There are no words to describe the tragedy of what happened in Oslo and Utøya yesterday. How privileged I am that my friends, family and dear ones are safe and sound. Today has been a sad and dark day. Flags at half mast everywhere. Festivals and joyful events cancelled out of respect for the fallen and those left behind. Norway is in mourning. Norway is not broken.
We will grow stronger and prove to the world and ourselves that we will not tolerate terrorism. We will not let evildoers win. We will stand together with our heads held high, our minds open and out hearts warm. We will show that being a member of the Norwegian society means respecting, trusting, helping and caring for all those around, regardless of their political views, skin colour, religion, citizenship or ethnicity.
Take care of yourselves and each other!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Snipp snapp snute...
A bus will steal me away from my Erasmus life tomorrow morning, bringing me to my next adventure: Portugal. I'll travel around the south for a bit, spending 3 days dancing and singing away my sorrows of goodbyes and failed exams in the Superbock Superrock festival, before making my way back to Stavanger via Barcelona. It is going to be sad as Hell leaving Granada and even more so, of course, leaving my friends and buena gente.
Walls are bare, bags are stuffed, drawers are empty. In a few hours I will have washed away the last signs of 'home' from my room.
Today is not a very happy day, but we'll do our best to celebrate tonight, and not grieve. For every one of us this year has been EPIC! And we can all look on to new adventures, - now having a bunch of friends all over the world who are ready for visits, travels and looong skype-sessions... Before all that we will all go out for one last crazy Granada night!
Guess what I'll wear...
Welcome to the mountains!
We had a dream! Gjertrud and I. We started talking about it already in September, right after we met. To conquer the highest peak on the Iberian Peninsula. Mulhacén is located in Sierra Nevada National Park in Andalucia. From my balcony I can see its sister summit, Veleta (3398 m). The summit reaches a humble 3482 m, yet has a high topographic prominence - independent stature/height relative to surrounding peaks. It got its name from the second-to-last Muslim king of Granada, whose Spanish name was Muley Hacén as he is known in Spanish.
I just read this on Wiki... The only thing I knew before we went was that is was going to be a long, not too difficult and totally awesome hike! We went by bus to the village of Capilera right after Gjertrud finished her last exam. From Capileira we followed the river in the bottom of the valley, - the heat was on!
The weather was - as always - brilliant, the path easy to follow, the air fresh and the water refreshing.
Some friends we made on the way up.
Looking up where we're yet to climb, the refuge is somewhere behind the hills to the left.
Never forget to stretch! Almost at the top, going slow the last couple of hundred metres. All in all we spent 5h30min climbing 1100m before reaching Refugio Poqueira at 2500m. We came just in time for dinner and a shower, made some friends and went early to bed.
The next day we took our time eating breakfast and packing our things before leaving the nice refuge around 8.30h. For a night in a bed with blankets and pillows, dinner, breakfast, hot shower and a beer, we paid 33€. Not bad!
After a couple of hours we reached the west face of Mulhacén, where it starts go get steep. This picture is taken from another peak and you can see the trail we followed up the mountain side. Going alongside the peak is a bicycle trail coming up from the gentler slope on the south face.
Enjoying the view from halfway up the trail, - we had many chances to do so, taking minibreaks every 10 minutes or so. A little to the right of the icy lake is another refuge, Refugio Caldera (pot).
Finally at the top after 3 hours and something, almost an hour less than we were told it would take. A cold wind was blowing, but some small stone walls have been made to provide shelter so we could enjoy our lunch at 3482m while smalltalking with other hikers.
Then down again we went, now facing southeast.
We made our way down to a beautiful valley decorated with seven small ponds or lagunes, - logically named Siete Lagunas. We made another snack break and enjoyed the incredibly beautiful views, before continuing down along Rio Culo de Perro - the Dog's Ass River... Didn't quite see the logic in that one...
We realized that you actually have to descend quite a bit if you want to go from 3482m to 1500m. Already tired, legs aching, yet still in good spirit, we could finally spot Trevélez - maybe Spain's highest village (there is some dispute) - and saw that we still had a long way to go.
After 9h30min we reached our hotel La Fragua and checked in to the best room they have, - located more or less on the terrace with a breathtaking view of the rest of the village, the valley below and the surrounding mountains. We met up with Mette and Yannick, who had gone by bus directly to Trevélez to escape the heat in Granada. After turning the draining water in the shower brown, we all went out to eat dinner on a terrace with an equally beautiful view.
On Sunday we brought our fresh blisters and staggered down on stiff and sore legs through the different borroughs/barrios. With its aproximately 800 villagers Trevélez was quiet and peaceful on an early Sunday's afternoon, with surprisingly few tourists.
We bought some ham, of which Trevélez is famous, and ate lunch before trying to survive a 3-hour long bus/rollercoaster ride back to Granada.
This was my last of many adventures in Spain this year, although probably the first one planned. A perfect way to end my stay, - looking out over this beautiful country that I have gotten to know and love. Hasta la vista, Mulhacén! I'll be back!
I just read this on Wiki... The only thing I knew before we went was that is was going to be a long, not too difficult and totally awesome hike! We went by bus to the village of Capilera right after Gjertrud finished her last exam. From Capileira we followed the river in the bottom of the valley, - the heat was on!
The weather was - as always - brilliant, the path easy to follow, the air fresh and the water refreshing.
 |
| Photo: Gjertrud |
Looking up where we're yet to climb, the refuge is somewhere behind the hills to the left.
Never forget to stretch! Almost at the top, going slow the last couple of hundred metres. All in all we spent 5h30min climbing 1100m before reaching Refugio Poqueira at 2500m. We came just in time for dinner and a shower, made some friends and went early to bed.
The next day we took our time eating breakfast and packing our things before leaving the nice refuge around 8.30h. For a night in a bed with blankets and pillows, dinner, breakfast, hot shower and a beer, we paid 33€. Not bad!
 |
| Wiki - Mulhacén |
 |
| Photo: Gjertrud |
We made our way down to a beautiful valley decorated with seven small ponds or lagunes, - logically named Siete Lagunas. We made another snack break and enjoyed the incredibly beautiful views, before continuing down along Rio Culo de Perro - the Dog's Ass River... Didn't quite see the logic in that one...
After 9h30min we reached our hotel La Fragua and checked in to the best room they have, - located more or less on the terrace with a breathtaking view of the rest of the village, the valley below and the surrounding mountains. We met up with Mette and Yannick, who had gone by bus directly to Trevélez to escape the heat in Granada. After turning the draining water in the shower brown, we all went out to eat dinner on a terrace with an equally beautiful view.
On Sunday we brought our fresh blisters and staggered down on stiff and sore legs through the different borroughs/barrios. With its aproximately 800 villagers Trevélez was quiet and peaceful on an early Sunday's afternoon, with surprisingly few tourists.
We bought some ham, of which Trevélez is famous, and ate lunch before trying to survive a 3-hour long bus/rollercoaster ride back to Granada.
This was my last of many adventures in Spain this year, although probably the first one planned. A perfect way to end my stay, - looking out over this beautiful country that I have gotten to know and love. Hasta la vista, Mulhacén! I'll be back!
 |
| Photo: Gjertrud |
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