Lecture on the Sámi, Film: Dinner for One, New Year's Eve celebrations, Lecture on Peer Gynt, & End of Cruise

First entertainment up on New Year's Eve was a lecture on the Sámi:

D' you know, I was sure I'd seen him somewhere.. We were also introduced to a Sámi folk singer:

The Sámi homeland is really widespread, although most are apparently based in Norway:

There was a bit about the Sámi's role as reindeer herders:

Mind you, they were also fisherfolk!

And the Russian Sámi - well, certainly dress differently!

Ah, back to the language - and wow, look how widespread they are on this map!

Origins:

I love the drums with the magical symbols - pity I couldn't have made the mythological talk later, but it clashed with dinner:

She explained to us how they're peace-loving people - except for the Kautokeino Rebellion, apparently to do with the introduction of alcohol to the community, and its detrimental effect:

And there was a sad tale to tell, about their indoctrination into Norwegian society, made to forget their language and culture:

And I knew I remembered that guys face - he was involved in the Alta controversy, about the construction of a dam that would flood a valley!

We had fun over dinner arrangements - I was in Group 5, and we'd agreed with - someone - earlier in the week to have the later of the two sittings that night. So, imagine my surprise when, upon coming to breakfast and lunch in the restaurant that day, I'd seen that Group 5 was down for the earlier sitting! Bah humbug - well, along I schlepped and took my usual seat. Whereupon a very confused waiter exclaimed that this table wasn't scheduled to be used until the later sitting.. I explained why I was there, confirmed that this was my regular table, and my group and cabin number.. sure enough, he went off and confirmed that we were eating later. (Sigh)

Just as well, because we were experiencing one of those extreme swells.. and it meant I could now go to the earlier showing of Dinner for One. Well, wouldn't you know it, apparently all over Europe this is a New Year's Eve tradition - it was showing in both conference rooms on the ship, one marked for English language, one for German: but as I approached the English-language one, one of the team, Jan, who was hosting the German one, advised that I should come to that one - there were more people and better seats. So I did - and as he assured us, it didn't matter - there was a German introduction, and the rest was in English.

It's English slapstick - and I'm sure I've seen it before! An elderly lady, obviously of high social standing, has a birthday on New Year's Eve, and a custom of inviting old friends to dinner - unfortunately, by this stage, they've all died. But she still goes through the motions, with the assistance of her elderly butler. The places are all set - and as she goes through each course, she asks the butler to pair it with a particular alcohol. Thing is, although hers is the only place at which food is laid out, he does pour a glass of alcohol for each setting.. and then he has to go around and drink them all, in a toast to her!

Of course, the joke is that he gets drunker and drunker - and there's a running joke that he keeps tripping over the head of the tiger rug he has to navigate, between the service station and the table. It's under half an hour long, even with the introduction.. and it's good fun! and it was a good start to the festivities.

And so to our dinner, a couple of hours later, and by which time we'd moved out of open waters and the swell had died down. Interestingly, we'd had another posh dinner the previous night, bidding farewell to those disembarking in Trondheim, at which free prosecco had been served.. on New Year's Eve, however, they had champagne. For purchase. A five-course tasting menu, good grief.. and the table was extravangantly laid, three knives, three forks, and a spoon at each place, complete with festive napkin. And then our waiter realised we needed another spoon! The menu itself was also posher than the usual, and printed in several languages:

He did say we didn't have to have anything we didn't like, but I said I'd give them all a shot. First up was the tiniest portion of "halibut ceviche & sea buckthorn" - the halibut, it turns out, was marinated in the sea buckthorn juice. And it was just lovely!

Next, we had "celery & truffle seaweed" - which, I have to say, was unexpectedly gorgeous, a celery purée with mushrooms. I passed on the accompanying hazelnuts.

The entrée was veal tenderloin, with a rather enormous spud, and accompanied by creamed cabbage - the veal was butter-soft, but while most at the table enthused over the cabbage, I wasn't impressed..

Next up was blue cheese - I gave it a shot, but hated it. This was my least successful course.

And we finished with a very rich chocolate cake bar, infused with whisky - you couldn't really taste the whisky, but it did leave a warm afterglow.

One person nipped off to catch the end of the lecture on Sámi mythology - finally, we convened on Deck 7 (WHAT was their obsession with being outside?!) in due course for the New Year's celebrations. Where they provided champagne, but only champagne.. I bought a glass of wine from the bar instead. Some folks trying to drink Carlsberg were told they couldn't, that'd be a breach of the conditions of the ship's alcohol licence.. We were actually moored in Alesund for this period - there were fireworks, but the main body of them was obscured by an adjacent office building:

And so straight to bed.. we were disembarking the next day, and had to have our big cases out for 9am! which I did, had breakfast, and then a few of us headed to the last lecture, on Peer Gynt. She's a damn good speaker - and showed her skill when she started the talk, not with words, but with music - she appreciated that it'd been a short night, we might be tired.. and so, appropriately, she played Morning Mood from Peer Gynt. Just set it playing, and didn't say a word. Have to give credit to one of my companions, who had the idea to turn around while that was playing, and film the rolling sea outside the window.. I did an abbreviated version of the same, and am so sorry I can't include it here, but videos never seem to work on this platform..

