The Vikings are here (again)!

I recently visited the 'Vikings: life and legend' exhibition at the British Museum. It was with a bit of mixed feelings that I went to this exhibition.  Being Danish myself it was my ancestors who were the barbarians who pillaged, plundered and raped when they came to England. The exhibition tries to explain and show that the Vikings were so much more than cruel invaders of England.

The exhibition was opened by the Danish Queen Margrethe in March.

It takes place in the new Sainsbury Gallery that had to have its doors adjusted to welcome the large Roskilde 6 ship from Denmark. Unfortunately less than 20% of the timber remains from this ship and there is a new metal frame showing its original size. Even though this was the largest Viking ship ever  found in Scandinavia -  37-meter long, I think that it would have been nicer to have a whole ship on display.

There is a large display of items that were used in the daily life of a Viking, and also a large number of items that were worn on special occasions and by the very rich. The Vikings were very fond of “bling” and the jewellery and decorative items were worn by women and men alike. One of my favourite things from the

exhibition was the necklace found in Tissø in Denmark, made from solid gold and weighing an impressive 2.5 kg.

I have visited a number of museums in Denmark and Sweden with Viking items, but I still had some take-away from this one. The exhibition explains how the Viking art was influenced by all the countries they visited from Russia to the Muslim world. There is a display that shows how the Vikings used Muslim coins for jewellery. But from objects found in England it is very obvious that the Vikings also influenced the cultures that they visited and where they settled. This was absolute a new part of history for me.

Furthermore their religious beliefs are nicely explained in the London exhibition. During the Vikings era the Scandinavians went from cherishing  the Nordic Gods to becoming Christians. The influence of Christianity is also shown in the Viking art. This is evident in the replica of the 10th century Jelling Rune Stone that depicts a standing Jesus but without the cross.

There is also a display that shows how the Vikings influenced the English language in many ways.

Did I leave the exhibition feeling less humble and embarrassed to be a descendant of the Vikings? Well not really. But may be that is just me….

Bonus info: Did you know that there was never evidence found that the Vikings were using helmets with horns? This image was a misunderstanding from the 19th century when artists pictured Vikings with helmets with horns.

The exhibition closes on 22nd June 2014.

Written by Marianne Sloth, who is  FOCUS Director of Marketing. Marianne is Danish and has lived in London for 4 years.



For more information about FOCUS visit:  www.focus-info.org

Danish lunch served in London

If you are Scandinavian or love Nordic cuisine, you can buy everything for a Danish lunch in London. Luckily most of the ingredients can be found in local supermarkets, but a few things need to be bought in Scandinavian speciality shops.

Lunch is served cold and often consists of open rye sandwiches. The real fresh rye bread – often called “full corn rye bread” can be bought several places in London. If you prefer to ad butter on your bread, you should buy the Danish Lurpak of course.

The lunch starts with fish. This could be smoked salmon, fish fillet or herring. Put the fish on top of the bread (and butter). On top of the smoked salmon add “fox sauce”*, a slice of lemon and a little fresh dill or make a different version with mayonnaise, white asparagus, sliced cucumber and slices of lemon. 

On top of the fish fillet use remoulade, sliced lemons, sliced cucumber and on top of the herring use sliced onions and fresh dill. Use lettuce as garnish.  

A special curry mayonnaise salad can also be added on top of the herring.

Then the meats are served. Add a generous serving of cold cuts such as ham, salami or roast beef to the bread. Top up the ham sandwich with mayonnaise and sliced cucumber and bean sprouts, the salami with remoulade, fried onions and pickled gherkins and the roast beef with shredded horse radish, gherkins, fried onion and slices of tomato. The trick is to make everything look beautiful and colourful.

Drink Danish beer like Carlsberg and Tuborg and snaps or aquavit in small glasses. Remember that you cannot “sip” the snaps, but you will have to swallow the whole glass in one go. 
Dessert is normally cheese served with fruits and cheese crackers.
Bon appetit!






From the local supermarket:
Lurpak butter, smoked salmon, ham, salami, roast beef, onion, dill, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, mayonnaise, fried onions, pickled gherkins, horse radish, cheeses, fruit, crackers and beer.
Rye bread: Local bakery, Kamps, Scandinavian Kitchen, Nordic Bakery or Bäkehaus.

In speciality shops like Scandinavian Kitchen, Nordic Bakery, Totally Swedish or Danish Food Direct online store you will find: herring, remoulade, curry salad for the herring and the snaps.

*Fox sauce:
3 tsp. white vine vinegar
3 tsp. sugar
5 tsp. mustard
1/2 dl. vegetable oil
1 dl. finely chopped dill

Mix all the ingredients together.

Written by Marianne Sloth, who is  FOCUS Director of Marketing. Marianne is Danish and has lived in London for 4 years.



For more information about FOCUS visit:  www.focus-info.org

Make Up Team Building Make Over

The benefits of working only with women are that when we do parties or team building together we can do girly things!
We booked a make up artist, Eliz Marin for a “Make-Up Teambuilding Make Over”. Most of us wear make-up every day and we are quite good at applying it, even if we say so ourselves. But we all needed some input on the latest trends, new colours to wear and tips and tricks to make us look even better.

Eliz arrived with a large suitcase full of goodies. We all felt like we were little girls who were going to be princesses for a day! There were a lot of the softest pen brushes, palette after palette of eye shadows, blushers, foundations in any possible colour and a range of lipsticks all from different suppliers.
We were asked to bring our favourites in make-up with us, but most of us would rather have tried something new.


