. In the spring of 1905, Gjøa sailed onward and emerged at the other end of the Northwest Passage in August 1906.

Norway marks Amundsen’s south pole feat 100 years on:
Today dozens of scientists and explorers joined the Norwegian prime minister to mark 100 years since Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to the South Pole. At the pole, PM Jens Stoltenberg paid tribute to “one of the most outstanding achievements of mankind” and highlighted the importance of this cold continent in our efforts to understand the warming of the globe! He also said Amundsen’s polar expeditions “helped to form our new national identity”. You see, Amundsen’s arrival at the pole on 14 December 1911 came only six years after Norway had declared independence after a long union with Sweden. So there is a lot of reasons to celebrate this year and especially today you know : -)

The interior design has been finished to the smallest detail. The dining room is divided into three separate areas, the Bridge, the Shark’s Hall and the Eastern Corner, seating in total up to 72 guests. To evoke the atmosphere of the seven seas there is a pool of turtles and exotic fish and a beautifully crafted fish tank containing three small sharks in the dining room:

As you see from my photos, the interior is inspired by pirate ships and is tastefully and carefully crafted, with every element, from the furniture to the cutlery and glasses, having been custom-made by hand. Let me give you a couple more examples:

The Cocktail: “Bloody Frogs Eye” – Interesting ash trays in the smoking room

True feast for all senses!
Korsaar offers an a la carte menu, an excellent selection of wines and highly professional service. This was the way they made our aperitif “Elixir Bloody Frog Eye” (in the pic above) in front of our table: No frogs were harmed in this process!!

Their international food is fantastic, with leanings on the creoles and seafood side of the port bow. Even more, said before: it’s a restaurant of chefs who accepts the orders from the clients personally and we had an interesting discussion with him; the awarded Mr. Jaak Hiibus, to decide our dinner. When telling him we were from Norway and that I had caught King Crabs in the Barents Sea, this became our menu:

Left, starter: King Crab salad – Right, main course: Grilled Patagonian toothfish steak with mango béarnaise

No, I have not forgotten the dessert, but take this opportunity to example the personal and professional service. You see, I like coffee to go with dessert and we got Turkish coffee – the Korsaar way: Fresh milled coffee corns that are pieced up from ferocious plantations of Cuba are turned into a great hearted aromatic drink. First they boil it on hot sand twice and the process ended at our table boiled one last time before our eyes:

Left: one of our Waitresses serving coffee – Right: dessert: Dark chocolate fondant.

Social Media recommendation:
My regular readers know I am above average active in Social Media and this trip to Tallinn in Estonia was of course announced at my TripIt account and fed to my Facebook wall. The post was commented by a friend of mine Robert Henry T from UK, saying: “I got back from Tallinn on Monday. Incredible place (although freezing!). Check out the German Beer hall just off the main square and definitely eat there”. We did and had a jolly good time:

The charming waiters at The Beer House – Dinner: Duck Confit
When I told the Manager the reason why we paid them a visit, she insisted that we came with her for a guided tour downstairs: The Korsaar Restaurant, and we ordered a table for the next day – from where you now know the whole story : -)
We found both restaurants very nice, and the staff was professional, friendly and last but not least, fun. The next time you are in Tallinn we recommend you check these two restaurants out!

A cultural event:
I was there with some friends and my wife on Monday 28th (sponsored by the food company Stabburet, which used my photo in an advertisement – read details in the post here) and gladly invite you along. I promise it’ll be fun, even if sport isn’t your cup of tea! You see, Holmenkollen is not merely a sports venue; it is also a tourist magnet of note with over a million visitors every year and this event is a celebration for all with a variety a cultural events as well. Let me give you some examples of what we met on our way from one venue to another:

Lively characters, even Trolls from Norwegian fairy tails, as well as storybook bakers from popular children’s stories.

Combine sports mania & outdoor recreation:
Every day there are thousands of spectators at Holmenkollen, 20 minutes by Metro from Oslo City Center – they expect around 100 to 150 thousand on Sunday – fully equipped for a one day outdoor folk festival:
Most have a backpack, some have skies and of course they have flags too!

You see, if you are dressed right and have sufficient supplies, like coffee, toddy, an extra hip bottle and pack a good lunch, a day like this can be a blast:

Enjoying sports event is for everyone the Norwegian way : -)

If you are in for more luxury, there are of course tribunes too – very often occupied by invited guest from all over the world:

So as you can see this event is something for everyone to enjoy, both young and old, Norwegian or visitor there is something fun and exciting for everyone. Of course there have also been some very good sporting events hehehe, and I will be telling you more about it in my next post. In the mean time stay tuned and follows along with the news in Nordic Skiing, because there is still more fun to come!

