Take a trip to Norway - Seriously

Norway is pretty cool. I had no idea how cool.

We are here:

http://maps.google.no/maps?q=oslo+norway&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=60.141505,10.744629&spn=5.045484,16.435547&t=h&z=6&iwloc=addr

I have never been farther North.

Today is Sunday the 20th of July, the SUMMER of 2008.

I recently purchased a WINTER SNOW HAT in Bergen, Norway, because I
didn't know how cool it was up here.

Now, we are from San Francisco, and have travelled the world telling
people how it is cold in SF during the summer, and how funny it is all
the sweatshirts and fleeces that people buy, showing that they didn't
pack the right clothes.

Now we are on the epic jaunt about Europe for 30 days. We have two
bags, and planned with coats, jackets and hats. An Umbrella.

Now, in my own defense, I didn't HAVE to buy a hat like this:
http://palenskepod.blogspot.com/2007/11/norwegian-snow-princess.html

It wasn't so bitter cold, that I needed it, but the only had i had was
like this:

http://www.golfgalaxy.com/galaxy/product.asp?dept_id=4524&pf_id=PAPMACILGOFJOPFH&ad_id=PriceGrab&key_id=adidas_Men's_Performance_Visor&

you'll notice my head would show through the top, and so things like
RAIN will get through.

So, we ignored the calendar and embraced the available products. Yay!!

Bergen, Norway is cool, even cooler than Oslo.

Norway is EXPENSIVE. This is helped by the dollar doldrums we are in,
and even against the Euro €, it ain't cheap.

The costs break down like this:

Norway is not on the Euro. They have the Krone (which in English,
sounds like Kroner, as they put that little lilt at the end)

Current the exchange rate is: 5 Krone to 1 dollar. 8 Krone to 1 Euro.
Easy, right?

Well, coffee here costs 22 Kroner. That's the cheapest thing we can
find. A medium cheese pizza is 150 Kroner.

The math there works liks this? Coffee is 4 bucks. Pizza is 30 bucks.
A beer costs between 40-60 kroner.
This means that free food is good, coffee is drunk a lot, and beer is
a distant memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway

Here is some more;

http://www.ssb.no/english/magazine/art-2005-02-01-03-en.html

We really like it here, and are thankful to all our friends at www.chase.com
for their help.