Oslo, Norway

Brian and I spent the last week in July visiting Norway. If it's not apparent, we both have strong Norwegian heritage in our families and thought this was a good opportunity to explore our roots. It especially worked out perfectly, because our good Swedish friends, Elin & Magnus, were going to drive from Sweden to Norway, to visit our Norwegian friends in Oslo. And they all kindly invited the Americans to join in! Oyvind and Kristine were also neighbors with us when we first moved to Oxford. We only lived in Oxford for about 4 months together, where we lived across from Elin & Magnus for about 11 months or so. This was such a special experience - to reconnect with our Scandinavian friends in Norway!

After the athletics meet Saturday, Brian and I stayed in a hotel by the Heathrow airport, and flew to Oslo on Sunday. On the airplane we sat next to this attractive older blonde Norwegian woman. Brian offered put her bag up for her and asked in English of course. She first answered in excellent English and then immediately continued talking to him in Norwegian. I ended up saying to her, "I'm sorry but we don't understand". And she said, "Oh I though you were both Norwegian, you look like you are. Then she said, "Especially him, but not you as much." (!) Well at least I don't obviously look British - yikes!

Kristine and her 4-year-old daughter, Stella, collected us from the Oslo train station. The Swedes were not arriving until Monday, so we had a chance to catch up with Kristine, Oyvind, Stella (hiding in the pic) and meet their new little boy Jostein. We had indicated how we were looking forward to trying local Norwegian foods - and right away we were treated to some fun and typical Norwegian treats! Not sure that I'm going to remember their Norwegian names, but after our veggie tarts for dinner, we tried some yummy baked sweet rolls, this brown and carmel-tasting goat cheese slices (was yummy!) and their Xmas spirit - aquavit.

Monday started off with a great breakfast. I would say it's a bit different than our sweet breakfast (cereal, baked goods) or heavy greasy breakfast (English breakfast, bacon, scrambled eggs). I know this is similar in Sweden too, when we visit E&M last summer. But basically the main part is proper baked bread, sliced, buttered (so that is where we get buttering our sandwiches!) served open faced with a selection on cheese slices, cold meat slices, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and boiled egg. You could also add a kaviar paste or smoked mackerel if that is your thing! There was also more goats cheese (spreadable or the brown caramel kind again) and some berry jam from berries they had just picked. And lots of coffee! My travel guide said that the most coffee consumed in the world is in Norway! Found that a bit surprising - thinking of the Italians and espresso and French and lattes. But Norwegians like it filtered and black in a mug and pretty much just drink it throughout the day. So it all adds up!

After breakfast we headed for a walk in the nearby countryside. It was so beautiful to see the farmland amongst rocky hills and small cliffs. And we discovered the Norwegian troll eggs! (Bales of hay with the white plastic coverings.) Here is Bri and I in front of a barn - red with white trim, looks familiar!!

The Bjork family arrived for lunch - so we had lunch at the house and then loaded up everyone for a trip to the Vigeland Sculpture Park just outside of Oslo. We hadn't seen Rebecka (3) or Lukas (now 1+) since last August and so fun to see how much they had grown! By now, the weather decided to be really wet and rainy, but good thing everyone was prepared with rain gear!

Dinner back at the house was this concoction called Bacalao (think I spelled it correctly). It's made from klippfisk (dried salted cod), potatoes and veggies, all cooked together in a big pot. Now the fish gets soaked in water overnight, so it's not dried nor at all as salty as when it's purchased. But it's the old school way to preserve fish for long periods of time. Funny enough, that the dish is a combination of Norwegian and Brazilian influences. Norway used to import loads of klippfisk to Brazil - who in turned made their own South American twist to the dish.

Tuesday we traveled into Oslo again (and the sun was shining!) to visit the Norwegian Folk Museum. Kristine was a good sport since she's been there like a million times! It was an outdoor museum divided into the various regions of the country and showing the different styles of homes/farms from various time periods. Of course we saw some traditional folk dancing and then Brian got his requisite photo with the local girls!


I would say Tuesday night was probably Brians' fave meal of all times - an absolutely enormous baked whole trout! Served with steamed potatoes, hollandaise sauce and cucumber salad (with vinegar and sugar just like at home). He had died and gone to heaven!

First impressions of Norway - friendly, worldly, expensive and family oriented. Also extremely tall, blonde and gorgeous women. The stereotype is totally true! But not everyone is blonde really - gorgeous and tall though! They all speak English very well and it's taught for many years in school. They also learn more American English than British English and there is heavy American pop culture influence in TV/movies/music. Fashion however isn't influenced too much by Americans, but more the British and continental Europe (so they do care about what they wear versus flip flops and sweatpants!). Insanely expensive. I had heard this, but assumed it was Americans saying this (with a weaker dollar) and since I live practically in London, how could anywhere be more expensive? OMG! A pint of standard lager was 8 GBP, which is currently like $15! We ate a lot of bread and cheese . . .

More to report on our second half of our trip to Bergen and traveling through the Norwegian Fjords on the next post!