Cosenza

On the whole the weather in Rende (Cosenza) was rubbish - dull every day, with rain at least once a day. (Luckily that was most afternoons whilst Oskar had his nap)
Our first trip to look at the sights of Cosenza was after Nils' conference had finished on the Wednesday lunchtime. We fully intended having a look around and finding a nice restaurant, but we struggled to find somewhere. You see, we'd eaten pizza every night since we had arrived and wanted to try something else. Unfortunately, we could find anything BUT pizza. Also it was raining heavily, so we decided to head back to our hotel, which by this time was open for dinner. Nils and I had some lovely seafood pasta and the chef made a nice bowl of tomato spaghetti for Oskar.

The following day, we went back to Cosenza to have a look around in the daylight. Despite the rain, we tried as best we could to take some photos and keep an eye on Oskar, who wanted to jump in every single puddle. Oskar quickly found out that unless you are wearing wellies, your feet and socks get wet;)
All the statues were along Corso G. Mazzini.

Cosenza Old Town

After walking down the main street in Cosenza, with the statues, we wandered into the old town of Cosenza:

Rende ( Cosenza ) - Metropolis aka Brokelandsheia!!!

This place was a saving grace....For me = shopping heaven!, For Oskar = toy shop, For Nils = nothing;), For us all on the day we arrived....FOOD! First thing we wanted after we'd dropped off our luggage at the hotel was food. However, the hotel restaurant had finished lunch and wasn't open again until 8pm. So, we went out looking for somewhere to eat....nothing! Then we walked a bit further along the road and voila! Shopping Centre (Metropolis) AND it was open on a Sunday...Hurray! Nils doesn't like shopping, but even he was happy that there was at least a supermarket there. Even better that they had a food court:) So, we sampled our first Italian pizza. We also quickly realised that speaking English wasn't very useful! Nils found the guy at the pizza place spoke some German, whiched helped. But no-one spoke anything other than Italian. But who cared!, we had some food and we were satisfied:-)
Oskar called the shopping centre "Brokelandsheia", because there was a Spar at Metropolis, just like there is at our local shoping area.

Rende (Cosenza) - Robinson Park

Oskar and I visited Robinson park a couple of times during our 5 night stay in Rende. It was a 20 minute walk from our hotel. Oskar and I spent our days together, whilst Nils was attending a conference at the University of Calabria

Travelling to Italy (via Bologna)

The day we started the first leg to Southern Italy (Saturday 19th September)was busy and stressful. Nils and I were happy that Oskar had been given the all clear to fly ( visited the Dr's on the Wednesday & Friday ), but just to add a bit of drama, I had developed an eye infection! I also, had seen the Dr the day before and had been given a prescription for penicillin (just in case)! Typically the new symptoms appeared after the consultation, so off we went on the Saturday morning to Arendal. It was a pleasant suprise that Nils' half cousin was the Dr on duty that morning. The diagnosis for me : eye AND outer ear infection! So, we then trotted off to the pharmacy to pick up eye and ear ointment...! After waiting " forever" for the prescription, we went to the supermarket next door to grab some bread rolls and bottled water for lunch. Nothing wrong in that, except I leaned across and picked up a divider for the conveyor belt at the check-out and placed it next to the loaf of bread the lady behind me had put down. BIG MISTAKE!!! This lady started ranting on and on about not wanting me to touch her bread (which I didn't, nor wanted to!) Nils and I were both perplexed by this big show of emotion by her! We were even more suprised when she followed us out of the store, still ranting?!! What was it all about, you ask? Well, all we can think is that she thought I had Swine Flu! Which, if I had, then I would have been far to ill to be out and about shopping. Yes, I looked rough! :Puffy, sore eyes, but really.....! We then got in the car and drove home..after all we needed to finish packing and still had a 90 minute drive to Torp Airport! We managed all of organisation and got to Torp in good time. Phew, I could now relax for a little while.

Oskar and I at Torp Airport. I decided to wear the sunglasses to that my "look" didn't offend anyone;)

Sunset.

Oskar and Nils looking out of the window at the sunset.

Oskar and I at the railway station at Lamazia Terme.

We actually arrived at Lamazia Terme on the Sunday lunchtime, after spending an overnight at the Sheraton Hotel at Bologna Airport. We were only there for the night, arriving at 22:30 and left at 07:45 the following morning for our flight to Lamazia Terme. Once we landed at the airport, we caught a bus to the train station. We got on a train to Cosenza, which was near to our final destination at Rende. The train ride was okay, even though we had to change trains at Paola. Nils also couldn't convert his internet confirmation into train tickets as the machines operated in Italian only..just like the local people;) Finally we arrived at our hotel (After an expensive taxi ride from the station) at 15:30. We had all arrived in one piece (just-LOL!) Oskar's ears had been fine on both flights..mine had not, but I wasn't bothered, just glad to have made the journey!

