Norsk / English

Da jeg var 16 år og på landsturnstevne i Drammen, sa vi at det var bedre med en dram i timen enn en time i Drammen. Det var et “uttrykk” vi hadde lært, og vi syntes det hørtes artig ut. Vi hadde ikke lært å drikke dram enda, og vi syntes slettes ikke Drammen var en stygg by. For sola og fellesskapet med de andre turnerne gjorde av vi fikk gode opplevelser i Drammen by.
When I was 16 years old I took part in a national gymnastics tournament in Drammen. We had learnt the expression “one drink (=”dram” in Norwegian) every hour is better than one hour in Drammen” and found it funny. We had not yet learnt to drink alcoholic drinks and we did not at all think Drammen was an ugly city. As the sun was shining and we enjoyed the togetherness with the other gymnastics clubs we had very nice experiences in the city of Drammen.

Imidlertid har ordtaket “bedre med en dram i timen, enn en time i Drammen” blitt en frase som har hengt ved byen i mange år. Visstnok er “en dram til” den første setningen små barn i Drammen lærer seg. Første gang Ole Bull (norsk musiker og komponist som levde på 1800-tallet) var i Drammen skal han ha sagt “Hit med vodkaen”. Drammen er den mest kjente harrybyen i Norge, og en myte sier at hvis du befinner deg i Drammen, vil du plutselig bli harry.
However, the phrase “better with one drink every hour than one hour in Drammen” has been attached to the city for many years. “One more drink” is reportedly the first sentence small children in Drammen learn to say. It is said that the very first time Ole Bull (Norwegian musician and composer in the 19th century) was in Drammen he said “Hand me the vodka!” Drammen is the best known tacky city in Norway, and according to a myth you might all of a sudden become tacky yourself if you stay in the city.

Ikke alt som er sagt og skrevet om Drammen er så flatterende. Men Drammen har fornyet seg de siste årene og blitt en fin by. Drammenserne har bevist at de er glad i byen sin, og gangveier og gangbroer langs elvestrendene er et hyggelig bidrag i byfornyelsen.
Things that have been said and written about Drammen are not necessarily very flattering. Nevertheless, Drammen has renewed itself in recent years and become a nice city. The people in Drammen have proved that they are fond of their city. Footpaths and pedestrian bridges along the riverbanks are a nice contribution to urban renewal.

Den yngste dattera mi har begynt på universitetet i Drammen. Hun og faren kjørte ned et flyttelass dit i forrige uke, og denne uka var det min tur til å få flyttet ned det siste lasset hennes. Thea og jeg kjørte fra Trondheim til Drammen rett etter at hun hadde kjørt opp. Ca to minutter etter at hun hadde fått “lappen” faktisk! Vi byttet på å kjøre, og hadde en trivelig tur. Noen stopp underveis, litt køkjøring i Oslo-området, og så fikk jeg se den koselige hybelleiligheten hennes. Fikk også testet senga, og prøvd å spise ved det nye kjøkkenbordet. 😀
My youngest daughter has started her studies at the university in Drammen. She and her dad drove down to Drammen with har first vanful of furniture last week. This week it was my turn to go, and take her last things to her new flat. Thea and I drove from Trondheim to Drammen straight after her taking her driving test. Approximately two minutes after passing her test, actually! We took turns when driving and it was a pleasant trip. We had a few stops along the way, there was heavy traffic and queuing in the Oslo area, and in the end I got to see her cozy student flat. I tested the bed and we enjoyed the first meal by her new kitchen table. 😀

Etter at dattera mi var vel installert i sin nye bolig, dro jeg for å besøke og overnatte hos ei gammel venninne fra min studietid, Bente. Bente kom for å hente meg, slik at jeg kunne kjøre bak henne og slapp å tenke. Det var lurt, for på dette tidspunktet var jeg så tom for energi at hjernen min hadde sluttet å virke.
When my daughter had made herself comfortable in her new flat I went off to visit an old friend from my time as a student, Bente. Bente came to pick me up, so that I could follow her in my car and didn’t need to do any thinking. Quite clever, as I by then was so drained of energy that my brain had stopped working.