And then we were into a brief discussion of the play, and of the author, Ibsen..

and of the composer of the soundtrack, Grieg (who apparently kept a rubber frog about him):

An incredible start to our last day. Had quite a hefty lunch of beef sirloin - as one remarked, the food had been quite rich throughout! After that, we hung out in one of the public areas - we'd already had to surrender our cabins. It was fun when my name was called on the PA, asking me to come to reception.. you see, I'd had a glass of wine with lunch, which of course I'd had to pay for. Except they always just charge it to the cabin. Except now, the cabin accounts were closed! It was funny, he didn't even quite know what to tell me about what the issue was.. jeez, you'd think they'd have a procedure for this!

Most striking of what we saw on our last leg to Bergen was the imposing island of Alden - basically a whopping great mountain, occupying almost all the island, just one town in the one bit of it they could build on!

And so, a poignant parting in Bergen - and after we collected our bags, a couple of the team were standing in the snowy car park, directing us to the appropriate buses! and stayed to wave us off. Nice touch, I have to say - and a great atmosphere on board ship. I was delighted to leave them a tip before I got off.. on the drive to the airport, Bergen was a lost snowier than when we arrived:

Had a palaver with the self-service bag drop - I had to get a baggage tag, then scan both that and my boarding pass. Except my boarding pass wouldn't scan.. with no-one around to ask, I eventually changed desks - and when I scanned the baggage tag again, it just swept straight through! I dunno..

Was parched, so had a cold drink as I waited for the gate announcement - which came through two hours before the flight. Went through passport control, got to the gate - and discovered I was now trapped in a smallish room, with seats, a vending machine, and (happily) toilets, as I discovered when I did a reccie. Ah well..

Was a bit perturbed as we started to board, and the staff warned it was slippy outside - but wouldn't you know it, only the back of the plane had to go outside! The front rows (me included) got to board via the airbridge, hah!

Au revoir, Norway.. slept for half the flight, then in Gatwick, needed food - saw a Greggs and a Pret. Also passed a woman exclaiming on the phone that she was in the North Terminal and completely lost.. yeah she was, we were in the South Terminal! Anyway, Pret didn't have much left - so I headed for Greggs, where I got the last ham & cheese baguette, and she offered to toast it, which I gratefully accepted. She then said, as I had a bottle of water too, that I'd get it all cheaper if I got a meal, i.e. something else with it.. but only from a specific list. My tired brain couldn't process it - given that I didn't want anything from the list, I just paid the extra. The baguette, BTW, was peculiarly tasteless - but, crucially, hot.

I got the Thameslink from Gatwick - and wow, the departures board was plagued with delays! Some were due to trespassers on the line - mine was, apparently, "delayed because the crew were delayed". (?) Anyway, that wait on the platform was very cold.. felt a lot colder than where I'd come from, which probably had something to do with all the standing around.. And by the time I'd dragged myself home, I was too tired to blog.

Happy New Year! Funnily enough, I keep expecting to feel the floor swaying under my feet - haven't got my land legs back! Took today off, because it's a Friday - and back home to Ireland for the weekend this evening, because it's been too long. Meeting an old friend for lunch, in Jade Cottage as usual. Was thinking of Marty Supreme afterwards - in Limerick, as no showings were yet listed in Ennis! Based on a table tennis champ, played by Timothée Chalamet, who also co-produced, also stars Gwyneth Paltrow. 

However, Movie Roadhouse London (MRL) just advertised it as an upcoming event - so instead, I'm thinking of Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value) afterwards, a follow-up to the excellent Verdens verste menneske (The Worst Person in the World), again directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renata Reinsve, this one is about her and her sister's difficult relationship with their famous father, Stellan Skarsgard. And that one is showing in Ennis. And it's Norwegian, continuing on a theme.. MRL are actually seeing it on Sunday - it's a pity I can't go with them!

The next two days in London are with CT - on Monday, I'm back at the Hen & Chickens for Shake It Up: The Improvised Shakespeare Show.

And on Tuesday, I'm at a comedy show - Live Next to the Apollo, at Riverside Studios.

On Wednesday - my first Meetup of the year - I'm back with the Horror Book Club - assuming I get the book read in time! It's The House on the Borderland, which is turning out suitably weird - and they're meeting in the Prince of Wales, as usual. Now, considering the lack of progress I made with Hogfather for my work book club.. we'll have to see.. I'm currently just over 1/3 of the way through.. it's over a year since I was last with them for a book review! (As to Hogfather, when we met (me virtually - I stayed at home because of my cough), it turned out I was one of the ones that read most.. I had a last-minute sprint, and got to 71%..)

The next two days, I was to be with CT at the Backyard Comedy Club.. again, it's been a while! However, then Over 40 Living the Life advertised a trip to the immersive Macchu Picchu exhibition, which sounded much more interesting, for next Friday. However, the Meetup page didn't work from Norway, would you believe. Which turned out just as well, because as I say, in the meantime, MRL advertised a trip to Marty Supreme - in Cineworld Leicester Square, meeting in Victory House beforehand. And of course, I'm back in Bella Italia before that!

So, that's the first of five days in a row of Meetups. On the 10th, a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe.. that evening, I was supposed to be back with The Hideout for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, but the release has been postponed. Heard about that during my trip, but I was so busy I completely forgot about it!

On the 11th, back with London Museums A-Z for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute!

On the 12th, with Up in the Cheap Seats again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on the 13th, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..