Summer Party

So it appears that the company parties are pretty wild, late and with plenty of drinking. This summer we had a Western themed one. I'm just going to post the pics since they pretty much speak for themselves. These folk sure love to dress up and get rowdy. After the whole horse farm thing we went back to the office and drank there till 5am. With the owner of the company. Sick.

Soccer and Babs

In addition to my trip to Stockholm this past weekend (I'll get those pictures up in a couple days), last week saw me blessed with a visit from the one and only Barbara Breckinridge. She has been dragged here to the frozen north to do some research for her thinking persons degree that is currently occupying most of her time down in good ole Austin. While I'm still not sure why in the hell that research had to be done way out here, I was indeed grateful for the opportunity to see and hang out with a friendly face.

Just as fun and gorgeous as I remember! Good times. That picture is actually us at a metal bar we found called Unholy. Also the same place that we got this picture...

In case you couldn't guess, this was their translation for "bathroom". Charming to say the least. The bar as a whole was pretty sweet and is a legit Black metal bar in central Oslo. Black metal is pretty rad and I recommend everyone giving a listen, I for one will be returning as soon as I get my hearing back.

We also checked out a nice little food spot with an excellent nautical them (Nick you would've loved it). It was overlooking this little market area near the old opera house...

The place was in those archways in the back. Somehow I only got this one picture of the inside. Included in said picture is Matt, a professor and friend of Babs'. An excellent chap who made great conversation. Good stories all around were told.

That pic is actually very strange, we look like we're staring each other down and getting ready to headbutt or something. Perhaps those empty glasses of beer had something to do with it...

More Babs

Me, Babs, and her friend who I can't remember the name of

That last picture was at a gay bar we "accidentally" wandered into. Poorly decorated in our opinion, but the karaoke was sung with righteous passion. Elton John would've been proud.

Lastly, tonight I had my first game as part of the company soccer team, the Point Carbon Rovers! It was awesome even though I am a horrendous soccer player. Mayhaps that had something to do with our 3-1 defeat. Either that or the yellow card I got for jacking a guy up fighting for a header. Soccer players are such pansies. The biggest upside to this though is I will be in even better shape when I start playing lax with the locals. Legendary.

Stockholm girls

Went to the Swedish capital over the weekend and partied it up with some acquaintances from back home including Joe and Jack Findaro, and their buddy Tom. In summary - awesome.

I'm gonna go into the sights and stuff another day, but I just wanted to post some pictures of the beautiful blondes that inhabit this part of the world. We were in a bunch of clubs like this...

Set aviators to stunning...

...so unfortunately half the pics came out like this...

...but I did get a few solids. My game was ON and with the other guys I was rolling with we were slaying it. For example:

Meet Amanda (I think...), an excellent example of prime Nordic wildlife. Note the blonde hair, blue eyes and all around beautiful. Walking down the streets, pretty much every other person looks exactly like this.

Emma is the blonde, no recollection what the other's name was. This pic was from this club which was half outdoors including this gathering on the front steps.

Good times.

Again names are fuzzy, but you get the idea. Very fun folk and susceptible to the charms of fast thinking Americans with a predilection for telling tall tales. Over the course of the weekend I was an investment banker, avalanche rescue searcher, travel journalist, salvage diver and vice-president at HBO. Excellent success rate as well. The guys I was with did an excellent job spittin game as well and all had a good time.

The rest of Stockholm in a day or two and also all this week is the annual Oslo Jazz Festival. I will be attending as much of it as possible so look forward to some good stuff.

Fjord Beach

I tried getting some good pictures of the locals over the weekend as per the request of several of you out there but was mostly unsuccessful. It would seem that the dark, crowded, and disco dance filled environs of the Grunerlokka bar/club scene are not ideal for picture taking. So i got like 3 blurry and black pictures of what is either a floor, a person, or a person I accidentally knocked on the floor, the details are hazy. However, company sponsored happy hour this Wednesday, so hopefully I can give some pictures from that of what Oslonians look like. Hint: they resemble people.

I did have a great fish and mussel soup on the company dime on Friday though.

'Twas delicious.

Also went to one of the small islands in the Oslofjord called Hovedoya. Pretty dope spot and there a some beaches which are particularly popular when the weather is as nice as it was on Saturday.

I'm not one for crowds so I decided to do a little exploring and find a spot of my own to spend the day. A little hiking and exploratory climbing and voila!

Nicely done Mr. Mankowski. The picture above makes it look like I pissed on the wall, but I assure you I did not and that's simply the way the stone looked. I would NEVER even think about defiling such an exquisite example of the outdoors that Oslo has to offer. I did however pee in the water because I was cold.

And what did I have to do to get to this spot? Climb down this...

It's actually not as bad as it looks here, definitely meant that I was free from bothering.

Also, snagged a sweet sunset picture off the balcony that I will finish with.

The neighborhood

Just a quick post of some of the stuff in the area around my apartment including...

... Lyst, a half decent coffee/food shop right on my corner. Still trying to figure out how the name translates, Google says Want, but he reviews say Light. Me confused. However, they do have a mean burger and the burger coffee combo was about 130NOK, not too shabby.

Here now Toyen park, my local patch of frolicking greenery.

A pretty decent, although it looks like the botanical gardens that are next to it are even sweeter. Haven't explored those yet, maybe I will check them out on my next run. Which reminds me, living in a walking city where it's expensive to eat out and you don't understand the language well enough to shop for much else besides hot dogs and chicken is a fantastic way to lose weight!

Next, at the risk of seeming like a psycho UFO spotter, I tried to capture the Holmenkollen ski jump from my balcony this morning.

Didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but I assure you it's there and clearly visible from my place. Till next time.

Familien Griffin

....that is how they list Family Guy on the Norwegian cable networks. They also love Katy Perry here, I think I hear California Gurls at least once a day. Oslo is an awesome walking city, small with lots of greenery.

So besides moving into my new apartment and filming a poorly oriented video tour, I also ventured out into the Nordmarka for the first time. One my co-workers told me that the best part about Oslo is what it offers as far as nearby outdoor activities. He was correct. This really is the ideal city layout for me, from my apartment door to the Sognsvann and surrounding woodlands is a 25 minutes metro ride.

The above shots are the Sognsvann and the surrounding trail, a very popular destination when the weather is as idyllic as it was this past weekend. Literally about 150 yards from the metro stop. While the pictures don't show it, there were actually a lot of people there and I was eager to try and do a little off the beaten path exploring. Lucky for me there are literally dozens of trails branching off of the lake and deep into the woods, some better marked than others, but all awesome. These trails take you past several other lakes and their interconnecting rivers, nearby marshes, cliff faces and waterfalls.

Nerd alert: when I spotted that rock wall in the last picture the first thing that came to mind was, "Moria...You fear to go into those mines." Moving on...

Every once in a while I would see a small tent camp off the trail and I'm pretty sure that you are allowed to camp just about anywhere you find a spot. Also popular is berry picking.

Wild raspberries and blueberries, smaller than what you'd find in the grocery store but oh so tasty and sweet. There were also plenty of wild mushrooms growing, but I didn't think it smart to tempt fate so early in my stay.

Had lamb for dinner from the nearby Halal store which is pretty affordable and tasty, cooking for oneself is most definitely the way to eating while living in this city. Lastly, the video game selection here is piss poor and expensive as hell. New releases are about $85-$100. I call shenanigans.