Well we are nearly at the end of our Oslo house sit. Actually we’re not really in Oslo but in the village of Baerums Verk in the hills nearby – quite rural which is nice. Our home owners return tomorrow from a holiday in Thailand. We have just chilled out here – in more ways than one!!!! It’s barely climbed above 0 degrees the last few days and it’s just started snowing again. Quite a heavy fall this time. Still get very excited. Just spoke to one of the neighbours and she was very friendly – asking where we were from etc. I’m sure she was a little bemused at the crazy Aussies outside taking photos in the snow. It gets very dark early here – about 3:30pm at the moment. We had a cuppa on the balcony one afternoon – more amusement for the neighbours I’m afraid!
Our house sit house is a three story town house with lovely views over the valley to neighbouring hills. There are some great forest walks nearby – probably should have done more while we’ve been here but never mind! Fred the cat is 16 years old but still spritely – loves to race up and down the stairs – eats well and just stays inside in the warm. Very wise. Baerums Verk is a beautiful village. Not very old – built in the 1970’s. Most of the buildings are made of wood and painted in white, deep blue, maroon, grey, or yellow. Very effective. The village centre consists of a shopping centre with a supermarket and lots of upmarket clothes and furniture shops. Also some little individual shops scattered alongside the stream that runs through the centre of the village – has a beautiful waterfall. You can cross from one area to the other on a very cute bridge. We met a grandmother and her granddaughter outside the shops the other day. The wheel had come off their stroller and we tried to help put it back on. I thought you might like to see how the little ones are dressed here to go for a walk, so have included a photo of her. Remember it isn’t even winter yet!
We have spent our time reading, playing cards, cuddling Fred, the occasional walk to the village, and organizing accommodation, hire car etc – we are heading off to the west coast of Norway next week. We leave for Bergen on Tuesday – on the train – supposed to be one of the most beautiful trains trips in the world. Hope the weather lets us see it all! Has been heaps of work getting it all together. We’ve only had one day out since we’ve been here, and that was more out of necessity than anything. We caught the bus into Oslo. Didn’t end up doing touristy things, just some shopping and printed out some travel documents at an internet cafe – we haven’t got a printer here. It seems like a nice city but it was a cold day and a bit windy – not great with the tunneling effect between big buildings. We had a little walk around the shopping area and then headed home. We did think of having a late lunch in the city; looked for a cafe we could afford but none to be found. Eating out and groceries are very expensive here – brings back memories of Ireland – so we’re back to big pots of soup. Wine is also exorbitant – especially after all the cheap wine in France. But it’s not a problem. We can’t buy it in Baerums Verk anyway. No wine section in the supermarket – above the legal alcohol limit for supermarkets – and no pub or bottle shop. Not that any of this will hurt us after the chateau and all the ‘wining and dining’ in Belgium. So for those of you who worry about our diet and alcohol consumption – you can relax. We are really behaving ourselves!!
Hope everyone is okay. We enjoy getting your emails – thanks for your updates.
Lots of Love
Di and Reg