by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 29, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
In preparation for our New Year’s celebration we drove the first section today to Oslo and stayed overnight at my brother’s. And tomorrow we will be heading to this place… 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 28, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Terry and I have finally gotten started on his gift from last year: a Lego T2 camper van just like his own! Terry has postponed it as long as possible… something about his creativity not being allowed to unfold when there are step by step instructions… 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 27, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
It took until about dinner time before I realized I hadn’t gotten dressed today. Oh, well… And one of the cats loooves him some wooly stinky slippers 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 26, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
I couldn’t wait any longer. This year’s Christmas sweater is now revealed. And not only does it look awesome, it plays “Jingle bells” with the lyrics “meow, meow, meow…meow, meow, meow…”. What’s not to love? 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 25, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Christmas Day is almost always spent entirely in pajamas and this year was no exception. The gifts were all unwrapped last night. I had also brought a gift from last year, Terry’s T2 Lego van, that still needs to be built. So that’s our project for the next few days... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 24, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
The best Christmases are the ones spent with all the people you love the most, and I am lucky enough to get to do that again and again in these magical snowy surroundings. Always among my happiest moments of the year. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 23, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
True to tradition we watched “Dinner for one” tonight, also known as “Grevinnen og hovmesteren” in Norwegian. The rest of the day was mostly spent in pyjamas. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 22, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Packed our bags and loaded the car for a snowwhite drive up to the cabin to reunite with the rest of the family (including 3 cats) and celebrate Christmas. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 21, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
One more day in Randaberg with my kitties before tomorrow’s drive to the mountains. Stumpy managed to take a selfie. But she has to work on her smile. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 20, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
First order of business was to say hello to my kitties and then unpack. In the evening we went to see the magnificent performance “Eks” at Rogaland teater. 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 19, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Up early. Korean Air had rescheduled the flight to more than 3 hours earlier than original departure. Yawn. Lugging two pieces of checkin plus hand luggage and shopping bags through the metro and train station resulted in a sweaty arrival at the airport. 14 hours, 3... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 18, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our last day in Korea and it’s still freezing cold and I still barely have a voice and a sore throat and cough. But we braved the weather and went to Insadong and Ssamzigil market. This market has a lot more traditional products than other markets. You can get a... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 17, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We got up early and braved the cold with four, yes, four layers of wool and a hot pocket in each shoe. Maybe a little too much since our bus was only two minutes away and we had an hour drive to go to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. This was an... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 16, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Fighting through my sore throat and missing voice, I went to the Namdaemun day market with Terry. It was freezing cold today. So much so that the Korean government sent out warnings to all phones about the decrease in temperature and high gusts. We alternated between... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 15, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our second attempt at local Korean food wasn’t as successful, but still an experience. I was slightly surprised at Terry’s choice, but followed on in. The one choice menu was sea snails with leek in broth, omelette, and a side of dried white bait fish and some kind of... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 14, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our first day in Seoul, and the first thing we do is stumble upon a small restaurant with an all-Korean menu where we were the only foreigners. It was wonderful! The lady boss sat us down and pointed at the menu and showed us two fingers. We nodded, and the food and... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 13, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
It was time to say goodbye to Australia, the southern hemisphere, and summertime with temperatures up to 40 degC, and saying hello to South Korea, winter and a temperature change of fifty fewer degrees… 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 12, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Even more beautiful weather today, so Shelly beach was the obvious choice. This time we got in the water and saw a fish or two. Our lunch was a different take on street food. We got a dozen oysters and hake fish and chips (and salad for good measure) to enjoy by Manly... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 11, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We dragged ourselves away from the beaches today and went to a different kind of escape room where we donned VR headsets before being let into a large empty room. The first game was Engineerium, a crazy disorienting puzzle game that made you feel like you were on your... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 10, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
A late start to the day, and we strolled over to Shelly beach right next to Manly. A good snorkeling spot and a couple of cute cafes with a band playing. But what I liked the most were the turkeys roaming the beach just like seagulls. They are Australian Brush-turkeys... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 9, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We got up really early, before sunset, to watch the arrival into Sydney. The captain had promised he’d do donuts, as in a 360 turn, but it didn’t happen… bummer. But the view was spectacular: The opera house, the harbor bridge, and the sunrise. And the entire ship was... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 8, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
They pulled out all the stops at the buffet for the final sea day: shrimp tower, chocolate tower, cake display, and a separate chocolate buffet! Yum! 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 7, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Two more wonderful sea days before arriving at our final destination, Sydney. The day consisted of a free massage taster, some cake, a fabulous show and chilling in Eden watching Charlie, the guitarist. All the while dressed in our evening best: kilt with all the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 6, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
The boat was tendered today, just like yesterday so it took quite a while to get off the ship. We even considered just staying by the pool. But I’m the end we took the tender boat to shore and went to the Airlie Beach lagoon for an hour. Quaint place with lots of... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 5, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Considering we’d both been to the Great Barrier Reef before, we spent today strolling around cairns and taking a dip in the lagoon in town. The stinger season makes it undesirable to swim in the ocean. The lagoon was beautiful and warm! 34 degrees in the air and the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 4, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Another sea day before hitting Cairns and the most eventful evening of the cruise. Terry, aka Mr. James, entered the karaoke contest (they were actually waiting for him before they closed the signup!). He did quite the performance! The cruise director, activity... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 3, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Two lovely sea days before Cairns and we slept in until noon missing the dance classes, the forensic lectures and the Sunday service. After a visit to the buffet, it was the pool and then dinner and watching the blackjack tournament between the captain and the cruise... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 2, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
The Celebrity Edge arrived in Australia for the first time ever. And what a welcome… We were woken up minutes before sunrise after 4,5 hours of sleep by what sounded like an entire welcome parade. It turned out to be a lone drummer and didgeridoo duo with a massive... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 1, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Another gorgeous sea day spent by the pool. It was nearly too hot to be out there, feet were burning on the deck and even the regular pool felt like a hot tub. But hey, I’m not complaining! We joined the cruise director Guiseppe’s noon stretch class for the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Nov 30, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
A long lie-in started the day, and then chill, eat, sleep… late night show in the club “undercover” was amazing, again (third time watching it), with dancers and acrobats (doing human flags like it’s no big deal) 