Norway

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This was my first European trip, if you exclude trips to London.

First 3 days of this trip, we stayed in a house in the country (Bjoneroa, near Jevanaker, north of Honefoss) up the hill from the lake, with no bath or bathroom. Incredibly beautiful country, an unusually warm spring time (20 deg centigrade) with sun. I didn't like not being able to be clean. Our host jumped in the freezing cold lake on a daily basis, but I wasn't courageous enough for this!

Last 3 days we spent in Oslo, stayed at the Thon Opera Hotel. Was wonderful to have all the conveniences. Walking up and down Karl Johans Gate and elsewhere. Everywhere we went I asked for hot tea and a glass of ice cubes, so I could have my favorite beverage. Everyone was very nice, and quite willing to please.

The prices were a bit daunting. $1.00 gets you 5 Norwegian Kroner, but if you figure out what you can get for that, it ends up being about $0.70 worth of merchandise. So I calculated that $1.00 in the United States is worth about 70 cents in Oslo. So for example, I had a cheeseburger, fries, a side salad and tea at TGI Friday's, and it cost $53 including tip.

Speaking of tips, many people don't tip there, and when you do tip it's customary to tip about 10% (rather than the 20% we tip here). One waitress told us she made about $20 an hour, so they don't really need tips the way the waitresses here do.

Almost everybody speaks English fluently. It was really fun to try and learn some Norwegian. It's amazing how much you can pick up of a language just by reading signs. I now understand that just living in a place for a few months would be enough to learn a language, since you see and hear it everywhere. Especially wonderful to be in a place where everybody speaks English. And the other nice thing is to be in a country where people don't mind your attempts to speak their language. Norwegian is quite close to English. In fact, I think it's closer to English than it is to German. For example, "Skal vi go?" means "Shall we go?"

My daughter (who lives there) has a USB device which allows one to have Internet access anywhere. TGI Friday's had free Internet access. There were also many internet places--not cafe's, but places where they have computers which allow you to go on-line for an hourly rate. Of course the hotel had Internet, for about $9 for a half-day. It would be nice to have that USB internet access device on any trip to Europe, but Margaret told me it's only available for residents.

Oslo is a wonderful city. The people are incredibly nice. Generally speaking the city is quite clean. I don't think I'd want to go to Norway in the winter time, but when the weather's nice I can't imagine a nicer place to visit.

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Photos

Karl Johans Gate
Outside TGI Friday's

Bjoneroa
Overlooking the lake

Bjoneroa
Paradise but without modern conveniences

Cabin on Lake
Paradise without plumbing

Oslo Twilight
Out on the town