Travel, 50+, Norway

Just yesterday, Norway was merely a poor fisherman country and then overnight they all became oil tycoons. As any new money, they got financially drunk and upped the expenditure of life. Now everything over there is so expensive your bank account will bleed just for looking at the place on a map. Travelers from poor countries will go bankrupt after a family meal of simple pasta. Not that all Norwegians are rich, but they bypass it with their fetish over sandwiches as meals. The national dish of frozen pizza is not intolerably expensive either. And, were we to go on the detail, there are many other ways to save up while in Norway. But that's another story.

Despite the Norwegians already having a big head, I'm just going to announce that Norway is one of my favorite countries. The nature massages your eyes with everything from fjords to Northern lights and other forms of aesthetics. It's rarely too hot, which is a big deal these days. The folks will not bother you unnecessarily, so you can explore it all in peace. Or just be. As long as you're not one of those social media asswipes who go to drop a ton of rubbish and turds at Trolltunga or other places in SoMe fashion. Just don't be that guy. But in case you do be that guy, scream "I'm Swedish." when you get caught. They really like that. There's a special kind of love between these two nations.

While I've quite enjoyed the nature, atmosphere, snow on the ground in the middle of the hottest month in the summer, lack of swarms of mosquitoes you get in Finland and Sweden, the liberated and ready to go city girls, those damn sandwiches they love to have for lunch and snack and the waterfalls, driving through the morning fog hovering about a fjord and so on... I have also had some of the unpleasantly weirdest experiences in Norway.

Just to share one experience: We had a little entourage about to check in at the local hotel way up North. We announced our business and the receptionist started tapping at the keys. Doing the usual stuff. We were joking and having a little banter, as you do. All of the sudden, the receptionist went full blown autistic rage on us. Furiously yelling with spit flying out of his mouth "You can't call x that!" In confusion, we just went "What?" The receptionist continued to rage, yell and have a fit. I guess the desk had done something, too, because it got beaten up a little. Turns out that the receptionist had a major malfunction over one of us having a nickname that was not factually accurate. Imagine calling a very tall and slim person "Stumpy" or someone with a black hair "Blondie". Like that.

At any rate, we allowed the rage to burn out and fizzle away. That's when things got weirder and more of a challenge to keep your face all straight. The receptionist arrived at the point of realization. The next stage was saving face. The excuse for the raging fit was "It is my colleague's fault, my colleague didn't write down this information." ... Sure. Yes. That is the kind of thing colleagues tend to write down. What's interesting is that there was other staff present in the general lobby area, but not one even gave a glance. Definitely not a one off case. Anyway, stuff like this happens in Norway sometimes. Especially in smaller towns. At least they allow their "special" people be part of the society, which is genuinely a good thing.

The Judgment:
There are not particularly big cities in Norway. Even Oslo has maybe only around a million people or so. Shopping is too expensive for most, although it is worthwhile to have a look at the wool sweaters. I have been told the untreated wool sweater is an "all-weather" outfit, good at regulating temperature and moisture just wicks away and apparently it's odor resistant, too. The patterns are quite alright and the only real competition is the Icelandic wool sweater. Whichever is the better, I don't know. I'll let them fight it out while trying to save up enough to buy one sometime in the future.

That leaves us the nature, it's phenomena and, perhaps, cruising (if you're into that). Which is definitely worth it. Even with Norwegian prices. In my view, the best way to experience a maximum amount of this is by driving around in your own vehicle. Trying out different times for different experiences and picking the right weather for each stretch. It rains a lot. The roads are narrow, there are a lot of turns and quite a few changes in altitude. Something that is not necessarily suitable for an inexperienced driver, so take that into account. And then... There are stretches where you have to be especially sharp as ignorant tourism has gone up maybe a little too much in certain areas (eg Atlantic Ocean Road). Sometimes one of these seem to think it's a great idea to make a suicide stop in all the wrong places for a photo opportunity.

The country is generally safe although there has been some rise in crime in the bigger cities. Norway is suitable for all ages. Solo travel is easy and pleasant, but you can go as a group and have at least equally good time. All seasons offer something special, but especially the winter and the summer. And rain. There's always a good chance for rain, so if you love it, you're in heaven.

Would I go again? Would I ever?