Of Politics and Mountain Climbing, Part 1
Monday, August 9th, 10:00AM
On Friday afternoon, Karen and John Markus bounded into AutoSim and announced that they were conducting a Canuck-napping, and that I was the target Canuck. We jumped into their truck and north we went, past their home on Kvaløya (Whale Island) to the underwater tunnel that took us to the island of Ringvassøya. From there, we were a ferry ride away from Martin's cottage, or hytte (''hut-tuh'').
Now, imagine that this was your cottage...
...and these were the waterfalls on the mountain behind it...
...and this was the view across the fjord out your kitchen window. Would you ever want to leave? Welcome to Kammen on the island of Vanna!
Martin and his family have lived on Vanna for many generations. He grew up at his parents' home across the road. When he was sixteen, he left home for school in Oslo, and now he returns to visit the hytte whenever time permits. His father still lives here, and his mother passed away here peacefully earlier this year. His Aunt lives just up the road, and a number of other relatives are close by.
The hytte itself is a blend of old-fashioned design and modern amenities. It sports both a wind-up grammophone and a CD Player; both a grass roof and a heated bathroom floor.
There were seven visitors this weekend: Martin, John Markus, Karen and I made up the human contingent, and felines Geisha, Maya and Ronja rounded out the team. Here are Geisha and Maya getting ready to devour some food.
We did a lot of relaxing - exactly what we needed. Here's Karen at the kitchen table doing some crossword puzzles.
Somehow, the conversation at one point turned to politics. Get this: the Norwegian Minister of Education doesn't have a highschool education! The Minister of Transport doesn't have a driver's license, and he's rumoured to be scared of flying! Just when I was convinced that I was in the middle of a Monty Python sketch, Karen and John Markus offered an explanation for this silliness.
A prominent figure in the last Norwegian election campaign was Torbjorn Jagland, who replaced Gro Harlem Brundtland as leader of the Labour Party when she stepped down from the Prime Minister's office in October of 1996. Brundtland's last government had been a minority where she captured 36% of the popular vote. Jagland announced during his campaign that unless Labour received at least 36% of the vote, he would refuse to form a government. When Labour landed only 35%, he made good on his promise.
Several of the other parties, including the runner-up Kristelig Folkeparti (''Christian People's Party''), Venstre (''Left'') and Senterparti (''Center Party'') united to form a coalition government. This left Norwegians with some unusual choices for ministers, and a priest for Prime Minister. Norway is one of only two states in the world today governed by a priest; the other, of all places, is Iran.
There was far too much beautiful scenery around for us to stay on the topic of politics for much longer. When the rain let up on Saturday, I walked over to the mountain to take some close-up photos of the waterfall. I hoped that if the weather improved, we could do some climbing on Sunday. The weather did improve - a little - and so up we went.
Click here for Page 2: The Geography and Mountain Climbing Bits.