Assalamu Alaikum,
About three days have passed since we arrived in Stavanger. I remember why I fell in love with this town the first time I came here. Everything is just so beautiful and charming. Even when all is covered with snow.
So, on Monday, J and I ventured out in search of food. I had heard of a place called Saken er Biff, a steakhouse near the harbor and wanted to try it. The name, I believe, is a pun or play on words. It means "the subject is steak", or it can also mean "everything is alright." Pretty interesting, right? Anyways, we went down to the harbor in search of this place, but then ended up going into Restaurant Mexico. This place is always extremely crowded and they have live music playing which you can hear all across the harbor. Fortunately, on Monday, it was quiet and not too full of people. We ordered an appetizer to share and then I got the mixed fajitas and chose chicken and steak. J got the Mexicana Hamburguesa. All in all, the food was pretty good, and the service was, as usual in Norway, mediocre. One of our servers was nice, while the other was rude and ditsy and had no clue what she was doing. The first two pictures are of my fajitas, condiments, and sides; the third is of J's dinner.
On Tuesday, after dinner, we walked around near the lake and the pond. It is so interesting to see how different things look because of cold or warm weather. The lake is almost fully frozen over. It seems to be about one fourth of its actual size, and the rest is ice; this forces all the ducks and swans to gather in the middle, making it seem overpopulated. That reminds me of something impressive about this place. Last time we were here, we decided we would take some bread at breakfast time and go down to the lake and feed the ducks, and if we got lucky, the swans. When we got there, we realized it would not be necessary, as there was a HUGE mountain of bread in the corner of the lake. Everyday, the bakeries and stores give their leftover bread to the ducks. Which also explains why they all seem so fat.
Another interesting tidbit about Norway; drivers will ALWAYS stop for pedestrians. I always wondered why they were unusually nice and began braking yards ahead of any pedestrians crossing. Apparently, if you hit a pedestrian here, you get taken straight to prison, no questions asked. I think it is a good thing, especially compared to places such as Saudi Arabia, where I was nearly run over by a police van.
Assalamu Alaikum,
So, today we woke up exceptionally early for a weekend. I finished doing laundry and packed our suitcases and woke up J. He had been up most of the night watching the All -Star Game. That is one thing he misses dearly; basketball.
We headed to the Aberdeen airport and made it with enough time to grab a huge breakfast at The Food Hub. It was a pretty nice area and they had a variety of foods, and it was not very expensive. After that, we headed to our gate, and made it just in time as they called up the passengers. We saw the plane and cracked up. Not only was it ancient, it was also tiny. A little bit bigger than the one we took initially from London, but still pretty small. And, the funniest part; the stairs to board the plane were held down with a rope tied straight to the propeller and wing. We wanted to take a picture of it, but thought better of it, especially since we were the first two people to board the plane.
After a short flight that ended in clapping from a pack of rowdy, young Americans, we reached Stavanger. I was glad to get away from them, as they seemed to be noisy everywhere they went. They totally fit the stereotype that most of the world has of us. Yuck.
We took a taxi to our hotel, and on the way we started looking around at all the familiar places. Unfortunately, things look extremely different when snow is involved, so we could hardly distinguish anything on the outskirts of the town. But, after we got into town, things started to look the same, and there was hardly any snow still intact. The lake from last time is right across our hotel this time. The hotel is a lot bigger, and the staff seems a lot more friendly and helpful.
J is snoring like a motorboat and I am getting pretty tired from lack of sleep last night. I will post again soon.
Peace.
Amna
Assalamu Alaikum,
I have decided to blog more often. Especially since I have been traveling so much and always forget to document all my interesting experiences.
First of all, I cannot believe our stay in Inverurie is almost over! It is unbelievable. Upon our arrival, the days seemed to drag on; we could hardly wait for the next day, let alone a few months. But, then as life went on and we got used to living here time just flew right by us. Last night, J and I were talking about how we will really miss Inverurie and our bungalow here. It seems the two city slickers have fallen in love with this itty bitty town. Here is a picture of the town centre that I took the first month.
This week went by pretty quick. Wednesday we had dinner out with the plant manager and a few other co-workers of J's. I hada really good time and met a few nice people. The best part was when the PM and his wife gave me a huge orchid plant. I was extremely surprised and happy. Its a purple orchid and is a bit larger than my first orchid plant. I am currently emailing the US Department of Agriculture to figure out how to bring it home with me.
Tomorrow, we are going to Stavanger, Norway. I went there in September, so I think I will remember almost everything... we shall see.
I must run and pack now, so I will post more later. I think I should begin posting shorter, more frequent entries.
Cheers!! <--Scottish for bye.
Peace.
-Amna
