Fjords of Norway

We decided to be risk takers and hire a car for 1day so we could drive around some of the fjords near Bergen. We did about 450km and we were out from 10am to 10pm (the days are long and great for sightseeing).

Of course, there was no automatic car available, so Penny had to reacquaint herself with a manual, steering wheel on the left, shift on the right, and drive on the right-hand side of the road - we both survived. It was totally worth it as you'll see from these photos....

The 'Snow Road' - a winding, mainly 1 lane road (which they don't tell you in the brochures). Bit freaky for the driver & passenger alike.

Stegastein Viewing Platform - with glass at the end so it feels like there's nothing between you, the view, and the drop down to the water below.

Above the snow line. Not much snow at the moment, but a great landscape. Many cairns put up by hikers.

Our trusty Volvo in a perfect car advertisement setting.

The Laerdal Tunnel - 24.5 km. The longest tunnel in the world. Amazing engineering & cool blue lights every once in a while to keep you awake.

The trip back to Bergen.

Bergen Public Library

Well it was time to leave fabulous Lyon and head to Scandinavia. 

After a full days travel - including a few hours getting through Paris and waiting at the airport we arrived in Bergen, Norway. The scenery was amazing just coming into the airport, a taste of more to come.

We hadn't organised an "official" visit to Bergen Public Library, but we discovered a real gem in Bergen! 

We had found the libraries in Lyon a little disappointing so we were thrilled to see a library with some great collections and spaces in this library. We had a great time wandering around and exploring all the different sections of the library. We were able to take lots of photos and staff were helpful in explaining some of the areas. It is in an old building, but there is a real mix of old and new technology. 

penny relaxing in the craft section...

The YA area was amazing! 3 separate areas for viewing and gaming, stage and raised seating. Oh...for more space at Ellenbrook!The librarian told us that it was completed recently and was a joint project with the university and library. University students designed and built the area.

There was also a big focus on DVD and music collections. With separate rooms dedicated to listening and playing music. Music collections included CD's, vinyl, and sheet music. There was even a section dedicated to local Bergen artists.

Other highlights were the automated checkouts and returns, and opac access throughout the library. 

No wonder people know so little about Australia - this was the complete Australian history collection!!!

Also, notice no spine labels on the fiction???

Last things from Lyon

We've left Lyon behind but thought we'd share some of the highlights - good, bad and funny.

Our cereal called 'Fully raisins' even though it wasn't.

Giant Zucchinis at the daily fresh markets in the Croix-Rousse square.

Lots of stairs in our apartment but no lifts.

The 'Gros Caillou' (Big Rock) - a tourist attraction that wasn't really all that big.

The rentable electric cars for locals or tourists who only need them for a short time - you could see them charging at special stations in the street.

The 'duelling gondoliers' - fighting it out in the Quay.  We are not sure what the object of the duel was, but it looked like fun. They'd knock each other into the river with their poles.

Lastly our favourite place for breakfast, Brasserie des Ecoles, which was open almost 24/7. Loved this artwork combining books and wine!

Win Win Win! : Poster Alley

This catch phrase comes from one of the Korean posters - they declared that their program was WIN WIN WIN ! for everyone. Loved that.  The poster sessions have certainly been a win for us.  We have met many people and harvested some great ideas for our Library Services.

Our neighbouring posters and presenters were from all over the world.  Here's a sample:

Japan - Informal counselling in the Library space for Japanese students from difficult backgrounds who would not go to 'Official' councellors in enclosed offices in other parts of their schools.

Romania - A 500 year old reference & research library of historical Hungarian literature being made accessible to the wider community in a small town made up of 50% Hungarians & 50% Armenians.

Finland - A small public Library making partnerships with local interest groups and businesses, who are invited to host meetings and sessions in the Library space.  They come up with the programs, rather than the library.

Indonesia - teaching information literacy & library skills to school students who are 'Digital Natives' using online games.

Our own poster was well received and people loved our Australian Animal bookmarks, inviting them to connect with us via our email addresses. Each morning we'd come back to our poster to find more bookmarks had disappeared overnight!  Here's our poster - no. 153.

Hotel de Ville

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Officers Dinner on Sunday night. Infor (suppliers of our library management system Vsmart) were hosting the evening, and managed to find some extra tickets for their special Australian guests....US. 

We felt very privileged to get an invite to this official IFLA dinner for all the officers on the committees, and tickets were in great demand. The manager of the Infor office in Bristol, Ian, and his wife, made us very welcome and we had a fun evening with the Infor and 3M people.

The venue for the dinner was the sumptuous Hotel De Ville. Hotel De Ville is French for City Hall, and this is one of the main landmarks in Lyon, next to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Opera house.

The room dates back to 17th century! Complete with 17 chandeliers!

......mingling before dinner

With our Infor host - Ian Manson.

Dinner started with formal speeches and then a buffet of traditional Lyon fare. The quenelles (http://www.lyonalacarte.com/?Quenelle-Lyonnaise) are a Lyon speciality - but weren't to everyone's taste. Of course, cheese and wine were plentiful - topped off by a triple chocolate dessert.

As we were leaving - a view of the Opera House from the Courtyard.

....thanks to the good folk at Infor  - especially Connie and Ian - who made 2 Aussies feel special at IFLA.

The 3 C's - Cheese, croissant & chocolate

Wherever you look there is plenty of all 3 to tempt us! Luckily we are staying on one of the 2 hills in Lyon so there is plenty of walking, especially climbing to balance all the fine food. Croissants are a popular fare for breakfast - with and without jam!

Haven't had too much of the cheese or chocolate, but Penny did find one of her favourites - Morbier

Talking of food. This bar is close by and had good reviews on Yelp, so in spite of the name we thought we would give it a try.  Verdict - one of the best burgers I have ever had! 

And to the stairs. This is the walk from the apartment to the Conference centre. This photo was taken about 2/3 way down.  And yes... We opted for the bus to take us back up!

Bibliotheque municipale = Public Library

We visited the Francois Mitterrand House of Book, Image and Sound a few days ago - the first public library of our visit.   This five floor Library is in the suburbs of Lyon, and provides a range of materials for loan.  

Most surprisingly they loan out artworks to the public for a 3 month period, so you can update the look of your home. The artworks are owned by the library.

They have a huge collection of graphic novels for adults and children.

They clean their children's books upon return with a cloth & spray. Worth considering?

As well as DVDs and CDs, they have a vinyl collection for loan.

Arriver Lyon

As some of you already know, we have arrived safely in Lyon, France, and we are delighted to be here. Lyon has a lot of history...and a lot of great food! We have already sampled some of the sights and the cuisine, finding surprises in both - steep cobbled streets, Gallo-Roman ruins, many churches, the Rivers Saone & Rhone, and for Lynda a sliced tripe sausage called 'andouillette' on her open sandwich (we didn't realise what it was but it tasted like pork; we are wiser now!)

Our apartment is in the historical area of Croix-Rousse, which sits atop a hill between the Saone and Rhone Rivers. The area was once home to silk workers, who lived and worked in the same building. The roofs are high and the windows tall to house the looms and let in the light. The apartment is very simply furnished, except for the Baby Grand in Penny's room - yes, a piano.  We are still wondering how they got it up here. It can't have been up the four flights of stairs we have to climb every day!