Både bilen min og jeg fikk hvile hjemme hos Bente. Mens hun var på jobb, sov jeg vel og lenge. Frokost klokka to var helt perfekt. Planen var å ha en hviledag, lade batterier og restituere mest mulig, og så kjøre hjem neste dag.
My car as well as I myself had a good rest at Bente’s house. I had a good sleep during the day while she was at work. Breakfast at two o’clock was absolutely perfect for me. My plan was to have a day off, recharge my batteries and recover as much as possible. Then drive home to Trondheim the following day.

Etter frokost tok jeg en liten vandretur i hagen hos Bente og mannen hennes. Sammen med fotoapparatet mitt. Der var det mye grønt, og mye spiselig! 🙂
Bente and her husband have a nice garden. After breakfast I went for a walk in their garden. Along with my camera. There were lots of greens there, of which a lot was edible! 🙂

Det ble forresten en time i Drammen, og ingen dram i timen, mens jeg var der. Min venninne tok meg med på sightseeing langs elva, og kjøreturen og spaserturen varte faktisk i ca en time i alt.
By the way, I spent an hour in Drammen, and there was not a drink every hour during my stay there. My friend took me sightseeing along the river, and the drive and the walk along the riverbanks actually lasted around one hour in total.

Vi fant noen svinaktige gode sitteplasser ved Drammenselva. Bente tok utfordringen da jeg lurte på om hun ville pynte opp litt i bildet av disse skulpturene av hengebuksvinene. 😀
We found some bloody good seats by the river Drammenselva. Bente was in for a challenge and said yes when I asked her if she would be willing to smarten up in this picture with the pot-bellied pigs. 😀

Jeg er så lykkelig for at det ble en så flott Drammens-tur! 😀 Jeg gjennomførte, og har mange fine minner fra turen. Bilturen hjem ble ganske slitsom. Bestemte meg for å kjøre Gudbrandsdalen nordover, og hadde lyst til å se Hønefoss på veien. Men Google Maps var ikke til å stole på. Den ville stadig at jeg skulle kjøre til Oslo, så det endte med noen omveier og sideveier, og Hønefoss så jeg aldri. Da jeg skiftet om til appen Waze, kjørte Hondaen meg villig hjem til Trondheim. Hurra!
I’m really pleased and happy about my nice trip to Drammen! 🙂 I went through with it and I have many nice memories of the trip. The drive home was pretty exhausting. I had decided to take the route via Gudbrandsdalen going north and I wanted to see the city Hønefoss along the way. However, Google Maps was unreliable. It constantly wanted me to drive to Oslo, so I ended up taking detours and side roads, and I never saw Hønefoss. When I switched to use the app Waze instead my Honda willingly took me home to Trondheim. Cheers!

Da jeg kom til Dovrefjell, føltes det neste som “hjemme igjen”. Denne kule bilen på bildet over, kjørte foran meg i et par timer. Underveis diktet jeg opp mange morsomme historier i hodet mitt om disse to menneskene som satt i bilen. Klarer du å zoome inn bilen?
When I reached the mountains called Dovrefjell it almost felt like “home again”. This cool car on the picture above was driving in front of me for a couple of hours. It made me make up a lot of crazy stories about those two people sitting in the car. Are you able to zoom in on the picture and see the car?

Etter at jeg parkerte hjemme i garasjen, har jeg hatt to hviledager, med mange timer fordelt på senga og sofaen. ME-feberen begynner å slippe taket litt nå, og jeg har ikke så vondt i kroppen lenger. Kanskje klarer jeg å gjøre en innsats for å få det “strøkent” i huset til visning om tre dager. Spennende! 🙂
Since I parked in the garage at home I have had two resting days, with many hours in bed and on the couch. The ME-fever is starting to drop a little now, however, and the pains in my body are not too bad any more. Maybe I will be ready to make an effort and get things nice and tidy for the house viewing in three days. Exciting! 😀