My first travel guide: Athens

After three weeks in Norway and a week in Athens, I am back in Copenhagen, almost ready to start the fourth semester of my bachelors degree. The trip to Greece has been amazing, and as this is mainly a travel blog, I thought I would share some of my experiences in the beautiful mediterranean country. Most trips to capital or big cities are just weekend trips, but this time we were so lucky to spend a whole week in the capital of Greece, which gave us a lot of time to experience all parts of the city and also some of the area around.

The trip to Greece was planned some months in advance, and what we discovered quite early was how cheap and how easy it was to get there (at least from Copenhagen). We booked the plane circa three months before, and the SAS tickets were quite cheap. (This probably also has to do with the fact that we traveled off-season.) Also the times for travelling were suitable, we left Copenhagen at 9 in the morning, and landed in Athens at 1 in the afternoon, local time. So we had the whole afternoon of the first day to experience some of the city.

The Greek history is very important to the Greeks, and you will discover that quite quickly. There are historical monuments and names of historical people or happenings all over the place. What surprised me was how little there was about the old philosophers like Socrates and Platoo, and how much there was to hear about the old Greek Gods and Mythology. The city Athens it self is of course named after the Greek Goddess Athene, the Goddess of war. And all we ever heard about was that this and that name and building and quarter were named after some Greek God. The philosophers were not mentioned in that kind of scale, not even in the Agora area could we find out a lot about Socrates and his squad. But with that mentioned, the Greek Mythology is of course very interesting, and I loved hearing about how the old Greeks used to pray for the different Gods in different ways, and how their lives were circled around the Myths.

In front of the Athenian Treasury at Delphi

The Academy of Athens. The architect of this building was a Dane: Theophil Hansen. 

Acropolis

This is the “Old city” of Athens; Acro, meaning old, and Polis, meaning city. It is placed in the center of Athens, and from any place in Athens you have a view of the beautiful ruins of Parthenon. To get into Acropolis you have to pay an entrance fee, but for students at European universities it is free. This counts for almost all of the touristic places in Athens: either free, or reduced tickets for students.

The walk up to the Acropolis is beautiful, and includes a lot of different ruins of old temples and theatres. The world’s oldest theatre is located there, and as we know, the Greeks love drama. Also on the way up, the old Herodion stadium is located, a big stadium that used to have a roof back in the old days, which made the acoustics better. The area is actually still in use, and both Frank Sinatra and Elton John have held concerts there.

Herodion Stadium, on the way up to Acropolis. 

At the top of Acropolis you get a beautiful sight of Athens, and you can even see to Pyreus and the ocean. You won’t even believe what all the ruins on top of Acropolis have lived through: wars, the Christianisation, the Ottoman times, and the Parthenon was said to have been used both as a temple for the Greek Gods, a Christian Church, a Mosque and now, in ruins, it is being renovated, and will hopefully in a couple of years look almost the same as it did thousands of years ago.

The Parthenon

On the way down from the Acropolis, you can walk down on the north-eastern side and pass the rock where Paul held his speeches when he first came to Athens. He was there around 50 AD, but Greece did not become Christian until approxiamtely 400 AD. After passing the rock, or maybe even climbing it, you will enter the Agora, the old trading and market-place.

Agora

The Agora was the old trading and meeting place, where history tells us the philosophers often met up to talk to people about their opinions and thoughts. We had some trouble finding the entrance to the Agora, as the whole area was caged in, but entering from the Monastraki site, close to the Stoa of Attalos, turned out to be a good idea. The Agora is a big area, with an interesting history. What we ended up looking at was the Stoa, which had a little museum inside, and the Temple of Hephaestus on the other side of the area.

The Oracle of Delphi

During our week-long stay in Athens we also took one day trip to Delphi, the place known for the Oracle that used to live there. People used to go to Delphi to ask the Oracle for advice, and she was known to give strange or double meaning answers, but still people continued to go to her for advice. The place was beautifully located on a mountain hill, and the temple where the Oracle used to stay was surrounded by small temples where people kept their offerings to the Gods and other valuable objects. The Oracle of Delphi used to smoke in some hallucinating gasses that leaked from the ground up at Delphi, and that was why she was always giving those strange answers to people who came to her for advice. Delphi was beautiful, and is worth a visit, but only if you have the time for a day-trip, because it is a 3-hour drive from Athens to Delphi.

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the Oracle used to give advise.

The Panathenaic Stadium (Olympic Stadium of 1896)

The location for the Olympic Games of 1896 is located in central Athens and is worth a visit. The whole stadium is built of marble stone, and is just beautiful. The stadium seats almost 70 000 spectators, but I guess that would be a very crowded experience. The stadium is open for visitors (in exchange for a little entrance fee) and you can walk all over the place, both the tribunes and the running area.

