Nicole Vermeulen goes International

End August 2010

Having friends from all nationalities, who keep moving around all over the world leads to visiting very random places. Quite impulsively I decided to visit my dear friend in Baku - Azerbajian, which is situated next to Georgia and Iran. A place I am sure would have never crossed my mind to visit or will probably ever come again, and therefore the more interesting that I had the chance to go there for a short weekend visit after my original plans for that weekend got cancelled. At first they wouldnt even let me enter the plane without a visa, but after some discussion it seemed to be ok. The plane to Baku was pretty much empty, first indication of hardly any tourists visiting the place. After arrival I called my local friend who negotiated the price with the taxi driver and I went off to down-town Baku. I didnt have particular thoughts about how it would be, but it was definately different than expected. The city is clean and has very nice buildings – all lit up at night. It is extremely expensive though! Ordering a coffee in just a cafe cost my friend over 12Euro, while I had a cheap one of only 6.50Euro! The supermarkets have a very limited range of products, which are insainly priced as well with 8Euros for example for a small carton of rice. How can people afford this?! Appearently after the liberation from Russia 20 years ago the country is still building its own supply chain and production, while importing is highly taxed. So it was certainly not a cheap trip. But how very nice to see my friend again, missing her big time! .

Missing my sweet friend tons!!!

Cemetery of fallen people during liberation

Joining the belly dancer during our delicious dinner (a whole chicken just for me!!)

I think we saw each and every restaurant in Baku before making the final choice for dinner. Dutch cheese is known everywhere … appearently it just means yellow cheese, not particularly from NL.

Trying out local fashion

The only place to buy meat in Baku…. my brazilian carnivorian friend decided to give up completely on meat during her stay after seeing this!

Downtown by night

Skyline during our sunset cruise

mid August 2010

One of the benefits of living in Geneve again is certainly easy access to Italy, my favorite country! And whats better than going with a group of friends on a roadtrip to Italy for a weekend of kitesurfing!? As easy as things go here, I just told a friend that I would love to do some kitesurfing soon and he got right away enthusiastic, and we decided to go 2 weeks later. Two other friends joined in as well. I found a school in Limone on the Garda Lake, with even a Dutch teacher. We drove off on Friday night, arriving in the pitoresk town by night, had some Italian food. And on Saturday morning, bright and early, we had our first lessons. The best was that we had lessons from a boat, rather than from the beach, which is a much better way to learn. My friends from the UK were a bit shocked by the Dutch direct approach of our teacher with memorable comments as: “when I tell you to let go, it is not a suggestion,… it is an order” when he didnt react instantly or “if I need your help I will ask for it, otherwise don’t touch anything” when one of the guys tried to help her with a kite. The rest is not even appropriate to put publicly on the internet…she scared them so much that they are a bit reluctant to go back there again . But out of experience said I think she is the best teacher I have had, and learned much more than in any of the lessons I have had before. Absolutely hooked, and sad that the season is over now already… can’t wait for next year!! – but first snowboarding season

View from our hotel

   
Our dutch teacher

Feeling proud: full control of kite and able to board!

Hot weather, beautiful view, great food, and kitesurfing with friends – it cant get much better!

Cheesy passtime on Saturday afternoon: boys paddling, girls sunbading

Starting the day with a capuccino by the pool

Rob, I, Mike and Titia enjoying pizza in a very local restaurant on our way back to Geneve

July 2010

It has been 3 months already since my last post, because I was just either too busy or too exhausted to write. I am typing now from my balcony in Geneva, 30+ degrees, home at last! So what has happened? I was living in Stavanger, while still working from Switzerland. Even though this seemed the perfect solution, in the end it appeared not to be. It meant obviously travelling a lot (reaching platinum status in no time), and as you can imagine EVERYTHING is far from Stavanger; always had to change flights -waiting around at airports, getting up extremely early or arriving back very late. This combined with a huge workload meant that I was pretty much only busy with work: either going to an airport, waiting at an airport, packing, going to hotels, or finally catching up with work. Since I hardly spent any time in Stavanger or was busy working there I didnt have the chance to build a social life there either. Don’t get me wrong I am still absolutely passionate about travelling, and that is one of the major attractions of my job, but just being on the go constantly and then all this effort for being in Stavanger which I didnt have a real connection with anyhow, didnt seem worth it in the end. I came to the point where I had to make a decision; either to find a job in Stavanger and start settling there or to move back to Switzerland.

