Norway is like May West (a well known American Sex Symbol). When nice, very
very nice, and when bad, very very bad. Many curves, deep, dark recesses.
Horizons Unlimited has not run our last four stories; journeys to India,
Brazil, Crete and others. The stories were too long,(maybe they were polite
and meant "boring") they said, so we will make this one short and see what
happens.
As you may know from previous, maybe unpublished stories, we keep a BMW GS
in Sandefjord, Norway. Thanks to our friends Erling and Lars for the
travel suggestions and help with storage. We most recently went to Norway
in August, 2005 and what follows is a short report, the good and bad of our
fourth moto experience in Norway.
Routes
Thanks to many friends we were given good route advice, mainly, RT 17.
Most, if not all, of the suggestions are published at users.rio.com/~tynda
on the Norway Home Page. We have been in many countries but no where is
the scenery as good, mile for mile as in Norway. Yes, there are wonderful
places to visit in the USA, Argentina, Australia and others. In these
countries one must travel many miles between interesting sites. In
Norway, outside the cities, every mile is great, the greatest. Now, the
not so great; the speed limit is often only 40 k, maybe 60 k at the most on
the Norway style freeways. While we were not in a hurry, it is easy to
exceed these speed limits. We hear that the fines can be very steep.
Even though the routes are interesting the Norwegian Highway Department
seems to want to build as many tunnels as possible. In about the year 2015
one will be able to travel the entire length of the country by tunnel,
seeing nothing. Tip: Invest in their tunnel stock. Tunnels are useful
when it rains, which happens frequently in Norway. Generally, the
tunnels have lighting but one extremely long one did not, was very dark,
with a huge pothole near the end. We fortunately avoided it. At the end
of this tunnel is a very interesting but quite remote farm. Go there, take
a picnic and enjoy the view. One German rider we met had been in Norway
several times and chose to install special lights just for the tunnels, fog
and of course the rain.
Moose/Elk
The second bad point. In America these animals are called moose, Europeans
refer to them as elk. In America they can measure 7 and 1/2 feet at the
shoulder and weigh up to 1800 lb. plus. They are a bit smaller in Europe.
On our recent journey in Norway we did not see them but were warned by
plenty of road signs. Due to their size a collision is not what a moto
rider wants. In fact, we have not heard of anyone making contact,
testifying to the intelligence of the moose, perhaps they are more
intelligent than the creatures who ride motos. Who knows?
Expenses
It does cost a lot of money to visit Norway as there is a 25% tax on nearly
everything, and to begin with prices are twice as high as anyplace else.
This is of course a good way to tax tourists. Which is good for Norway bad
for us. And, of course, gas is more expensive than we are used to. Better
to have a motorcycle than a truck. Hotels are costly too as is the food.
In fact, is there anything cheap in Norway?
Food
Whenever we go to a country we ask locals what and where to eat. Brazil,
South East Asia and other countries have shown us just how poor the food can
be in our own country. When we asked Norwegians what to eat we were told
Farikal, (mutton and cabbage), Fenalar, (mutton and potatoes), Rommegrot, (a
porridge like dish made of sour cream), Kjottkaker, (meatballs), and
Smalehode. Almost every Norwegian recommended Smalehode but did not admit
to having eaten it. Finally, near Voss we met a woman who said she
enjoyed it as long as she did not look at it. It is a winter dish so we
were unable to try any. If you come to our home we will try to prepare a
sheep's head for you, if you bring it.
Due to a new law smoking is no longer allowed in restaurants. A good
thing. The bad thing is that
smoking occurs in the outside area and on balconies.
And no one told them that smoking should not be allowed within 25 feet of
the public doorway, so often one finds smokers hanging around the front
door. Unless one knows that this is a respectable restaurant, it might
appear that it is the entrance to some dive. It discourages innocent
people, such as motorcyclists, from shoving their way into the eating
establishment, as we often did.
We were surprised to find a very good pizza chain with locations in most
towns. Pepe's pizza is as good as any we have found on our world travels
including the USA and Italy.
Crime
As in every place, there is crime in Norway. Last year, in preparing to
store our moto, we went to downtown Sandefjord and were witnesses to some
sort of Anti-Israel rally. Two persons, we guessed to be Jewish , a young
man and an elderly woman, were carrying posters showing babies and young
children killed by the terrorists. They were attacked by Moslems and the
posters destroyed even though they remained outside of the perimeters of the
rally. This year when we went to pick up the moto, at the BMW shop, the
front door glass was broken. We inquired as to what had happened. The shop
had been broken into and motorcycle items stolen. So one must be also be
careful in Norway just as in third world countries. If you commit a crime,
such as speeding or drinking before driving (.01%) you will be heavily fined
or may even have your moto confiscated. Graffiti is noticeable but not so
much as at home (where Gail likes to write on the walls).
We enjoyed our trip to Norway even as the weather was changing for the
worse. It was very hot in our home country so we were happy with the cool
air and rain, the few days we did experience it. Also, we met several
friendly Norwegians, some in whose homes we stayed. Since we have left our
moto in storage near Sandefjord, we plan to return in August, 2006. Meet us
there if you can.
If you want to go to Norway we can recommend an excellent, small B&B
(zimmer) in Sandefjord, Holands Qjesterom. We generally dislike hotels as
being too impersonal and quite expensive. The motorcycle shop, SPEED,
is also highly recommended by us.
We have not heard from some of you for some time. Please stop working,
motorcycling and having babies, and unless you are dead, send us e-mails.
It is quite boring when we are not on the road.
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