Oslo and Western Norway, October 2008

The public transit is very good. E-billboards at every bus stop tell you how many minutes until the next bus. On the bus, the e-billboard announces each upcoming stop.

Chewing tobacco seems very popular.

The Oslo art gallery is very unassuming. It's like a very old school -- many rooms with fluorescent lighting, 20-foot ceilings, big windows with sheers. It's a little shabby. And it's free!

British flight attendants at our B&B love Norwegian and Swedish customers because they don't hesitate to buy overpriced food and drink. They are on commission.

At a restaurant, a beer costs about $12.

At our B&B in Bergen, the breakfast room has dark wood and a high ceiling. The wallpaper is textured, with a brocade pattern. There is a plate rail too. One end of the room features dark stained glass. Classical music plays on the radio. Typical breakfast food includes: melk, brod, coffee, tea, OJ, fish in a toothpaste tube, pickled herring and sometimes mackerel, muesli, yogurt, soft boiled eggs, crispbreak, ham, salami, cheese, Nutella.

The Jos Louis of Norway is something called a Lefke. It's a square cake with vanilla or chocolate icing between the layers. Good brands include Bertha's or Smurt. Chris and I ate many of them.

There seems to be a small piece of quarter round or something like it between rooms in many hotels and B&Bs. Watch your toes.

Many roads in Norway have no centre line...just lines on either side marking the edge of the pavement. Driving was slow and scary. There were three particularly scary moments: 1) backing down a steep driveway that I mistook for a road...almost rolled car) 2) trying to go up the ramp off a ferry (should have switched to second gear) 3) trying to get through a gate on a steep hill. Unparliamentary words were spoken.

Almost all cars have standard transmissions.

If extra insurance is offered, take it. Insurance does not cover accidents on ferries, which are probably common.

Many highways are interrupted by tunnels, which require payment of a toll. Tunnels are as long as 11 km. Very dark and dreary.

Goats are pretty good at standing perfectly still.

Our host at a B&B in Ulvik moved from fruit farmer to goat farmer to going-to-meetings farmer.

Between the mountains and fjords, there isn't room to grow very much in western Norway.

Everything costs about twice as much as in Canada.

Upon picking up our rented mini-SUV, I immediately got lost. Tried to turn around in a factory laneway and could not get the beast into reverse. Flagged down a pedestrian, an Aussie, who helped me. Gave him a lift.

Met some Czechs on a ferry who were going to work for an oil company 60 km away from Bergen. We communicated by sharing the names of people we know -- Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang and Dominik Hasek, a "goalman."

Almost nothing is open on Sundays. Certainly no grocery stores. If you don't want an expensive restaurant meal, your only option is a convenience store alle polsk (hot dog).

Norwegian Dictionary:
fisk - fish
kyklling - chicken
herr - man
frisor - hairstylist
barn - kids
ost and skinka - ham and cheese
melk - milk
brod - bread
fett - fat
toaletter - washroom
konditor - bakery
keke - cake
paraply - umbrella
tillbud - special price
rabbatt - savings
bibliotekit - bookstore
Fredag - Friday
soppa - soup

Rooms are small, esp bathrooms.

At the laundromat, washing machines are smaller. You put clothes in a spinner before drying them.

There are many fancy kitchen stores and design stores in Norway and Sweden.

Amazing waterfalls are a dime a dozen.



Ping-pong and handball are prominent in the sports pages.