Voicy does Norway

Even at the Radisson Blu hotel, guests have to take off their shoes at the door. It's quite funny seeing business people walking around in suits...and socks.

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I took another drive past the Global Seed Vault to get a better pic of it this time since I've only seen it in the dark previously.
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And of course, please don't feed the bears. Apparently last year a polar bear walked right into town in the early morning. It startled quite a few early joggers, but nobody was hurt. As mentioned previously, you're not permitted to leave the town unless someone in your party has a firearm.

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Voicy said:
Even at the Radisson Blu hotel, guests have to take off their shoes at the door. It's quite funny seeing business people walking around in suits...and socks.
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Wish they would enforce that rule everywhere!
 
Cheers!

Tomorrow is Norway's best known day of the year: "17. Mai". It's their constitution day where the country celebrates 203 years of independence.

There are massive street parades all over and just about every woman dons her national dress called a "Bunad". Each fylke, or province, has its own design. People also go around saying "Gratulere med dagen!" which is what you say to someone on their birthday, that's how close the bond is between norwegians and their country.

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Just about every house has a flag hanging outside on the day and everyone's incredibly proud of theirs. Even for normal birthdays etc. people will raise a flag at home, as well as half-masting one during a time of mourning.

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It's truly fascinating seeing a country come together like this and be proud of their heritage. Something that SA is severely lacking sadly.


I'll be dressed in my suit and tie while eating ice cream on the sidelines with Mrs Voicy, watching the parades. Here's a "flag cake" I tried to make last year, but it came out a bit wonky.

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And the flag we put up for the day in Narvik, which was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940 due to it being the port for Sweden's iron mine in Kiruna, but was also the first town in Europe to push back and cause the Germans to retreat.

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^^What are you doing work wise, Voicy? What line of engineering?
 
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Voicy said:
Cheers!

Tomorrow is Norway's best known day of the year: "17. Mai". It's their constitution day where the country celebrates 203 years of independence.

There are massive street parades all over and just about every woman dons her national dress called a "Bunad". Each fylke, or province, has its own design. People also go around saying "Gratulere med dagen!" which is what you say to someone on their birthday, that's how close the bond is between norwegians and their country.

View attachment 436716

Just about every house has a flag hanging outside on the day and everyone's incredibly proud of theirs. Even for normal birthdays etc. people will raise a flag at home, as well as half-masting one during a time of mourning.

View attachment 436718

It's truly fascinating seeing a country come together like this and be proud of their heritage. Something that SA is severely lacking sadly.


I'll be dressed in my suit and tie while eating ice cream on the sidelines with Mrs Voicy, watching the parades. Here's a "flag cake" I tried to make last year, but it came out a bit wonky.

View attachment 436720

And the flag we put up for the day in Narvik, which was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940 due to it being the port for Sweden's iron mine in Kiruna, but was also the first town in Europe to push back and cause the Germans to retreat.

View attachment 436722
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We visited the Akershus Museum of Norwegian Resistance in Oslo. A revelation!. Only the French resistance seems to get any publicity, but the Norwegians were pretty effective against the Germans.
 
akescpt said:
Why? Why do people do this?
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i JUST realized that I never posted about this. Everyone takes their shoes off when entering homes, because of wooden floors and snow from outside. I don't even think about it anymore, it's second nature to me now. Even when visiting mrs Voicy's parents, you take your shoes off and sit on the couch with your socks on display. Heck, even when I go to the dentist I have to take off my shoes or wear these plastic wraps around them.

Billy said:
We visited the Akershus Museum of Norwegian Resistance in Oslo. A revelation!. Only the French resistance seems to get any publicity, but the Norwegians were pretty effective against the Germans.
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I've been meaning to go there! Btw, how was the rest of your trip? You drove from Bergen if I remember. What did your wife think of the Lærdalstunnelen drive?
 
Billy said:
We visited the Akershus Museum of Norwegian Resistance in Oslo. A revelation!. Only the French resistance seems to get any publicity, but the Norwegians were pretty effective against the Germans.
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and they were very successful in hiding and evacuating Jews.
 
Voicy said:
i JUST realized that I never posted about this. Everyone takes their shoes off when entering homes, because of wooden floors and snow from outside. I don't even think about it anymore, it's second nature to me now. Even when visiting mrs Voicy's parents, you take your shoes off and sit on the couch with your socks on display. Heck, even when I go to the dentist I have to take off my shoes or wear these plastic wraps around them.



