First taste of the north

I’ve always wanted to explore the northern part of Europe but somehow I’ve never gotten a chance. Either there’s always another city in the southern part of Europe which is warmer and bikinis sound more enticing than windbreakers, no? I think the fact that I don’t like the cold explains it all, until now.I’ve read often in the papers and seen a lot on TV about Germans emigrating to Norway and the first thing that popped to my mind was, why would someone prefer to move to a place where it’s cold in summer and very, very cold in winter? It might make sense to you but pardon me, whose home country lies on the Equator, it doesn’t make much sense to me. Some say that the vast and relatively untouched nature is what draws them there. While some might prefer the country’s political stand and social policies to that of their own homeland.I can’t really judge a country by its tourist-swarmed destinations but from what I’ve experienced, I’ve come to appreciate and love all this country has to offer. Picture-perfect landscapes and idyllic towns where time seems to stand still are guaranteed to take your breath away. For seafood lovers, Norway is a heaven. They even have whale meat, say, if you can still live with your conscience after indulging in that. One thing I’ve noticed is that they have films and series in its original language with Norwegian subtitles on TV! No more dubbed version of The Simpsons! I’d rather watch films with subtitles than have them dubbed.

However I can’t ignore the fact that it’s darn pricey surviving there as a tourist. I ate my most expensive pizza to date which costs about 18Euros! Just for one very normal size, vegetarian pizza. So, you get the picture. I’ve read that as a tourist, it’s pretty difficult to survive a day in Norway with less than 1000NOK and I’ve spent mine with an average of 900NOK a day. If you wanna survive cheap in Norway, buy stuffs from their supermarkets and prepare your own meal. Oh, there’s always instant cup noodles as alternative .