You fill up my senses/Mainau

Mainau, the Island of Flowers, is like the most precious pearl in the beautiful necklace of towns, villages and pleasant havens surrounding the body of the ever charming Lake Constance. In a Germany I up till a few years ago associated with nothing but the industrial Ruhrgebiet, and excellent freeways with famed German efficiency carrying you through the country towards other and more alluring destinations.

Visits to different Bundeslände quickly upsided my and many other people’s misconceptions about a country which features so much more; Wonderful river valleys with vines clinging to steep, rocky sides, whose 

seemingly inhospitable surface provides the very minerals that distinguish and set apart the wines produced there. Quaint little villages with half- timbered houses, windowsills overflowing with pelargoniums. Rolling hills and mountains, and dark forests in which many fairytales were born. To travel over land and sea, everywhere being told and retold, often leading us to believe that they originated on our own door steps. Connecting us in a way we may not be aware of, as people’s emotions, fears and joys are basically the same, wherever we may come from.

And so we may  connect, in experiencing the beauty of Meinau...    
Read/see more....You fill up my senses/Mainau

Evening in Konstanz

As soon as I got off the train, it hit me. The sensation of being on a more southernly latitude. Even though I had left a warm, sunny, spring-rushing-into-summerTrondheim, this was a different thing alltogether. It was already evening, but it was still warm, and the town was teaming with people. Konstanz'  main communication artery, a wide pedestrian street, lined with outdoor restaurants, was full of people enjoying the evening, the pleasant atmosphere, a drink or several, each other or a comfortable solitude.

On my way to the hotel I passed a particularly inviting place situated, along with several others, on a small cobblestoned square featuring palms, several gas fuelled fireplaces, a fountain, and on this particular occasion; an adept Spanish guitarist. I promptly seized a waiter by his collar (well, almost, I would have if needed, I’m a sucker for such places) and asked him to reserve a table for me. He smilingly obliged me, and I quickly checked in to my room, freshened up in a jiffy and headed back, equipped with purse and my beloved travel computer.

The guitarist was still there... 

read more An evening in Konstanz

Goals and Birds of a Feather

Goal is a word having an almost unlimited range when it comes to scope, and an equally limitless diversity when contents are concerned: For a depressed person a goal may be getting out of bed in the morning, forcing down a piece of bread and setting one foot in front of the other in order to reach the mailbox twenty meters down the driveway. For an experienced and fit mountaineer the peak partly hidden way up in the clouds is the target of the day. For a contortionist, fitting into a medium size hat box may seem a feasible achievement, and for a lion tamer simply not being eaten is a pretty sensible goal for any day.

Our lives are immensely diverse in many ways; we have different jobs, backgrounds, experiences and roles. Furthermore, what happens to us, what we seek out, what we look for along the way varies a lot; while some are adventure seekers, going out of their way to explore new territory in all aspects of life, others are satisfied spending most of their time within their mental and physical comfort zone. Some unfortunate souls tend to be especially attractive to falling bricks and shattering earthquakes, others are seemingly invariably showered with rose petals, gentle spring rain and lottery wins...  Read Goals and Birds of a Feather

Still My World

At times

I wish

you could wrap me

in your arms

hold me  close

not letting go

Willing

my world

to stop spinning

Time

to stop passing...

Read Still My World

Have your marzipan and eat it too

The Norwegian national day, the 17th of May, is soon coming up. The day is much loved, partly because it’s an excuse for Norwegians to gorge themselves with a year’s worth of goodies.

The constitution, which is what we’re actually celebrating, says (I’m pretty sure) that on this particular day it’s every kid’s birthright to down a minimum of 6 soft drinks, and to devour 5 ice creams, 7 hot dogs and 9 pieces of cake. 

Which is why all kids get up at 5, behave as stark, raving mad rascals for a few hours, before happily and quite disciplined walking in parades, waving their flags, shouting ”hurray” at the top of their voices and singing something that at least vaguely resembles the national anthem. Knowing that afterwards they are allowed to eat there little hearts out. After which, surprise, surprise, they go home, if they make it that far, and get violently sick!

Due to the upcoming event, a friend of mine requested the marzipan recipe that I for a long time have promised several people to ”post”. The recipe is so simple, the result so delicious, it’s an affront to any serious, hardworking chef:

Marzipan , sugarfree

5 dl almonds

1-2 dl dates

Grind the almonds till they start feeling... Read Have your marizipan and eat it too

FoodStuff (March 18th) now has a working link.

Click on "Mars" to the right, or read FoodStuff

Sugarfree Marzipan soon coming to a blog near you...

50/50 The Must See Movie

If I’d known which movie we were about to watch, I would have run screaming and kicking in the opposite direction of my friend’s house. Illness, hospitals and the likes are things I, if I have the choice, shun like the plague... I don’t know if it’s because I’m a coward or due to the fact that I’ve had a little too much experience in the field. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. 

And I have been to hospitals, blessing their existence, hundreds of times (no kidding, we have veery active kids, whose doings at times have necessitated frequenting the local hospital so often that we, as parents, were afraid of being imprisoned, suspected for I don't know what), bringing or visiting family members, friends, collegues, students... But voluntarily sitting down to 100 minutes of malady, evolving around a guy getting his cancer diagnosis and his subsequent fight to deal with and conquer it, is something I simply DON'T DO.

Usually. But my good friend, whose house I was at, together with other people, had with usual care and skill (she has great taste in books and films) chosen this particular movie. So who was I, to refuse watching it. I braced myself and sat, or rather lay, down in one corner of their very comfortable sofa, in front of their very 50" plasma TV, with its very B & W surround sound system. Between me and the screen was a beautifully laid table with crackers, a great selection of cheeses, fruits, tea, wine... Chances were I would survive the evening.

But I did not. I did not survive the evening...  Read 50/50 The Movie with link to trailer.

Spring Fever

Spring in our little corner of the world arrives in most the same manner each year. It usually takes place around midday on a weekend: The previous evening I go to bed, snuggling under my duvet, relishing in its soft, warm comfort, having struggled through a blizzard, feeling colder than even some of the deep frozen grocery I've just purchased. The next the morning, still half a sleep, I put on the kettle, light a fire and the usual umpteen candle lights and settle down with whatever I'm up, or in to.

After a while, on an impulse, I look up, noticing the sun shining outside.  I set down my cup of tea, tentatively opening the window and feel an unexpected, but vaguely recognizable warmth on my skin. I realize that the bird twittering I've been hearing is not coming from the radio, but is actually made by  birds fervently shake-rattle-and-rolling their hips and feathers, singing their little hearts out in their effort to get a potential mate's attention.

Dazed, I get up, open the door to the patio and step outside: Oh What a Beautiful Morning!, What a Wonderful World! Spring and bird Love is in The Air! and I Feel Fine! The only thing.... 

Read Spring Fever