A highlight of our trip was the ferry crossing to Denmark. Sea was as flat as a pancake, and the food was outstanding.


I've been meaning to go there! Btw, how was the rest of your trip? You drove from Bergen if I remember. What did your wife think of the Lærdalstunnelen drive?
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The entrance to the tunnel was unexpected, turn left and drive into a mountain. The drive through the tunnel was far better than driving though the Gotthard tunnel, well worth the trip. Bergan was great, we had really good weather. Also enjoyed the ferry links on the Coast road. In general I think that we enjoyed Norway over Sweden and Denmark, but we did the trip in good weather, temperature only went to -2, I've had that in Bloem!
 
Just saw this article about the Svalbard Seed Vault.

http://www.heraldnet.com/news/humanitys-doomsday-seed-vault-is-probably-still-safe/
On Friday, a slew of alarming headlines emerged regarding the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Water had apparently breached this “fail-safe” trove of the planet’s seeds that is supposed to protect earth’s food supply in the event of a “doomsday” scenario.

The alleged failure of the vault, buried deep into an Arctic mountainside, had occurred after warmer than usual temperatures had caused a layer of permafrost to melt, “sending meltwater gushing into the entrance tunnel” and presumably putting the world’s most diverse collection of crop seeds at risk, according to the Guardian.
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Seems like everything is in order, but they will make some improvements to the tunnel to keep water away.
 
furpile said:
Just saw this article about the Svalbard Seed Vault.

http://www.heraldnet.com/news/humanitys-doomsday-seed-vault-is-probably-still-safe/


Seems like everything is in order, but they will make some improvements to the tunnel to keep water away.
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I saw this yeah, it seems a bit sensational given what's actually happening.

When I was inside the vault in October, the entrance was already flooded due to snow and ice near the entrance that melted.

The seeds were at no risk of getting flooded as the actual vaults are muuuch further down a long sloped corridor into the mountain where the temperature (without artificial cooling) is -18C. While the water poses a safety risk to people, seeing as the ramp itself is already quite slippery, it wouldn't do anything to the seeds...if anything it would just freeze over itself on the way down and isolate the vault even more.

If you look at the pics I posted of my last trip vs my 1st trip (I'm at an airport now and can't browse properly), you'll notice that they redid the irrigation to the entrance as well as removing the entire ramp and put in proper drainage.

Global warming is a real issue, but I think in this case people were a bit too quick to collect their pitchforks. :p
 
We've had quite a bit of airforce activity overhead these last few weeks. While waiting for my flight home I saw 9 F16s take off from the same airport. My office window also shook from a sonic boom when one flew overhead.

Here's a video (sorry for the music) of an F16 doing a low flyover of our island range, which gives a bit of a better idea of what the topography looks like over here in summer/spring.

[video=youtube;1xRoDyIqyiw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xRoDyIqyiw[/video]
 
After skimming through the speeding ticket thread where someone got a R2k fine for doing 116kmh in an 80 zone, here's the Norwegian law:

http://www.rbnett.no/nyheter/article10262507.ece

If you do 25kmh over the speed limit in a 60 zone or 35kmh in higher zones you get your license revoked.

Prislista

60 km/h or lower

a) <5 km/t kr 600,-
b) <10 km/t kr 1600,-
c) <15 km/t kr 2900,-
d) <20 km/t kr 4200,-
e) <25 km/t kr 6500,-

70 km/h or higher

j) <5 km/t: kr 600,-
k) <10 km/t: kr 1600,-
l) <15 km/t: kr 2600,-
m) <20 km/t: kr 3600,-
n) <25 km/t: kr 4900,-
o) <30 km/t: kr 6500,-
p) <35 km/t: kr 7800,-

Freeways 90 km/h and higher

q) 36 km/t to 40 km/t: kr 9000,-.

Use x1.6 to get the ZAR equivalent.

So 116kmh in an 80 zone will a) get your license revoked and b) nett you a R15k fine.
 
Voicy said:
After skimming through the speeding ticket thread where someone got a R2k fine for doing 116kmh in an 80 zone, here's the Norwegian law:.
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Something I've noticed here in Helsinki too. Drivers actually drive properly. Stay at the speed limits (usually not driving slow either), stop at pedestrian crossings etc.
 
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