Nice 6th-11th September

After the terrible weather during the Summer, we were all looking forward to the fact that September meant we would find some Mediterranean sunshine. But as life has its twists and turns, things don't always go to plan:(
We checked in and printed off our boarding cards for our flight to Nice (via Amsterdam). Nils took Oskar out for a while, whilst I packed for the trip. On returning at teatime, Oskar said he had "ow ow ears"! So, we took him to Legevakten in Arendal and were told he had an inner ear infection in both ears..."Oskar can't fly" So, we collected the antibiotics and drove home.
Once home, Nils had to contact KLM to advise that Oskar and I were not travelling. So on Sunday 6th September, Nils made his own way to Nice. For us back in Norway, it was a challenging week at home. Oskar was in no pain/discomfort due to the medication, so was a little bu**er - really naughty and playing up his Mummy! Our washing machine also broke down and I had the humiliation of having problems with my new bank card that wouldn't work, as I didn't have the correct PIN for it ((sigh)) Lastly, Oskar had an allergic reation to his antibiotics, so we had another trip to the doctors for more medication! So we were really happy when Nils came home on the Friday evening.
I've been to Nice on a couple of times, so was really wanting to go again, but maybe there will be a next time soon? Nils is very much a "country boy", but he liked Nice, so here are a few of his photos:

Nils at the harbour side in Nice

Nice Harbour

Old Town, Nice.

Croissant eating pigeon!

Snail Watch 31st July 2009

Whiff of Joy "Henry Celebrating Mouse"!

A birthday card for a friend:-)
Paper & chipboard numbers are Basic Grey. Image stamped on aquarelle paper and coloured with water coloured pencils. I added some clear glitter glue to make the sprinkles on the cupcake shimmer. I customised the flowers using beads and Diamond Glaze.

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy...read on!

Katrina at Whiff of Joy is taking pre-orders for new Autumn stamps! Go ahead and order yours or put a link on your own blog, so you get a chance of winning the new set:-)

Maggie & Hamish!

A couple of cards I made using Sugar Nellie stamps.
Images were stamped onto heavy card and coloured with my Prismacolour pencils and blended with Sansador & paper stumps.
I'm not good at using lots of embellishments on cards, but that is just me;)

Creating Art!

Oskar having fun with his paints!

Christmas Birdhouse

A covered birdhouse for Christmas.
The roof and tiles are Doodlebug Chenille paper. Other papers are MM Noteworthy.
Project was designed by Moniek Jannink. I have changed a couple of things from the original design:-)

Baking Tray Advent Calendar

My first finished project from Scrap-a-Ganza-LOL! It has taken time, but now I have finished one, I just want to plough my way through all the other unfinished kits (there are many-haha!)
This is an advent calendar using magnets to "stick" the date decorations to the baking tray.

The class was taught and designed by Fanny Delobel using Junkitz Christmas paper designed by Theresa Collins.

I didn't stay for the whole class as I had a shoulder injury and in a lot of pain, so I missed out on finishing the project like Fanny's. I added my own chipboard letter and found a couple of Santa stamps from my own stash instead.
The tray was painted in acrylic cream paint, then distressed using sandpaper and walnut distress ink.
I love the finished product and can't wait to put it up with the rest of the Christmas decorations later this year:-)

In the Garden......

Cherries



Jasmine

4th July - It was a HOT one! Oskar's 3rd Birthday!

Saturday 4th July 2009, was a Hot day! 30 degrees celsius in the shade!
The party began at 3pm, which was perfect timing as the sun had moved behind the lime tree, to create a shaded area near to the party tent!

"don't fix, what isn't broken!" Hotdogs are perfect party food and means no preparation by the hostess ;-D So we had the same menu as the previous two parties and we'll stick to this formula for future ones too-LOL!

Oskar getting ready to blow out his three candles....!

Oskar nearly started to cry as everyone sang "happy birthday" to him! We wasn't expecting him to be so emotional.

Chillin'!

Onkel Ove bought Oskar an executive cosmic office toy from USA. Oskar is studying it closely and thinks it is a Sterling Engine, like he has seen on You Tube!

A tired but happy Mummy!

Anette enjoying a cake and showing off her "clean" hands ;-)

Overall, a good time had by all! See you at 3pm on Sunday 4th July 2010, when we will do it all again:-D