Despite the extremely good and unique working conditions in Norway, it became the second option with one of the major reasons that I enjoy my current work. Living again in Switzerland would definately mean reduced travelling times (it is much more central, and it would save many costs for the company and would give me more peace of mind), plus I already have my social life there. But maybe most importantly; I realized I really felt at home in Switzerland. So, again I moved – for sure the moving company is loving me -.  It feels good to be home again. It is the little things that make one feel at home or not I quess. I simply enjoyed being able to use my own bank card again at the supermarket, to be able to get my insurance in my name again, to be able to buy the food I like, my neighbours greeting me in the morning or the mail man congratulating me with my passed birthday. I sudddenly realized how much I had missed these little things. Even going to my dentist again -with my insurance card – felt like coming home (despite the news I need to get my wisdom teeth removed), so that says it all I quess.

My first weekend was so normal Geneva-style but absolutely perfect. On Friday night I was actually not planning on going out anywhere, but somehow the news must have spread in Geneva (it remains a small place) and I received several messages to go out. After the 3rd I was convinced and went to one of the expat-parties in a parc outside. There were many people I still knew, and it was so nice to see everyone again and to do some catching up. Saturday morning texting with my sweet friend (who helped me so much with the move) to meet up for coffee and brunch in the late morning; we sat out on the terrace while enjoying a nice cappuccino. In the afternoon I went for some wakeboarding again after almost 2 years!!! (I tried once in Norway -but the 7degrees watertemperature just took the fun out of it). On Sunday I caught a movie with my girlfriends and I was finally able to spend some quiet time on my studies out on my balcony. God.. I had really missed these things!

The big lesson for me was that the concept of being home is not tangible, it cannot be really explained with reasoning. It is the place where one feels at ease, comfortable and relaxed. It is one of the most essential elements in life to be able to function in all the rest, e.g. work. So now I am here to stay and no plans to leave again anytime soon (sorry for the moving company to loose one of their most loyal customers)……… but then again…. you never know what future brings ….I can say for sure I will never move more North again, only South for me! No more frozen eyelashes, no more darkness during the day or spending 50Euros on a bad meal with equivalent service.

Honestly I had my doubts initially with the moving company, but they turned out to be the best I have every had: nothing broken (never happened before), much personal contact, flexible timings and even delivery after working hours!

Back in my apartment: total CHAOS

My favorite activity

 
Happy to be back for summer time

Nothing beats an early morning ride when the water is still calm and the sun is already hot

The smile stayed for the rest of the day

Eastern weekend, april 2010

The original plan was to go to Innsbruck for snowboarding, despite it may sound unbelievable, I have never been to Austria. However of course things changed again. Up till a few days before it seemed as if I would be travelling for work until the weekend and would take a direct flight from there. Only a few days before, this was cancelled, meaning that I needed to look into tickets from Stavanger to Innsbruck instead. You can quess already…. eastern weekend… so no more flights available. This meant emergency planning, browsing for available locations and flights… which in the end turned out to be home sweet home geneva, not bad after all. Luckily my friends know me by know and forgave me for my last minute change of plans and all 6 of us went to France instead.

Unfortunately, due to the last minute change, the hotel was quite bad but it did save quite a lot of money compared to the original plan. We arrived on friday at 3 pm and went for a first ride. On Saturday and Sunday morning I took a lesson and they were the best!! This teacher made me improve to the level where I can take quite good the red slopes, and he even took me on a trip off piste, trhough the woods etc. Very very cool, and kinda reminded me of going wakeboarding without the fins underneath, it seemed impossible to keep control. But I got the hang of it and enjoyed the deep powder snow a lot! It felt amazing being out there without anyone around but the instructor.
After these big improvements of course I had to test my skills in practice and went along with the advanced snowboarders…. including a black piste!!! who would have thougth that.

For my return I decided to take the opportunity to spend some more time with my friends, meaning that instead of flying back I drove back to the NL with them. Not something to be done on a regular basis, but for once it was nice and good catching up.

The four of us

Remco and I

Off piste: note the big smile on my face!

I needed a bit of rest half way… wow intense

Eating in one of the worst restaurants, we even send back the onion soup which they still charged us for while concluding that they had been serving it like this for years so there must be something wrong with us.

