LSE Students Against War take to the Streets... all 7 of them!

Mini-Break in Norway, Chez Irene

Fabulous weekend in Norway witht the Travel Club (Stéph, Margaret, Will, Irene..well actually visiting Irene there..) A great day in Oslo! Visited the Munch museum, who happens to be my favourite artist, ever. Saw ONE of the versions of The Scream, since there are several and one of which was stolen in broad day light. Visiting a viking ship museum with authentic artefacts that had been found in burial grounds which were all beautifully crafted and carved to minute detail. Had a bagel in a trendy lunchy place in the city centre. Walked up and saw the royal palace, the parliament and the citycentre. Went out that night to a very cool cocktail bar called Chaos, then on to one of the most excellent clubs i ever been to, ever: a club in a converted warehouse, called Blo (Blue) with fabulous electro avant guard nordic beats and very cool visuals (i mean that in the media sense, but also i don't think i saw ONE ugly person in the whole venue.. the scandinavian thing is NOT a myth.. i can confirm that right away!) After a rather heavy night and a few hours sleep on the bouncy castle, we arose on Saturday for our trip to 'the country'. Arrived on time for dinner at the Loeken's (Irene's Mum and Dad) on their beautiful farm. I had trout, that Mr Loeken had fished in the lake that day and barbecued! How many people can say that! A beautiful nights sleep in one of the most restful parts of the world, i think. Wakeywakey, time for a fab norwegian breakfast with lots of types of bread and cheese and smoked salmon. yum! Off we went on our day trip to the West coast where we saw some of the most spectacular scenary ever.. Dramaticly sharp mountains, cutting in to lakes, a million tunnels through the mountains (one lasted 15minutes) fabulous greenery everywhere contrasting the deep grey cliffs. We went from Al, to Aurland, to Flam, to Underal (where there was the oldest and smallet church in Europe/the world,i think, pictured at the bottom) On we went to Voss (where the designer mineral water is from the sells in New York for $25 a bottel..) on our quest to buy a bottle of Voss, in Voss. After several unsuccessful inquiries, we found the one of 3 places in Norway where you can buy it. So off we trotted, happy as larry with our designer bottles of water, that to be fair, look totally cool and almost like vases. From Voss to Eidfjord, then to Geilo, and finally back to the farm in Al for a splendid dinner of fresh salmon and vegetables, cooked to perfection by Mrs Loeken. The evening took a rather amusing turn, when we unintentionally entered an aquavit drinking competition with Mr Loeken. After 9 shots, he declared forfeit and admitted that he had never been beaten by women and was highly impressed with me and Margaret. (Must be the genes, Irish and WASP, he didnt stand a chance!) After some polka dancing around the sitting room, to Mr Loeken's accordian playing, and only semi-conscious from the spinning around and aquavit, we called it a night. We set off the next day for the airport and i can tell you.. It wasn't pretty.. All in all, a most FABULOUS weekend, that was perfectly planned out by Irene so that we saw a TON of things in short amount of time!!! Lovely!