The National Garden

The location of both the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the beautiful building Zappeion, as well as stretching all the way up to the Syntagma square, the national garden is a huge and refreshing lung in the middle of the crowded city of Athens. It is nice for just taking a walk or a run, or for taking a detour from one place to another when the city gets just a little too noisy. Athens and the area around have 4 million inhabitants, and can be quite noisy, so taking a walk in the park is always a good idea.

The Presidential Guard – The Evzoni

One thing I would not let anyone miss when going to Athens, is the Evzoni – the presidential guard, standing in front of the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Their uniforms are not like the traditional western European army uniforms, and their way of marching is probably the best thing you will ever see. I asked a lot of different people in Athens about their untraditional way of marching, but did not get the answer from anyone about the history and meaning behind it. Just take a look at them, aren’t they just the funniest?

It was a great trip to Athens, and I highly recommend it to others. The next time I'm in Greece, I hope to see some of the islands that I heard are oh, so beautiful. Until then, I will be dreaming of olive trees, tzatziki and hummus.

London, August 2016

The big trip of last year's summer vacation was a long weekend in London. From friday to monday we had the pleasure of experiencing London in sunny weather in all its beauty.

We only managed to go to one museum, the Natural History Museum, which was great. The building looked amazing both from the outside and the inside, and the exhibition(s) were easy to navigate through and were very interesting.

We also got to see the musical Lion King at Lyceum Theatre, which is a performance I would like to recommend to everyone. Such great costumes and scenography, I had no words after the show was finished.

As the military music nerd that I am, it was also really exciting to see the Queens Guard play outside of Buckingham Palace at Changing the Guard.

We also just spent a lot of time enjoying the city life, eating different meals, from fish&chips to Indian food, and enjoyed a walk through Hyde park and the different parts of London both by foot, tube and double-decker busses.

As everyone who has ever been to London knows, London is beautiful, and always worth a visit!

Thank you for this trip, it was great!

Festival summer

It's been a while since my last blog post, and as always, the excuse is the ever lasting lack of time. It has been a busy summer, but a great one. I have played a concert with my big band at Copenhagen Jazz Festival, worked as a volunteer at two festivals in Norway, and been a weekend to London. In between these festivities, I have worked my way up and down the Norwegian coast three times while working at Hurtigruten. This post will be about my festival experiences this summer.

Copenhagen Jazz Festival
After three weeks on board the ship, I flew from Tromsø in Northern Norway back to Copenhagen to play at the jazz festival with the University of Copenhagen Funk Big Band. The repertoire consisted mainly of James Bond-classics, but we also played some funk numbers. Apparently, the week of Copenhagen jazz festival had been rainy and cold, but on the day of our performance (that was of course on a free air stage) the sun was shining and it was really nice to be outside. The concert went great, and our vocalist for the occasion, Danish/American Debbie Cameron, was just fantastic. I also got to see some other concerts in town, while biking around following the music and stopping wherever there was something worth hearing (meaning that we stopped around almost every turn).

Skral Festival
After three days in Copenhagen, the trip went on to the Norwegian city Grimstad, and volunteer work at Skral Festival, a festival that started as a small gathering of friends, and now is a big festival with thousands of visitors and a really good line-up. This years line-up had among others the Norwegian artists Astrid S, Sondre Justad, Ane Brun, and Unge Ferrari, and the more international Veronica Maggio, Jose Gonzalez, Lion Babe, Gramatik, Sam Feldt and Mark Ronson. They were great concerts at such a cute stage area down by the sea.

Astrid S

Veronica Maggio

Veronica Maggio's bass player

Mark Ronson

Molde Jazz Festival 
As every year, the Molde jazz festival is not worth missing. The six days of jazz, funk, soul and New Orleans trad-jazz are the best things happening in Molde all year, and anyone going there will agree. Where do I even start when describing this wonderful week of music. The line-up was again awesome, with a nice variation of Norwegian and international artists, and with a variety of genres within the jazz-world. My three favorite concerts at this years Molde jazz were my big idol Esperanza Spalding, performing her Emily's D+Evelution concept, the very interesting and fascinating duo of saxophonist Joshua Redman and violinist Ola Kvernberg, and the amazing singer Kurt Elling and Branford Marsalis Quartet. These three concerts proved some extreme talents in Jazz music and improvisation and playfullness at its best.

