Politaholic Returns
Politaholic has returned from his cycling holiday in Norway. Three bad things about Norway: (i) it is uphill in every direction, (ii) the price of beer is extortionate, (iii) the food is nothing to shout about (although I liked the Norwegian fish soup). Three good things: (i) the people are - with the exception of the few arseholes one finds everywhere - very friendly and helpful (even to lost cyclists), (ii) the country is very beautiful; (iii) they don't have siesta's (it is possible to find somewhere to eat and drink in the afternoon). The picture shows a steep hill; steeper than it looks. Honest.
posted by Politaholic at 4:50 pm
2 Comments:
As someone who was married to a Swede for 20 years and visited the Nordic lands many times, I agree with what you say about the steepness- you did well to survive. And the people are great in Norway- apart from those subscribing to their own version of our binge drinking culture.
Skipper, so far as I can gather you are right about the "binge drinking". Beer is very expensive. I was paying around 55 kroners for 0.4 or sometimes 0.5 a litre (That's nearly £5 for around three-quarters of a pint. In my local I pay less than £2 for a pint). Apparently this is because alcohol is heavily taxed. As a result the drinking-classes in Norway prefer to drink at home (alcohol is a bit cheaper in the supermarkets) and when they do go out start late and, as a barmaid in Haugeshund told me, get "rat-arsed, thrashed, wasted". There is very little "social drinking"; and on Saturday afternoon or early Friday evening (at least where I was) the bars are deserted. It is perhaps an example of an adverse unintended consequence of a nannyish social policy. Mind you, in general I'm a fan of the "Nordic social model" (except where beer is concerned).
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