Let’s have a change from snow and winter. I’m sure there will be more tomorrow. Almost exactly a year from when she was pictured at dinner on 10/3/17, on my first visit to Tromsø (the present one being my fourth), here is Helene again. I know she does a lot more than just eat dinner….
Uneventful Sunday due to having to work, after which the in-laws came round and took us out for dinner, which was nice. Here we study the menus attentively although four of the five diners all ate the same thing anyway (roast lamb). And very nice it was too.
I could have uploaded another picture of snowy land- or urban-scapes but let’s pay tribute to the people who have made my stay in Tromsø a highly enjoyable and hospitable one. Helene relaxes after dinner, and deserves to, as she cooked it — elk bourgignon apparently, a new one on me but it was very tasty. With plenty of wine to wash it down as you can see (not an inexpensive proposition in Norway). Thanks to everyone for having me…. back home tomorrow morning.
Amazingly we managed to get money off the university this year to have an end-of-year dinner. Why this particular stone started shedding blood for the first time in my 10 years there, I have no idea. Dan (left, student) and Gary (right, colleague) wait to place our order in the highly distinctive surroundings of the old vault — check out those safety deposit boxes — in the former bank building which now houses Jamie’s Italian in Manchester (its second appearance on the blog, after this one 15 months ago).
Hardly the best photo in the world I know, but it encapsulates the day — the annual pre-Christmas family gathering and Mum’s annual chocolate log. It’s my Dad’s hand helping itself to the end piece. Happy Winter Solstice, at least the days stop getting shorter and shorter from today.
