An Extended Gourmet Weekend

Been traveling again, and I came home late Tuesday night from a few wonderful days. Whereas I the first time didn't do much but simply letting myself be spoiled, this time I was far more active, and amongst other things I took charge of the cooking. Better do what one can do best, right?

On Saturday we went straight from the airport to a Ultra Supermarket, where we went kinda bonkers. We got a large Sushi platter for that first day (well, that didn't involve much cooking for me to be honest, but it was quick and easy, leaving more time for other important things - like getting me a haircut...) and Gorgonzola-filled beef, Amandine potatoes, pepper sauce and broccoli for the following day. As there were no proper frying pan in the flat we had to buy one, and I thoroughly enjoyed being in charge of that too, offering my advice on which quality to choose. Teflon or Titanium. This beef meal I prepared quite late in the evening on Sunday when I had the place to myself, and when my company was back we had a feast together. With more wine. (Maybe needless to say, but there was wine the previous day as well.)

Monday was work day, and again I was left alone for a few hours, and I had all intentions on reading about "100 years of leadership" or whatever the article was called. Found a nice warm place downstairs and curled up with my papers, but soon I fell asleep. That happens all the time when I stress about exams; I find reading acts like sleeping pills! Then a friend from Bergen called and I gave her a status update, which she was pleased to hear about. Everything's fine, was the bottom line. That days dinner was also my doing, and I served a pork tenderloin with more of those delicious potatoes and king oyster mushrooms. Half of the tenderloin was cooked as one piece in the oven, with the potatoes cut in quarters, coated with olive oil and spices. The other half was cut in slices, fried with onions, potatoes, paprika and mushrooms, and creamed together with Créme Fraîche. This was then seasoned with herbal salt. Wine? Of course. And some nice XO Cognac with the coffee afterward.

Last day of my stay we eventually did what we already talked about on Monday, and that was visiting the City and do some shopping. Somehow we didn't get round to it before that. Anyway, Tuesday afternoon I was relieved of my kitchen duties, and we drove downtown. I brought my bags all set to leave for the airport later, so we were quite relaxed. First a wood fired pizza at Tulla Fisher's, and then we just had to check out The Church of Our Lady before anything else! We hurried across the street in the pouring rain, and went inside the old building where a really special event will take place very soon. I'm not much of a churchgoer, but I do like the atmosphere in many of them, and this one fell nicely into that line.

From that holy building we rushed on to the next, where I was treated with a bottle of excellent Irish Whiskey, which I'll enjoy here at home with coffee and cream... and the coffee was bought at the next stop - half a kilo of the best Monsooned Malabar I was given! By now you wouldn't be surprised if I told you I got my own cow as well, to get the cream from? Nope, no cow here. But from all these wonderful gifts, including the shawl and necklace from Spain, I must say the most valuable one is priceless. Time, it is. All those hours spent in editing over 1500 favorite songs, and I was privileged enough to be aloud to download it all! That's one hell of a mixtape, I'd say.

Last stop was Britannia Hotel, and I got a quick but personal tour round the premises. From the beautiful Palmehaven and Hall of Mirrors (where my "tour guide" has been playing so many times...) to the Britannia Hall; a modernly equipped conference hall, decorated with Norway's third largest wall painting on canvas, painted by two of the most famous artists in Trondheim - Håkon Bleken and Håkon Gullvåg.

There were no time to check out the suites though (maybe another time), only a quick cup of coffee at the bar before I had to jump on the bus. And that I did at a quarter to six, more together than I've been in a long time. The key to this success, I believe, is that I've been working on my internal strength for most of the time (I've actually learned a new trick - very exciting!), and that there's learning in every meeting between people. No matter which way it goes.