Eliz chose a model that she would make over, and basically we were copying her. There were 12 of us and our tables were placed in a horseshoe with Eliz and the model in the middle, so Eliz could walk around and advise each of us. She took time to make an individual concealer and foundation colour check and suggested new colour ideas for eye make-up, blusher and lipstick for each of us.

I have brown eyes and I normally go with brown, green or purple colours for my eyes. When Eliz said I should try plum colours or dark blue, I thought that would not work. I did try the plum version and another colleague also with brown eyes tried the blue version, and I must say that they were literally eye-openers for both of us. The colour combination worked beautifully and I had a totally different look! I absolutely loved it. I never use foundation, but Eliz taught us how to use foundation and powder, so it didn’t clot. Also she taught us about brands and why the most expensive brands are not necessarily the best buy. But the best tip by far was how to blend the colours together to get a smoother look.

That evening I was wearing new colours of eye shadows, blusher and lipstick. In fact we all looked different and refreshed. Luckily for us, all our efforts were not wasted, as we went to a pub afterwards to celebrate our new looks.  And for sure we were noticed by all the other pub goers!

Written by Marianne Sloth, Social Media and Website Manager at FOCUS.


Visit Eliz Marin's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ElizMakeUp

New Bus for London

Have you noticed something new in the London townscape recently? The new Routemaster aka “New Bus for London” buses are here!


The design is inspired by the old Routemaster and the new buses are specially made for the London streets.
Prototype buses have been running on the route 38 between Victoria and Hackney since February 2012.
One day I talked with the Conductor in the rear of the bus and I discovered that all London buses will be converted to the new Routemasters. In peak hours and on the busiest routes, there will be a Conductor on board providing travel advice and supervising the safety of passengers. The coolest thing is that you are allowed to hop on or off at the rear platform when the bus has stopped for a red light or in heavy traffic.

The new environmentally friendly bus which runs on a hybrid diesel-electric motor has three sets of doors, each with Oyster card readers, making it easier to get on and off. Inside, there are two staircases, one near the front and one at the back, for easy access to and from the upper deck.

The New Bus for London currently operates on routes 9, 11, 24 and 38 and Route 390 will convert by the end of the year. By 2016 more than 600 new buses will run in London.

If you are interested in riding one of the original heritage Routemaster buses the numbers 9 and 15 still have some of them running during the daytime.


The aery interior of the New Bus for London is designed by Heatherwick Studio together with the manufacturer and is made in stylish scheme of colours and has a retro feel.


According to the Greater London Authority, the design of the buses is intended to aid speedier and smoother boarding.

Let us hope these buses will help to ease the congested London traffic!


Written by Marianne Sloth, Social Media and Website Manager at FOCUS.

For more information about Focus visit: www.focus-info.org

SMARTPHONE APPS

With thousands of apps available to download for smartphones,  it can be difficult to find those that are really helpful and of great benefit while avoiding those that just a waste of time.

In this jungle of apps I am highlighting 10 that I find to be the best and most useful. These apps are all available for  iphone, although some are also on other platforms.

Dropbox

 

Access files in the cloud from your smartphone

Dropbox is a cloud based storage solution which gives immediate access to all your photos, docs and videos anywhere and makes sharing them easy.

 

Netflix

Access and watch from your Netflix account
The Netflix app is a mobile portal that allows users to access the full subscription service that the company provides. Users are required to have a Netflix account to access the full array of TV programs and movies but content is available almost instantly thanks to the efficient streaming within the app.

Spotify

App to stream millions of songs
Spotify is a subscription based music service. The Spotify app is a portal for users to benefit from the subscription experience on mobile devices and has features like track searching, playlist creation and even saving tracks for offline use in areas with limited Wi-Fi or cellular data.

Runtastic

The Runtastic GPS Coach is your personal tracking app and all-in-one exercise app for running, walking, biking and other outdoor and indoor sports activities. The app tracks your progress (distance, time, speed, calories, altitude, pace etc.).

Rick Steves Audio Europe

Get the most out of your this travels in Europe with this app that provides cultural and sightseeing information for tracks, self-guided tours, great sights and historic walks in Europe.

NearMe 

The NearMe app is a mobile guide that makes it fast and simple to find out what´s around you.  Whether you are seeking out hotspots, exploring for hidden gems or needing the essentials,  NearMe can find it, tell you about it and get you to it.

XE

                                                                                     

XE currency converter. Convert every world currency with the XE Currency App. It offers live proprietary currency rates, charts, and even stores the last updated rates, so it works wen the Internet doesn’t.

Snapseed

Edit your photos professionally. Snapseed is a photograph editing app with a great user interface. A large array of editing features. Obviously put together by professionals who understand what is needed and that attention to detail shines through.

IMDb

IMDb is the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity info. The aim is to list every detail about every movie and TV show ever made, including who was in it, who made it, the plot, user ratings, trailers, photos, reviews, quotes, goofs, trivia and much more.

 

World Atlas by National Geographic

Easy-to-use, feature-packed, and containing the world’s best maps, the National Geographic World Atlas enables you to browse, search, and zoom detailed maps of the globe.  Unlike other atlas applications, the National Geographic World Atlas utilizes our highest resolution, “press-ready” images, providing you the same rich detail, accuracy, and artistic beauty found in our award-winning wall maps and bound atlases. 

Written by Marianne Sloth

Visit the FOCUS website: www.focus-info.org