Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Arriving in Europe

Greg and Crystal (my son and daughter-in-law) drove me to the airport on Monday. Lots of traffic backups and a few accidents but we left in lots of time so we were fine.
They switched airplanes on me again and I was going to end up in a middle seat in the middle edition on the plane. I told one of the attendants and he found me an aisle seat. Thank you.
Supper on the aircraft was good - Beef, rice, onions and gravy. Breakfast was a disappointment. I think the whole thing was frozen and defrosted overnight. The blueberry muffin was still half frozen and wet from defrosting. Oh well the service was good.
When I landed in Amsterdam the strangest thing happened. We had to go through security to get out. So two of us were not allowed to bring water that we purchased while in a secure area through security. Passport control was a bit of a joke. I don't even think he made eye contact with me.
The gate for the plane to Norway was at the other end of the terminal. I bought a croissant and a tea for breakfast.
Smaller plane to Oslo. Not a bad ride I slept most of the way. Cathrine met me in Jevnacker and we walked to the local glass making plant. This area is kind of like an artisan's village. There is a bakery, a porcelain works, a honey hut, several factory outlets for the porcelain and glass, an art gallery and a factory that makes hand blown glass objects. The men in the factory work as a team on different projects. One team was making glass decorations that were shaped a bit like Christmas trees but we're also reminiscent of some type of light fixture. As each member of the team finished blowing and shaping them the finisher would break off the bottom using a special machine and then polish the bottom so it was smooth.
The second team was making wine glasses. Two or three were allowed to make the bowl of the glass and blow it to size then shape it and pull out the stem. Then another man added a blob to the bottom and a third turned this into the foot. The last man cut off the top and ground the edge. I think the foot turner had the hardest job , because if the foot wasn't level and even then the wine glass would slant over when used.
We took another bus to Cathrine's house. She lives down a steep hill in a building that looks like a big house but is several apartments. She fed me a wonderful supper of beef patties served in delicious gravy, with potatoes and peas.

After I post this I will be heading for bed. Off to Oslo tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Linda Enjoying your blogs. Blue Jays won tonight..beat the Rangers out in a really wild and exciting game.

    ReplyDelete