End of February 2010

This weekend I was actually supposed to go to Riga. However, I had had very intense weeks at work in the passed few weeks. I returned home only around midnight on Friday, and my flight to Riga was already at 6am in the morning again. Meaning that I only had a few hours left of unpacking, packing and a bit of sleep before going to the airport again. It probably sounds unbelievable and I really enjoy travelling, especially to new places, but even for me there is a limit. I was just absolutely exhausted, and couldnt get myself to again unpack and pack, again only a few hours of sleep. So  I made a very wise desision…. this time no travelling for me! I stay home for one weekend! Ok, it was too bad of course of the lost plane tickets and hotel expenses, but a moment to relax was worth more than that.

So a weekend at home…… this meant that I could finally try out the national sport of Norway. I had bought some cross country skies already a while ago, but I was just never around to be able to actually try them. So this would be my very first time putting on skies, therefore I decided it is was better to first try them in our backyard to avoid some public humiliation. I went around for a small lap and actually it went quite fine! I really enjoyed it, and decided to go the next day on the real track. In Stavanger on the lake is a track made of around 8km which is completely flat. As long as the track stays flat I was doing quite allright. I think I am hooked now to THE national sport of Norway, finally found a positive side in this country hehe. In the following week I even managed to go a few times very early in the morning before work started.  Meaning that I would get up at 6am already, and start at 6.30 while watching the sun rise. Another benefit of finally staying home for a week was that I managed to progress with my graduation thesis. It is really moving forward now, both company and university are completely aligned so hopefully before summer time it is finished!

In March we went with a bunch to a cabin in Sirdal for some Xcountry ski for a a weekend.

Uphill

12-15 March 2010

One of the things on top of my to-do list was to go on a dogsledding trip. Living up north means that it was at least one step easier to organize this. We went for a long weekend trip to Lapland in Finland. I took the Friday off, and in the morning I first managed to work a bit on my graduation project, and in the afternoon we took a flight via Oslo again to Alta. As you saw in my previous post this really is in the middle of nowhere, but we managed to go there twice in only two months time… so we start to know our way around there. We arrived around 6pm at the airport and had to wait almost 2 hours for a mini-bus to bring us close to the border of Finland. The airport was completely deserted and we were the only ones lef there, already wondering whether this bus would really come or whether we had to spend the night there. But luckily it came only few minutes late. The bus ride was 2 hours and dropped us off at a hotel. There a taxi was waiting for us, and drove us another  hour across the border to Hetta.

On Saturday morning we were picked up by our guide who brought us to the husky farm. The farm had 84 huskies, all having their own kennels. We tried on the polar gear which we would wear during our safari. After we were finally set we went out to see the dogs. The farm is run by a very nice couple and volunteers (either interns of the wilderness school or just volunteers who are travelling around). The two dog teams were decided, and we needed to find the dogs, put on their harnasses and tie them to the sleighs. After a short introduction we went off for the first ride of 6 km to see if the team had good dynamics etc. After a few changes, we packed our stuff into the sleighs as well, and we were ready to go.

On Satuday we rode 32 km across the snowy fields and lakes. We were very lucky with the weather as it was “only” -15degrees with a clear blue sky and sunshine. It would actually be a perfect night probably for spotting polar lights. Would we then finally make it…? We have been up north now already a few times, but so far we were not lucky enough to see these special effects of the solar winds hitting the atmosphere and reflection on the polars. It was amazing to be out there in the extreme coldness, absolutely no-one there but us and the guide, complete silence and thin clean air. The  views of endless snow and the sun shing very bright just above the horizon was amaying.
I managed to only fall off my sleigh once. The dogs were quite enthusiastic and took the turn very fast, and I was overestimating myself at the moment thinking that everything was going quite well already…. so the sleigh tipped over, I fell off,.. and the dogs went of with the sleigh . No harm done luckily and after few hundred meters running I was back on again.

The temperature eventually dropped to below -30 degrees. We arrived in the cabin around dinner time, and very unexpected, a very nice dinner was prepared for us by one of the volunteers. We were having reindeer fondue, with wine, Finnish salad and vegetables. The desert was typical Finish as well consisting of Sheep cheese, baked, with a typical jam. This jam is made of yellow raspberries which only grow above the polar circle and are very rare. It tasted very nice. The cabin was very cozy and small, without any running water or electricity. The bathroom was 50meters further in another small cabin.  Try to imagine what it means going to the bathroom with -27degrees… not the most pleasant experience of course which I tried to avoid as much as possible. We had to keep the cabin warm with fire in the oven (where we also had the water boiled etc). This meant that we had to wake up a couple of times in the night to keep the fire burning, but we managed to keep the temperature inside around 25 degrees even! I woke up around 3am because I was feeling cold (it was acually still 16degrees,… but i just get cold very easily!) and saw that the fire had gone out. When fixing it again, we noticed that there were beautiful polar lights outside. There were several bands of green light across the sky, including bright stars. We even saw a falling star in this spectacle as well. I could only watch it or a minute or so, then I was freezing (letterly!) and needed to go back inside again.