But the line-up presented much more. Knut and I went to almost 20 concerts that week, including Pat Metheny & Ron Carter, Steps Ahead, Joss Stone, Karpe Diem, Lemaitre and Jaga Jazzist amongst others.

Trondheim Jazzorkester & Skrap

Streetparade

Kurt Elling and Branford Marsalis Quartet

Esperanza Spalding

Joss Stone 

Ragnarock and Tivoli

You know that joke, "A Norwegian, Swede and Dane etc...."? Well, today the four of us were literally that joke, except we didn't make (that much) fun of the Swede, and we had a really good time together. Knut, Olivia, Vincent and I were first in Roskilde for the opening of the new museum of rock- and pop culture, Ragnarock, and later we went to Tivoli in Copenhagen, where there were loads of concerts held by culture/ music schools from all over Denmark. It was a really nice day packed with different cultural impressions.

The Ragnarock Museum  opened this weekend and had free entry for everyone today. We were very excited to go there, and Olivia (who grew up in Roskilde, and knows the whole story of everything happening there) could tell us how the museum was first planned 15 years ago, and finally could open its doors for the public today. It is a museum that to start with was planned for rock music culture, (but now also has pop-culture included), and therefore we all agreed on how suitable the name Ragnarock was (also the name of the Norse Mythology apocalypse). There are many things to mention about our visit there. First, the architecture of the building is one of a kind. It looks like a rivet belt, just that it is golden all over, and not to mention the big 2nd and 3rd floor, that springs out of the building itself, in ways that you wouldn't think gravity could allow. The inside of the building is also amazing, and once we started the tour, it was really overwhelming, with a lot of almost psychedelic impressions.

One Swede, two Norwegians, and one Dane. 

The exhibition started with the text "Befri dit sind" ("Free your mind") and this confusing mirror-wall

Laying on a huge vinyl and listening to a song playing 10x slower than original. 

After doing the tour, and learning a lot about (mainly Danish) rock and pop-culture, we took the train back to Copenhagen to go to Tivoli. And we had a really nice afternoon there with music of different genres and sunshine all over. Thank you for the lovely weekend, my fellow Scandinavians! The day has been filled with culture and a lot of word exchanges between the Norwegians, Swede and Dane.

Tivoli hygge

Easter on planes, boats, in trains and cars

Easter has always been an important holiday for me. Not because I am celebrating it and its true meaning, but because it is the holiday that my family has always spent on traveling somewhere. While the rest of Norwegians pack their backpacks with chocolate, oranges and sunscreen, my family has always packed bags and suitcases and passports. This year, like many other Easter holidays, we went to the Netherlands. It is beautiful to travel south for the easter, as it is a bit warmer than in Norway, and at this time the flowers are blooming, which is far away from happening up in Molde.

It turned out to be a really nice vacation this year. We were very active, and visited different parts of the Netherlands, as well as a day-trip to Bremen in Germany. We also went for a flight in a Tecnam P92 plane and on a boat trip in the Frisian "Skûtsje" sailboat. The vacation ended in Amsterdam with some shopping and good food (pancakes, for example).

Bremen

A windmill in Bremen

Bremen, Rathausplatz

Knut and "Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten"

Trying out Indonesian food at Kota Radja

And celebrating my mother's birthday

Ready for the flight

Birds on their way north

A Frisian "Skûtsje"

Canals of Amsterdam

Pancakes for breakfast

-A ♥

Å velge riktig studie

Nå er tiden på året da alle videregående elever føler presset strømme på, alle som til nå har hatt friår/jobbår må begynne å ta et valg og ikke minst tiden på året da alle foreldre synes det er greit å daglig spørre ut barna hva de synes det er gøy å gjøre og hvor de har tenkt å flytte og hvorfor ikke og hvorfor og "det begynner å nærme seg fristen vet du!". Jeg husker det selv. Jeg kan fortsatt nesten kjenne det på kroppen hvordan jeg husker det var å legge seg om kvelden og ligge og tenke på hvordan livet mitt skulle se ut om 2, 5 og 10 år uten å egentlig klare å se for meg noe som helst. Jeg tenkte å skrive et blogginnlegg om nettopp dette nå fordi jeg vet det er mange ting som surrer rundt i hodet på unge voksne som snart må ta et valg.

