This Easter was spent mostly climbing on rock faces outdoors. I did my first outdoor climbing session with some coworkers the Tuesday before at a place called Telavåg where Pancho could join and run around in the grass while we were busy climbing. We brought a little grill and had dinner there after a few climbs. Before we knew it, we had been there for five hours!
Arna, Sara and Adam..Pancho on his way to greet Adam down from his climb.
A view from the top
Sunset over Telavåg.
That Saturday, Idar and I drove to Telavåg to climb with his cousin, Emil. Again, we spent the entire day climbing. After a bit of errands, getting our summer vacation booked, cuddling some lambs at our friend's farm, hanging out in hammocks with friends and another climbing trip on Turøy, by Wednesday we were restless to get out of town. So Idar called his grandma and let her know we would be driving down to visit for a few days. We packed quickly Thursday morning and drove a couple of hours south to Kvinnherad. Summer came early and was in full swing our whole week off!
When we were about half an hour from our destination, Idar suggested we stop to take a hike. Unaware to how long and steep this hike was, I thought it sounded like a good idea...turned out it was so warm and dry that we didn't have enough water and I felt quite dehydrated. After three hours we were finished, got to Grandma's for some dinner and settled in for the night.
Tom and Mr. Wiggles - two orphaned lambs who seemed to enjoy the attention.
Hiking out to Turøy for some climbing
Photo credit: Idar
Six people, 4 hammocks, and one dog.
Friday we took it very easy, just relaxing out on the deck in the sun. On Saturday we went for a multi-pitch climb in a valley called Uskedalen with Emil. Pancho had to wait in the car. I didn't take many pictures from that climb, but I did take a video. One climbing pitch is approximately half of a rope length (or 30 meters). The first pitch was quite easy. Someone with good hiking boots could probably carefully walk up without ropes. Once we did the first pitch, we gathered our ropes and prepared for the second pitch. The second pitch was another story - all about trusting your toes on the smallest piece of projecting rock, the hands were no help on that climb. Once we got through the second pitch and enjoyed the view, we knotted our two ropes together to repel down the wall. Sounds a lot scarier than it actually was. I felt like I was in full control.
Saturday night Idar, Pancho and I drove back up to Bergen. Sunday was a lazy day of unpacking, watching movies and finally our long run. Monday was another fantastic warm summer-like day in Bergen. One last push of outdoor activity before going back to work. We gathered some friends to do a little climbing close to down town. A solid six hours of climbing and I am exhausted!
This Easter was probably my favorite. I'm over snow. After all the nice weather, the thought of skiing was not even on my wavelength, and I was glad we spent so much time outside in the warm sun with some running, hiking and climbing.
On top of Malmangernuten (890m) near Rosendal
Ascending pitch two of two in Uskedalen
Happy climbers! (left: Idar, right: Emil)
Enjoying the summer weather at Helleneset (in Bergen)
Work is going fine. My boss has given me some lab activities to keep me interested in my work, so I'm testing antibodies. The positive control turned out as expected, but it is such a pretty staining that I have to share the picture. This is an embryo of a starlet sea anemone ( Nematostella sp.) approximately 30 hours old. The green is actin (a protein in cell walls), the blue is nuclei, and the red/pink is clusters of DNA. There are some pretty examples of cell division in this embryo! Also, as of a couple weeks ago I'm officially a published scientist! ....well, the paper has been accepted for publication, so it will likely not be in the journal before next year. The journal is called ICES Journal of Marine Science. Furthermore, this weekend the mountains got a nice thick layer of snow, so I took Pancho up for his first time in a proper bit of snow (not counting the icy leftovers that were on Jutenheimen this summer). He's now 6 months old and weighs bout 34
[There's something wrong with the synchrony of the acoustics] My job aboard Brennholm is to work on the acoustic part of my thesis. So I am practicing some sonar and echo sounder scrutinozing. I am also relating the mackerel movement to the currents, but this will be hard since mackerel are so hard to see at all on any of the acoustic equipment since they lack a swim bladder. It is nice to just have a 7:30 to 10 work day though and I have my supervisor right next to me for help. Everyone on the cruise has gained weight, and despite doing some exercise almost everyday I am no exception. We are feed too well on the boats and you don't move around too much. (I was even convinced to try salted and dried whale meat from the Faroes. I stayed far away from the blubber!!) At least I have been able to run 13.5 km the past couple of days with the calm seas. There aren't many options for exercise on this ship compared to G.O. Sars. [The "gym" in the bow of th
Many Norwegian traditions are distinctly regional. Even recipes are variable by region to go along with dialects that can be different by town separated by just 50 kilometers. This tradition, that both Marius and I were new to trying, was from a town just about an hour and a half east of Bergen called Voss....smalahove, or half of a sheep's head that is cooked in a broth for several hours. Smalahove comes from two Norwegian words: smale = sheep, and hove = head. It is served before Christmas with potatoes, mashed rutabaga, and red cabbage. Many of my friends were telling me that the cheek is supposed to be the best part, and others were saying that they wouldn't dare eat it. So I can now say that I have done something that many other Norwegians haven't dared try. I actually really enjoyed it! It had a texture like corned beef and had a very nice flavor. Marius went as far as to try the tongue, and thought that eating the eye was a normal thing, so tried that as well...bu
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