On Sunday morning a nice breakfast was prepared for us with Finish bread (which is flat bread, very dark brown, and another kind that looks like a thick tortilla). We left around 10am, when the temperature was getting a bit more comfortable to -24degrees. This day we rode 40km with the dogs on a different trail back to the husky farm again. We stopped in between for a lunch at a small cabin. The taste of barbequed sausage and hot soup was just perfect after the ride. From there we went another hour before we arrived back again on the farm. There we put all the dogs back in their kennels, and we had the chance to feed the dogs. All 84 of them!! My favorite moment was feeding the 5 puppies . They were just so cute and extremely fluffy, and naughty trying to escape and steel the food. End of the afternoon we left the farm with a great memory!!!

On Monday we went x-country skiing. The trails are perfect for beginners; meaning flat. We had a drink at an Iglo befor heading back.

In the afternoon we had a taxi back to the airport of Alta, which was a 3 hour ride. Then two planes, arriving back in Stavanger around mid night. This was definately one of the best short breaks I have ever had! And I can highly recommend it… especially the guides who organized this made it an unforgettable experience.

Here we had lunch before we left with the dogs.

Me and my team of dogs (for some reason all female). My favorite was the leader in front, Princess.

Amazing views of the landscape, total silence and the feeling of being the only one there.

With -30 degrees at times, we were wearing special arctic clothes, completely covered. Even going without glasses made your eyes hurt within minutes. In this picture you can see my frozen eyelashes!

The cabin where we spent the night. No running water, no electricity, just a fire to keep us warm at night (making sure it burned all night). On the right you see the bathroom… Imagine going there in the middle of the night with -30degrees…..

Finally, we saw the polar lights!

A remote cabin where we had lunch on our second day: barbequed sausages.

After we returned to the farm on the second day, we helped feeding all the dogs, including the pups!

Our plane was only in the evening, so we had until noon to do some cross country skiing (which i became a big fan of). First time I managed to go down a slope with these skies!

We came across an igloo on the way and stopped there for a hot drink.

Just before we were heading back home again; 3hours with a taxi (we saw reindeer on the way), plane from Alta to Oslo, and then plane to Stavanger; a long journey but definately worth it.

12-14 February 2010

Last year I spent Valentine`s in Milano with a big group of girls. This year I would spend Valentine`s in a different way. Since I live up north now, I figured it would be good to explore the North a bit more. For Valentine`s this year I went to Helsinki, as I had not been in Finland before.

I dont know what is wrong with me to keep going to these cold places in the middle of the winter. Because of course it was ridiculously cold here as well around this time. The streets were covered with snow, and the cold was so intense I couldnt stand it to be outside long enough to browse the city much.

In the city you can really notice the many Russian influences; the buildings and churches are Russian style, but also the fashion and shoes were very much Russian. The hotel were we spent the night was very unusual as it was originally a jail, and was only turned into a hotel a few years ago. So the hallways and the rooms still reminded of these days.

I left quite early already on Sunday to catch a flight to Switzerland for work, so I spent most of my Valentine`s day with my collegues! The good thing was that it saved me a few flights back and forth to Norway again.

Very much influenced by Russia

Really lots and lots of snow in Helsinki. In the right corner you see people on the roofs clearing the snow before it becomes too heavy

Very local food: cans with reindeer meat

Early February 2010

My schedule is usually quite insane and unpredictable, not knowing where I will be a few days from now. One thing is always certain, it will involve an airport. I am at the point that employees in the hotels and airports are starting to recognize me! Weekends are usually no exception; this time I went for a very short visit to Madrid in Spain. I hadnt been there before, and Spain in general is high on my list of places which are always ok to visit (along with Italy of course).

We flew on Friday evening, and arrived at friends of Walbert late evening, so we went almost straight to bed. On Saturday we enjoyed the city, going around. Unfortunately I spent also quite some time working. But there are worse things than spending your time working on a terrace in Madrid. In the evening we had booked a table in a flamenco bar in Madrid. We started with tapas, including the Spanish specialy ham. Very good food! Afterwards the flamenco show started. It was very nice! The show was so intense, absolutely enjoyed it.