Treasuring the natural outdoors:
If you think of it: We humans lived outdoors long before we lived indoors, and we had to million years as hunters and gatherers. So we’ve developed a body and a mind that is predisposed to a life in and of nature. The last few thousand years however, we have developed a culture and a civilization that somehow looks like we can put ourselves above the rest of nature. To find peace and a new balance we need to interact with the old natural elements. My respectful contention is that these environments are vital to our health and peace of mind (click all pics to bigify & enjoy):

Treasuring The ‘freedom to roam’:
Norwegians really enjoy the right to access and passage through uncultivated land in the countryside. The right is an old consuetudinary law called the “Allemannsrett” (lit. all men’s right), that was codified in 1957 with the implementation of the Outdoor Recreation Act. It’s based on respect for the countryside, and all visitors are expected to show consideration for farmers and landowners, as well as other users and the environment:

Enjoying Outdoor’s natural playground with waffles & hot chocolate.

Ancient traces provide evidence of the freedom to roam in many European countries, suggesting such a freedom was once a common norm. This “right to roam” has survived in perhaps its purest form here in Scandinavia and a possible explanation as to why the right has survived mainly in these four countries is that feudalism and serfdom were not established here. In Norway the right has been won through practice over hundreds of years and it is not known when it changed from mere ‘common practice’ to become a commonly recognised right. Another factor is the survival of large areas of unenclosed forest and to ensure the ability to operate outdoor recreation, we determinately have set aside green spaces, parks, islands and outlying areas in fairly close proximity to urban areas, especially around the capital of Oslo. If you recall my saying: There is no such as bad weather, only bad clothes; winter, snow and ice is of course no obstacle, but rather takes the recreational effect to a new dimension:

Outdoor Recreation in Winter Wonderland:
I shot a lot more photos with my Nokia N8 mobile phone on this hike by the Oslo Fjord – eager to share with my readers as always. Trying to capture the spirit and atmosphere and bring some of this fresh, crisp and free air home to you:

Now you have seen us exploring our natural environment. How do you interact with your natural environment? Maybe you don’t have snow or skiing, but every place has its own unique beauty. Share with us in the comments.

Advantage of Social Media sharing:
My regular readers knows I’m above average in Social Media activities. As a network evangelist, I love to share and be inspired of others – like I often say: It’s a Givers Gain! It occurs in many ways and in this case, two of the pics I took in Holmenkollen last year (posted about and shared on Flickr) has become “famous” in Norway:

Sausages: Kollen Grill & Wiener:
One of Norwegian food companies, Gilde, who make sausages or hotdogs, wanted to use one of the photos for their Holmenkollen sausage collection and the result:

Left: Boil Hotdog (or wieners) – Right: Grill Hotdog – the word “Kollen” in the name is of course a direct reference to Holmenkollen. As locals call the ski jump Kollen for short.

The picture is now to be seen all over Norway; at gas stations, local groceries, in newspapers e.g.:

Nora homemade Jam:
Another food company; Stabburet, who makes jam (made from old, traditional Norwegian recipe) asked for permission to use the other and they promote their Holmenkollen collection in newspapers:

Follow RennyBA & DianeCA on Oslo2011:
The companies above have of course paid for the use of my photos. This has not made me a millionaire but of course I am very proud to see them all over the country! The best payment I received was in addition 4 VIP tickets to the World Championship in Nordic Ski events. So we will be reporting from the atmosphere and activities in the coming days. There will be a lot happening here in Oslo winter sport capital so stay tuned!

Holmenkollen spirit: Kollen is especially known for its sportsmansly atmosphere and its famous “Kollen roar”.

Panoramic Sunrise Scenery:
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “as the days lengthen, the cold strengthens”. For the next few weeks, this will be the case. Even more; this time of the year – two months after winter solstice and the shortest day of the year – we have 9 ½ hours of daylight in Oslo. That is almost 4 hours more than the shortest day of the year back in December. This additional daylight is not going to help us in the temperature department, but who cares with a morning view from the living room in the second floor like this:

Taken with my Nokia N8 mobile phone. On top: the panoramic photo automatically mounted as one from the individual four photos beneath.

Slideshow for the love of Sunrise & set:
All this glory of a sunset & rise gives a spirit of wonder and joy, hard to explain with photos alone. That is why I like to experiment with mixing them in a slideshow adding some text and royalty free music. So please take a tour with me of some beautiful sunsets and rises from Norway the Winter Wonderland and marvel at the beauty of what nature create:

As many have read over the years I am really an outdoor enthusiast. I think that the nature around us gives us opportunities more than challenges. It gives us the opportunity to experience beauty beyond anything man could ever create, and to enjoy recreation in the fresh air which makes us feel alive. I hope you will get an opportunity to enjoy the nature wherever you are as the weekend approaches, and please feel free to share your experiences in the comments on my blog.