Resiprical disrespect on Gran Canaria

I have spent the last week on a Spanish island off the coast of Africa. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? It wasn't.  I know I sound like ungrateful bitch, but I spent the week wondering what I was doing there. 


The island of Gran Canaria has way too many tourists on it, mostly oiled up, shirt free Scandinavians. There are so many tourists that the locals have lost all respect for politeness or customer service. Their only interest is to take your money. The first thing the receptionist said to us when we walked in was "Hey lady, I want to go home", the second thing he said was "Lady, no loud music after 10". No matter how cheap your hotel is don't ever greet your guests with a selfish, unwelcoming, rude comment. At our three star hotel we had to pay 6 euros a day for internet. The TV had a slot machine for coins, and if you want a remote you have to pay for that too. For example if you want a cup of tea with your breakfast you have to HIRE a fricken kettle. Give me a break people! By the way, the hotel bar played loud, horrible music way past ten.


There is almost no chance to get a taste of the Spanish culture in the town we stayed in known as Puerto Rico. Many of the restaurants are Scandinavian or British owned, and nearly none of them sell Spanish food. We could buy the Norwegian newspaper at the hotel convenience store, and the British people who come to the island to work learn Swedish faster than they do Spanish. I think there is something wrong going on. Most of the tourists aren't interested in learning about the place they are visiting. So they create restaurants with familiar languages and flavours. Most of the inhabitants are sick of being invaded then ignored, so they don't show respect back. 


Lesson learnt: Be disrespectful and a chain of disrespectfulness has begun.


P.S I can't deny that I enjoyed seeing blue skies again. Especially when they include palm trees. And, I got to eat my favourite ketchup and mustard popcorn from the candy shop.

Sigrunn and Hannah almost kill themselves

Last week Sigrunn and I went for a walk. We ventured out into the nature which we see every morning when we wake up and look out our windows. We are so lucky, to live in Søgne! It was such a beautiful sunny day, especially since it was the middle of Jaurary, (what the hell it's supposed to be the middle of winter!). Trying to walk down the hill from the school to the lake we almost killed ourselves. I thought it was a good idea to slide down the hill on my bum, but I ended up going at 1000km a second and smashed into a tree. I still have a massive bruise. All was not lost however. We ended up finding a sweet dang summer hut, complete with swing, trampoline, see saw and a beautiful view almost all the way to Denmark. When the weather gets warmer we are planning to take our beers and a portable BBQ and dive off their wooden deck into the ocean.

Morning walk in Bergen

Garfield! This is exactly the same cat Alex and I saw when we were in Bergen in October. He was still roaming the same street, begging for attention. Going to try and find him/her every time I am in Bergen from now on.

Take a trip to the klippoteque before you head to the discotheque. 

The idyllic lane ways

I hypothesise that this sticker was strategically stuck on a rubbish bin by a norwegian troll, so that people will throw their donuts, cheese burgers and baby back ribs in as they walk past. 

Bergen's famous Bryggen at sunrise.

This building is a restaurant, I was sure it was a museum or something a little more official.

Norwegian Music Favourites

I have been wanting to share a selection of my favourite Norwegian artists for a while. Helped largely by hanging with muso Norwegian hipsters, I have been able to taste a wide range of music made by Norwegians. I hereby present a healthy mix of pop, rock, gypsy, classical and electronic from all over Norway.

First is Fjorden Baby a  indie band who reside in Bergen. They remind me of Temper Trap and of cute indie Fremantle bands. Their new video clip is pretty awesome, and they have the word fjord in their name! How cute is the little asian guy with his dancemoves! LOVE! To see the video clip to their new song Rendezvous, click here.

Here is  Kråkesolv  which translates to Crows' Silver. They are 4 boys from Bødo, a small town up in the north of Norway, where polar bears and trolls live. I like their soulful, cosy, homemade feel. Last night some of us cool kids from school went to a concert they had in Kristiansand, it was superb! They have such a nice balance of rock, relaxed and they actually sing in Norwegian which is surprisingly rare.

Susanne Sundfør is a singer songwriter from Haugesund on the western coast of Norway. We almost drive past where she lives each time we go to visit my grandmother. Her music is a mix of classical, jazz and electronic, topped off with powerful lyrics. She played in the Kristiansand cathedral early in the autumn, it was like going into a trance. The acoustics of the cathedral, the lights, shadows, and vibrations= super concert. Although it did feel a bit wrong to have a concert with such dark, heavy music in pure and holy place. Here is one of her most popular songs "The Brothel", from of album of the same name.

Another favourite of the moment is Moving Oss, a seven piece rock band from Trondheim. Sigrunn, Ane and I went to one of their concerts in October, they look hardcore; They are covered with piercings and tattoos, but they play warm, catchy, feel good music. The lead singer studied jazz at the same school I am at. One of us is sleeping in his old room! I couldn't find a good video clip but you can listen to them on myspace http://www.myspace.com/movingoos.

And I couldn't forget Marika Lejon. The daughter of my Norwegian language teacher. She will be singing in the Norwegian semifinal of the Eurovision song contest on Saturday and my whole class is going along to support her. WHOPPA MARIKA! 

Banana Smoothie

I am a morning person. All the way through high school I would get up early, and make myself a banana smoothie. Then I would do my last drabs of homework which I hadn't had the energy to do the night before. Banana smoothies are the bomb; they're healthy, easy to make, easy to drink, filling, can be made with infinite combinations and most importantly d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.

I had been craving a smoothie the last six months. I thought it was never going to happen unless I bought a blender. I reasoned to myself that buying a blender would be a bit over the top when I'm going to be living here for 8 months and I'm a student. That was until I found a blender hidden in a cupboard on the the other side of the school. It was time to be reunited with my long lost friend.

This is my favourite combination and the one I used this morning:

1 banana

100 mls of raspberry drinking yoghurt

250ml milk

1 tsp honey

pinch of cinnamon

blend :)

Working the scan function on the school photocopy machine.

Only took 5 months.

Sigrunn's Birthday Cake

What time was it? It was party time! Sigrunn turned 19 and she did it in style, with a 1 metre high yellow hand painted crown. Below are some photos from the making of the cake, the chocolate, caramel cheesecake with oreo base. Yeah baby. It was very rich, but very delicious. Happy Birthday Sigrunn!

Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake with OREO base 

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen 
180°C 55 minutes

difficulty: moderately difficult

Serves 10 to 14

Ingredients

Crumb Crust
3 cups  finely ground OREOS :) about 4 packets
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Filling

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Make crumb crust by stirring together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Cook sugar in a dry heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork, until melted and pale golden. Cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Remove from heat and carefully add heavy cream (mixture will vigorously steam and caramel will harden). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until smooth. Stir in sour cream.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy, then beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven 55 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

Run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen and cool completely in springform pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.) Chill cake, loosely covered, at least 6 hours. Remove side of pan and transfer cake to a plate. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Do ahead: Cheesecake keeps, covered and chilled, 1 week.