On Sunday we were shown around in Madrid: visiting the palace etc. We tried another local specialty Churrios, which is something like fried dough which you are dipping into choclate sauce.  The weather was quite ok, it was probably around 15 degrees, which is of course much better than the current temperature in Norwaz. For lunch we went to something that looked like a bazaar with many little stands were in each little shop you could buy some tapas or wine.  Early evening we caught our flight back.

Despite I had the bb pretty much glued to my ears all weekend, it was still a very nice escape!

Typical Spanish; slices of ham

Symbol of Madrid

We went to a great flamenco show on Saturday night in a very local bar

January 2010

I had an unexpected day off and wanted to make good use of the weekend being not on business travel. We decided to do something extraordinary, somewhere in the Nordics. It became the Ice Hotel in Lapland, Norway. On Friday afternoon we took a plane to Oslo, and from there to Alta. The first hotel night was in a normal hotel in Alta itself. The temperature outside was freezing cold with -17 degrees. I couldnt stand being outside for more than a few minutes before my fingers would start hurting etc, so reason enough to stay in as much as possible.

On Saturday we were picked up from the hotel at 5pm to go to the Ice Hotel. It is located next to a restaurant to stay there during the evening. We had an arctic dinner there, consisting of Salmon or Elg with reindeer as an apitizer. Around midnight we went to the Ice Hotel itself. Everything was made out of ice, the chairs, tables, walls, even the beds itself. The hotel also had a wedding chapel and a honeymoon suite all made out of ice. The atmosphere with the candle lights and music playing of Enya was very special.
There are actually a few ice hotels in the world; Norway, Sweden, Finland and Canada. We picked this one because it had the best flight connections. This one in Alta was built for the eleventh time now. Usually it takes around 4-6 weeks to build with 40 people (including 2 people for the sculptures). Around April the hotel melts down again.
There were not too many people in the hotel, we were with 3 couples only. During the night we slept on the ice beds covered with reindeer skin in two thermo sleeping bags. Inside the hotel it was -7 degrees, cold!!! However while sleeping it wasnt too cold, only my face felt cold in the morning. It was definately a unique experience.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in the warm restaurant. At 10am we were picked up to go on a snowmobile safari. We got to wear special clothes, I am sure they use the same on Polar expeditions, and it really helped. Normally I am the first one to be cold, but now I was actually quite ok. The temperature was still -17 degrees, but with the wind it must have felt like -40.  The guide told us it was the first time he saw the sun in this season. Again it was a very special experience: open fields with nothing but snow and seeing the orange-colored sun in the background.

Right now I am sitting in front of the fire place. It is always incredible to be in the middle of nowhere in Norway, but still to have internet. In a little while we will be dropped off at the airport and take the plane back home again, via Oslo. Hopefully we will be home again around midnight (to again unpack and pack for my business trip tomorrow morning ).

Alta is in the Northern part of Norway, in Lapland

 
-17 degrees upon arrival…

 
The Ice Hotel

Having a vodka in an ice-glass at the ice bar of the hotel.

The hallway with the rooms in the hotel. Each room consisted of a large ice plateau with on top reindeer skin which functioned as a bed.

The wedding chapel in the Ice hotel

It was so cold that I couldnt even wear my glasses while driving. Each time they would completely freeze so I couldnt see anything anymore.

It was a very exciting experience to go with a snow-scooter through the empty snowy fields of lapland.  The sun was out for the first time this season.

15-17 January 2010

After being gone for one month I couldnt postpone any longer and I needed to return to Norway. I arrived back in Norway on Thursday evening, and my mother came to visit me for the weekend arriving Fridays. So I was still in the middle of all my unpacking, laundry etc, but very happy to see her.

Stavanger had turned into a true winter-scenery while I was out: lots of snow!!! The roads are very icy, and the weather is not great either. Despite we went to a village 2 hours drive from here where we went to a husky farm. Since we miscalculated the impact of the weather we arrived almost an hour late, but still in time to go along with the dog sledding. After a short instruction everyone could make a few rounds with their team of dogs. A really cool experience, and not to difficult!!! And certainly got me hooked, I cant wait to go again and already planned a trip to Lapland in a few months.

After a short instruction off we went: most importantly to remember where is the brake

One of the dogs in the team