Farvel videregående, farvel hjemby
Da jeg gikk siste året på videregående (jeg gikk musikklinja) var det kun en ting som var i hodet på meg: musikk. Og jeg hadde fått det for meg at København var en fin by, og derfor sikkert også var en fin by å studere i. Heldigvis for meg ble jeg innkalt til førstegangstjeneste og besto sesjon del 2, og fikk dermed velge fritt hvor jeg ville inn, og da var det jo ikke snakk om noe annet enn å søke seg inn i norges kuleste korps; Gardemusikken. Jeg reiste til Oslo, dro på opptaksprøve, og dagen før 17. mai det året jeg gikk i 3. klasse på videregående fikk jeg svar på at jeg hadde kommet inn i korpset med oppstart september samme år. Hvorfor jeg skrev "heldigvis"? Fordi jeg, som mange andre, var ganske rådvill og ante ikke hva jeg skulle finne på det neste året. Førstegangstjenesten ga meg sjansen til å utvide betenkningstiden min. Samtidig med at jeg søkte til Hans Majestet Kongens Garde reiste jeg også til Trondheim for å prøvespille på musikkvitenskap ved NTNU. Det satte jeg på 1. plass på søknaden på samordna opptak, og senere den sommeren fikk jeg vite at jeg hadde kommet inn. (Den plassen satte jeg på vent, noe man har rett til hvis man skal i førstegangstjeneste, men jeg returnerte aldri til NTNU)

Opptreden i Oslo Spektrum under Norwegian Military Tattoo 2014

Førstegangstjeneste
Dersom jeg skulle skrevet om året i gardemusikken måtte jeg skrevet et helt eget blogginnlegg, fordi det blir for mange ord. Men jeg vil i dette innlegget påpeke at å gjennomføre førstegangstjenesten er en kjempegod ide for den som er ferdig på VGS men ikke vet helt sikkert hvordan veien videre blir. Man lærer utrolig mye (mest om seg selv, ikke forvent å gå inn i militæret og lære en masse ting om ... ting), man får venner for livet og man lærer seg en helt ny måte å takle hverdagen på. Dessuten tjener man (litt) penger og det er jo greit å ha et helt skoleår der man tjener penger istedenfor å gjøre lånet fra lånekassa større enn nødvendig.

Folkehøgskole
Samme år som jeg var i forsvaret var det mange av mine venner som var på folkehøgskole, og selv om jeg aldri har gått på det selv kan jeg absolutt anbefale det ut fra deres varme ord og beskrivelser. Jeg var også på besøk på Toneheim, der jeg hadde to venninner, og det var utrolig koselig der. Jeg liker å sammenligne førstegangstjenesten og folkehøgskole, ikke fordi det har noe med hverandre å gjøre, men fordi det er et år av livet ditt du bruker på å bo sammen med andre, bli kjent med dem, etterhvert bli venner med dem, og det er et år av livet ditt som ikke ligner på noe du har gjort hverken før eller siden.

Årsstudium
Etter det innholdsrike året i kongens klær sto jeg der da, med hærens medalje på brystet og dimmepenger i baklomma, og var litt fortvilet. Fordi enda et år hadde gått, og jeg hadde fortsatt ikke funnet ut av hva jeg ville bli. København lå fortsatt i tankene mine, men med den travle tjenesten hadde det ikke blitt mulighet for å undersøke studier der nærmere. Det endte med at jeg tok et årsstudium i Tysk på Universitetet i Agder, Kristiansand. Jeg vil si studiet var veldig bra, men jeg trivdes ikke i byen. Det er mange ting som skal til for at noe blir en bra studentby, og Kristiansand oppfyller helt sikkert alle kriteriene, men jeg tror det var lysten til å reise utenlands, og den stadige drømmen om København, som gjorde at jeg en dag sendte mail til studieveilederen og spurte om en samtale om studier i utlandet.

Studere i utlandet 
Nå kommer punktet på agendaen jeg egentlig hadde tenkt å basere dette blogginnlegget på. Men som vanlig bruker jeg lang tid på å komme til poenget. Da jeg godt og vel hadde bestemt meg for at jeg hadde lyst å satse på å studere i København, og at det jeg ville studere var musikkvitenskap (min ene sanne lidenskap satt fortsatt i meg selv etter et halvt år med durch, für, gegen, ohne, um), kontaktet jeg en studieveileder for å spørre om hvordan dette egentlig gikk for seg. Men det viste seg at det var lite hjelp å få fra universitetet og at jeg sto på egne bein fra nå. Det er helt forståelig at universitetet ikke har lyst å hjelpe meg med å forlate dem og begynne på et nytt universitet, men jeg skriver dette fordi jeg tror det kan være flere som vil føle det på samme måte etterhvert. Jeg fikk noen ganger inntrykket av at hver gang jeg fortalte om at jeg søkte i København, så kom det flere tvilende spørsmål enn det kom entusiasme. Det kom fler negative tanker og holdninger enn positive, og det kom større bekymringer for min fremtid, for min karriere og mitt liv enn jeg strengt tatt syntes var nødvendig. Jeg hadde en drøm om å studere i utlandet, og å bli møtt med så mye negativitet var slett ikke lett. Som nåværende student i utlandet vet jeg at veien dit ikke er enkel. Jeg er ikke utvekslingsstudent, fordi jeg tar hele graden min her, men hvordan søker man seg dit da?

Dersom man ønsker å studere i utlandet fremfor i Norge står man totalt på egne ben, og hvis man ikke kjenner noen som har gjort det før, så har man mye prøving og feiling og prøving igjen foran seg før man ender opp på riktig sted og riktig studie. Hvorfor skriver jeg alt dette? Fordi jeg ønsker å minne fremtidige studenter i utlandet på at det er mulig og det er lov og man får støtte fra lånekassen hvis man ønsker å studere i utlandet fremfor i Norge. De fleste studier i utlandet kan gi deg jobb i Norge, og selv om mange er negative, så er det din egen drøm som er det viktigste å få oppfylt. Ikke en lærers, som tok hele sitt studie på NTNU og eeeeeelsket det, og ikke alle vennene som skal til Bergen og har en drøm om å ha "hele gjengen samla". Din drøm er viktigst, men det er også din oppgave, og ingen andres, å få den oppfylt. Det tar bare veldig lang tid og det trengs veldig mye administrering fra en selv før det hele er i boks.

For å starte på begynnelsen.
Jeg fikk ingen hjelp fra universitetet jeg gikk på til hvordan man går frem når man søker i utlandet (forståelig nok, de vet jo kun hvordan man søker i Norge, og det er ikke så rart). Jeg kjente heller ingen andre som hadde søkt i Danmark før, så jeg googlet meg frem til danmarks "samordna opptak". Deretter var det registrering, skjema-utfylling, brevsending og mailutveksling som sto for tur. Siden jeg hadde søkt et halvt praktisk og halvt teoretisk studie krevdes det et prøvespill, og jeg måtte dermed reise helt til København for det. Noe som egentlig var veldig hyggelig, fordi jeg fikk både se universitetet fra innsiden og snoke rundt i byen som jeg håpte å en dag få bo i. Deretter fikk jeg en mail fra universitetet om at jeg ikke var kvalifisert til å søke på studiet fordi jeg ikke hadde hatt internasjonal engelsk på VGS. Jeg hadde ikke fått med meg at dette var et krav, men internasjonal engelsk heter i Danmark engelsk B, og jeg hadde ikke gått noe nærmere inn på hva "Engelsk B" som krav for studiet egentlig betydde (tips til fremtidige søkere: undersøk nøye hvilke adgangskrav studiet har). Dette betydde at jeg måtte ta noe som heter en TOEFL-test (Test of English as Foreign Language), som viser om mitt nivå på engelsk tilsvarer det de lærer på Engelsk B nivået i Danmark (noe det heldigvis gjorde). Det var mange ting jeg måtte administrere for å en dag i juli kunne få mail om at jeg var velkommen inn på studiet Musikvidenskab ved Københavns Universitet. Og jeg måtte finne ut av det selv. "Buhuu, stakkars deg!" tenker man sikkert når man leser dette. Nei, det var ikke synd på meg, men det er trist at det ikke fortelles mer om på skolene rundt om i det ganske land at Norge faktisk ikke er det eneste landet man kan ta bachelor og master i. Det finnes mange gode universiteter også utenfor Norge, og er man eventyrlysten og klar for nye utfordringer, både språklige og faglige, så synes jeg det er en god ide å tenke utenfor den kjente boksen jeg liker å kalle Norge. Studier i utlandet byr på språklige, kulturelle og faglige utfordringer, dessuten lærer man enda bedre enn hjemme i Norge å stå på egne ben. Det er skummelt og spennende, selvfølgelig er det det, men det er bare i begynnelsen. Etterhvert blir jo ens nye studie og nye by ens nye "hjem" og når man reiser hjem til jul og til sommeren, så savner man stedet med alt for høy valutakurs, alt for billig øl og akkurat passe mange sykler (det refererte alt for mye til Danmark, beklager folkens).

Nå har jeg fått ut noen tanker og noen ord som kom opp idet jeg innså hvor i kalenderen vi er. Samordna opptaks klokke tikker og søknadsfristen nærmer seg fortere enn du tror! Er du klar for en utfordring?
(Vil minne om at søknad til danske studier stenger før norske!)

Et godt minne fra dagen jeg ankom København

-A